As you may know or not, an in-person meeting was organised on 07/22. Selected players were invited with a possibility to take a companion with them.
There is no official notice about the meeting's outcome. However, Koreans have published posts on an unofficial forum. The description uses the question-answer form (and some explanations as it goes).
Without further ado, here is a rough translation of what was posted. Reminder, this is unofficial.
~ Ritsu
Introduction
Director: The meeting's purpose is not to make decisions, but to talk about possible directions for future changes and gathering insights. The players are given the freedom to talk about anything they want regarding the game's current state.
First of all, new dungeon development is in progress.
Tenebrous upgrade system is complete, and testing is ongoing (balancing in progress).
Giant Boss is also underway, it will be released soon. Titan's Grotto will become permanently available when it is released.
During the team's meeting, there were two things that couldn't be implemented now - improving old items and introducing the color-blind mode.
In the case of the color-blind mode, it has not satisfied our testers. Achieving the desired result is difficult, but we are still trying.
We are considering adding an on/off feature to the buff UI, as well as letting you organize and group them in the case of similar effects.
Once it's tidied up, we will proceed with development and officially announce it.
The UI inventory improvement has been delayed due to development. We also plan additional improvements on some items.
Regarding optimization - we have applied the 64-bit version. However, there are lag issues in the Challenge Mode because we originally didn't intend to release an 8-man instance. Due to this, we will prioritize individual optimization of problematic skills. This might result in changes in skill structure, we are aware of this. It cannot be avoided if we want to optimize the game properly.
Regarding balance - we are preparing a dungeon-oriented balance patch.
We are also considering to extend the balance patch release cycle from 6 weeks to 8 during the 08/03 patch.
Satisfactory changes are hard to achieve in such a small time period. We don't have enough data for each character and job.
Although we value player opinions, implementing every suggestion in a six-week period is impossible, so we are considering increasing the interval.
When we release the notice next week, we will mention this.
Regarding Secret Dungeons - we are preparing a rework.
We've received various opinions. While there are some issues with SDs, they are easy to farm and are a part of progression, so any changes made to them must be meticulously reviewed.
In the long run, the drops should increase according to the player's power, but we are concerned about the state of the market after applying this.
Please understand that it's difficult to proceed with it during the Summer Update.
Questions & Answers
How do you see guilds and what is the intended usage of Guild Honor Points?
Director: Regarding guilds, I think they are currently working well. A guild with at least 30 active members should operate smoothly.
A guild with around 290 members would have a lot of guild contribution points. Guild points were designed based on 30 members. Since it's now an account-based system rather than character-based, the quantity has reduced significantly.
As for 1 or 2-member guilds, we are unsure whether we should support them. It does not align with our intended direction.
However, if we do that, large guilds may suffer losses, though we found that they indeed have a significant amount of guild points.
The current Guild Expedition system seems difficult for medium guilds. Any plans to improve it?
Director: We can set different standards for guilds depending on their size, but we haven't matched them yet.
Can you add more unique effects for 4th paths in the El Search Party Collection Synergy system? Currently, they mostly provide damage increase effects.
Planning Team Leader: It was intentional. We want to provide useful stats in certain combinations. There are no plans to add more unique effects, sorry.
The Adaptation Elixir duration doesn't match with other buffs. Is it possible to increase it? Also, can you add an item that freezes the duration of buffs like in Maple Story?
Planning Team Leader: We will consider increasing the Adaptation Elixir duration to 30 minutes.
Director: The release of cash items is always met with some resistance. We will consider this.
Why do negative effect potions exist in dungeons? Can you remove them?
Director: When Elsword was initially developed, we wanted it to be as diverse as possible. No such thing as "optimal play" was planned. In the current situation, we will consider positive changes.
I'm curious about the current state of Elsword's balance. It seems like the balance has deteriorated significantly. Some characters are preferred while others are not, and some characters have limitations even with gear, making it difficult to participate in content.
Planning Team Leader: Disparity in the strength of characters is healthy and intended. We want to do well, but it's hard and relies on our internal balance criteria which not always meets the expectations of players. Validating each suggestion in a six-week timeframe is unrealistic. The balance patches can bring numerical adjustments quickly, but implementing player suggestions requires skill renewal.
It's achievable, but not within this timeframe of balance patches. There's also other content that hinders us from preparing the patches, so the time spent on balancing out of these 6 weeks is a fraction of the interval.
Director: We are already thinking to increase the interval to 8 weeks to be able to focus on balancing more. The chat-based approach didn't work out well.
Not changing anything from now will just cause the same issues, so we want to try something different.
It might not satisfy everyone. In that case, we will just revert it, but it's important to at least try.
Some buff durations are extremely short like Immortal's [Mod] Infinite Chaser. I feel that this creates a preference for certain characters over others.
Planning Team Leader: Immortal was designed with short-duration powerful buffs back in the day. However, due to power inflation, it's become meaningless now.
We will discuss reviewing and changing it.
Director: It's a risky game to play with fundamental character concepts, but we will do what we can.
Abyss Mystic Stones can provide the same values as Shining Mystics. Is it possible to add new unique options and delete certain unneeded effects?
Planning Team Leader: There are no plans to add extra effects to Abyss Stones. Double Attack and Speed effects have already been removed. Some effects are still helpful in dungeons.
Can you bring back the Retry button in dungeons when solo or a single player ERP farm dungeon?
Planning Team Leader: The reason for removing the Retry button when solo was encouraging party play. Also, there were certain bugs happening when retrying as 1 person, and the feature didn't match the recommended playstyle. We will maintain the current state.
Director: Solo dungeons put a lot of pressure on players. Due to this, we are avoiding single player modes.
The progression dungeons might be suitable for solo, but the later ones were designed for party play. The dungeons currently in development are made for parties.
Can you sell Promotional Sets in the Cash Shop?
Director: Huh... I thought the pressure should be now eased due to the giveaway and EP Shop additions. I will try to create more opportunities for obtaining them.
It seems that new players don't understand the importance of El Resonance, while old players tend to nonsensically grind it, even though it stops giving useful stats after 550. Would you consider putting a limit on the El Resonance or do you have any additional opinions?
Director: Nothing confirmed yet.
I wanted to avoid this issue as much as I could because it could easily backfire on us. We added El Resonance after the level cap increase update to expand leveling, but we didn't expect players to have become 800. Some were online in the PC rooms for 23 hours... I think a change is needed, but it's difficult to decide right now.
The system causes inconvenience for new players, so I'm considering changing it into another leveling system with fixed effects. Radical changes are required. I even thought about removing the El Resonance.
It's hard to think of anything without harming either new or old players.
The Setting Sun title requirements make you play Titan's Grotto 500 times. It's ridiculous. Can you decrease it?
Director: We don't have any plans for that.
(A while after explaining how the title is obtained and used.)
Planning Team Leader: I understood. It will be reduced.
Some progression dungeons are never played. Any opinion on this?
Planning Team Leader: We are considering "forcing" players to play all progression dungeons.
Skill damage output is dependent on boss size. However, the Free Training does not provide other dummies than 2 types of size. Is it possible to add more to increase variety?
Planning Team Leader: We will consider it.
Director: I'm aware that this would require us to add a lot of various dummies. The current sizes are standardized so players can see damage differences clearly. We will consider adding a large size of a dummy.
For characters that use special gauges, it's challenging to use the Gate of Darkness potions along with normal potions considering the current amount of quick slots. There are also situations where Random Missions cannot be cleared (Active skill, MP usage).
Planning Team Leader: Adding special gauge refill to normal potions is deemed too risky. We will consider different methods to solve this issue.
Can you make an API for the game or a mobile app like op.gg?
Director: We didn't think about it. I'm curious about the most wanted data though.
It's difficult to access Elsword through mobile. It's hard to check announcements. Some features like chatting, the Trading Board, community-related options, user information and item statistics, etc. are not available.
Director: We haven't seriously considered developing a mobile app. Is the website inconvenient? We may need to discuss it separately with the website team. We haven't made any significant attempts in this area.
Characters get different fixed Physical/Magical Attack passives, different Critical stat buffs etc. This results in different CP of each character. Is there a way to alleviate this?
Planning Team Leader: From my perspective, I can try to adjust it based on the relevant information.
Can you rollback Apollyon? It's the main dealing skill of Catastrophe.
Planning Team Leader: 100% defense ignore is a powerful effect. It's considered imbalanced to bring this feature back. We will think about other improvements, but it would be difficult to implement them in the next balance patch.
Master and Hyper Active Skills are only useful for a small group of characters.
Planning Team Leader: I think such skills shouldn't be used in all situations. They are spectacular finishing moves, are closely tied to character concept, and even to the team's personal likings. However, we will consider increasing their damage.
Can you add re-awakening to old characters?
It's impossible, but we will think of removing penalties of old characters related to awakening.
This game has too many paywalls.
Improvement in progress.
What is the purpose of being able to create that many characters?
For the El Collection. We're mainly aiming for a single endgame character on the account.
The Tenebrous Armor is problematic.
The armor didn't turn out very well. It's a failed system.
What is the meaning of character roles?
With the introduction of raids, character roles were created. We considered it, but it didn't work well. We're continuously thinking about it; six weeks for balance patches are too short. Internally, the role of each character has already been established and is not subject to change.
The supply of Sage Stones is poor.
Thinking about it. There are players with more Sage Stones than you'd think...
Is it possible to release a Weapon Attribute effect preset?
I didn't think about it, but it makes sense to use different Attributes depending on the situation, so it will be considered.
Additional Feedback
Pity for Enhancement - wouldn't be like Reforge, only considering a guaranteed way to obtain the amulets (i.e. craft).
A system similar to Arcane Force - doesn't match the game.
A new event like ElStar - there was too much hate on Heart El, lost motivation. Might attempt once more.
[Force] Ignite - considering adding a cooldown on match start.
CP scaling - considering increasing the ceiling because 5m CP is no longer the standard for endgame.
Mystic Stones are hard to roll for useful effects - can't provide a definitive answer, forwarded.
Evasion skills - it's difficult to unify them but will make an effort.
Master Skill Character Portraits (HP/MP UI) - awkward due to the design, put on hold for now.
Add El Resonance and CP to guild applications - forwarded.
Guild Fountain - considering to add a pity system.
Guild name change limit - considering removing or increasing it.
Reaper title and other outdated items were not intended to be used in Challenge Mode. Will consider buffing more recent things.
Challenge Mode Force as a guaranteed drop - was the initial idea but a part of the team didn't like it. Will reconsider it.
Code: Essencia, Nisha Labyrinth etc. - summons can't be summoned after the stage ends - it was a fix to a bug that applied in the past days. Will test and see if it still happens, and remove the limitation if necessary.
Random mission (Active, MP usage) - will think about removing these conditions.
New Artbook - no plans.
Traditional Korean Avatars - foreigners don't like them, not planning.
Gameplay stage selection in Battle Pass - will consider if possible. The current Battle Pass is a mix of what a new player and an old player needs.
More guild skill pages, member limit expansion - no plans.
Guild Coins - considering automatic storage of Guild Coins for each member.
Cooldown Reduction for each job - aiming for improvements.
Discrepancy in small and large boss DPS - need to consider both aspects when balancing. Not impossible but hard. Will try to fix it.
Solo dungeon - considering its necessity, long-term assumptions must be made.
There might be a special dungeon for supplying Abyss Mystic Stones.
Perki and Eltrion re-release - doing it now would be boring, we don't want to damage players' memories.
Buff multiplicative/additive display - not planned.
ED purchase with Cash - will think about it depending on the state of the market.
Pricing of recent Cash Shop Items - they have a considerable value.
Permanent Synergy Ticket - if released, it would be extremely expensive. Considering it though.
Planning Team Leader: I apologize for not providing sufficient answers before. We've had numerous discussions about balance, and we'll try to do better in the future. There have been discussions about the gaps within roles, passive skill balance, small and large boss dealing skills, etc. Some people provided simple, some lengthy feedback, and based on our internal criteria, we believe that the balance is flawed. We'll review the internal standards and try to implement a patch that satisfies you as much as possible. Thank you for your patience.
Operational Team Leader: Although it might seem like the event is ending, this is actually a time to hear from adventurers. We've had many discussions, and it was also a topic we were contemplating. We could hear some new thoughts as well. We will keep making Elsword a satisfying game even after the anniversary.
Nexon Business Team Leader: It would be great to have more opportunities like this, not just in this setting but in various forms. Before we conclude today, we hope to hear more and provide feedback on what we can improve.
Questions and Answers #2
Originally, the size increase effect was fixed at 30%, but you added more sources that are different. Will the tooltips be updated?
Director: We are aware that old tooltips don't include useful information, consisting almost only of flavor text. We are recently trying to provide more careful explanations. It's also difficult to address the calculation method.
Will there be any improvement regarding the 3-second delay when switching items in dungeon?
Director: We haven't made any improvements on that part, but I will bring it up again.
It would be nice if the skill tooltips displayed which buffs are additive, and which are multiplicative.
Planning Team Leader: We believe that providing tooltip information about stat calculation will make the game messy. We don't want to make such information public because it's embarrassing. It's also difficult to determine whether an effect is additive or multiplicative.
Is it possible to add a way to purchase ED with Cash?
Director: We haven't completely ruled it out; however, we don't like the idea of selling ED for Cash. If there's a need, we will reconsider it. We don't know if it will be okay to make the price fixed. We need to consider the fluctuations in the market. We will look into it if anything.
With the release of new armors, materials related to them become obsolete (Elrianode and Rigomor). Soon, the same might happen to Tenebrous materials. Any plans to make an exchange for new materials?
Director: We believe that big side effects will arise if we do that. If we bring in new equipment, you just have to use new materials. Continuously bringing in old items to trade for new items will cause more problems.
Recently, there have been complaints from players regarding the pricing of the new Synergy/Customization Preset pages and the Pet Quick Slot Upgrade Service. Can you explain the criteria for pricing these items?
Director: Basically, we consider the utility and benefits given by the item to set the prices. Of course, we don't ignore items released in the past; we set the prices based on those criteria. While there were complaints about these matters, we thought it was reasonable when considering the utility. However, we will review these complaints and try to be more careful in the future.
Are there any plans for adding Guild Battles in the form of 3v3 PvP?
Director: When improving the guild content, we aimed not to cause too much stress. Large guilds might have no problems, but it can be difficult for small and medium-sized guilds to participate. Also, we are trying to avoid adding anything that would force players to play PvP.
Note
If an official notice is posted, any extra information will be added here.