Developer K finally put up the patch preview.

Special thanks to Thomas of NA for compiling the text for me!

Hi~ Developer K the Liar is here~

• Although it is weird to write a patch preview three days before the patch, you want to see the patch content quickly, right? (T/N: There is more, but I don’t understand. 이피디가 썰 한번 풀고 욕 먹을 거 있으면, 미리 욕도 먹고, 솔직한 개발 비화에 무릎 한번 탁 치고 패치 기다리는게 또 드네하는 맛 아니겠습니까잉?)
• Let me give you a look at how hard we have been working this month.

Kairon Nest is love.

[Content] Kairon Nest

• This has already been shown through various means, so I will touch briefly upon it.
• This is a new nest consisting of four stages, and with bosses armed with new attack patterns, you can enjoy some fresh gameplay for a long time. However, there is nothing special in terms of formality.
• Regarding the rewards, they are not so different from the Mist Nest rewards. It is normal content where you can farm enhancement stones, and it rewards you as much as possible with four kinds of dragon gems and talismans.
• For reference, I think that Kairon Nest will last one month, and by that, I do not mean that it will disappear in a month. Rather, the Labyrinth Update will change the way you farm enhancement stones. I want you to enjoy the nest casually with your friends.

[Skill] Class Balancing

• I am embarrassed about the current class balancing.
• As PD, I have been trying to address internal development problems. I thought that the details of a MMO were important, so I fixed a lot of small things as “Dragon Nest expression.”
• Since we have a lot of important and big problems to solve, I do not have a lot of opportunities to present the game’s direction. I want you to know that we have a desire to properly address class balancing.
• This month, we are buffing the weaker classes: the swordsman and sorceress series.
• They have had lots of ups and downs because of their poor balancing, but there is no need to worry any longer. (Sorry, I will address Dancers next month.)
• Players have lost confidence in class balancing for a long time and I know that it is the biggest crisis in our game service. Although I buffed some weak classes this month, I do not think that I can address all of the issues with this kind of partial balancing.
• Even though I cannot fix all the issues in one try, I think that in order to be one step closer, I have to break the existing patch paradigm and make some more challenging attempts.
• Of course, I will listen to the players’ opinions and consider them.

[Content] Hero’s Battlefield Remake

• I should have done this a long time ago. I am sorry.
• In fact, this was not a situation where you were suffering from a lack of content. I have minimized the number of clears to one Normal and one Hardcore so that it does not feel like weekly homework. You need an entry ticket for Hardcore, which you can obtain from doing 20 daily tasks. There is no additional ticket for Normal mode.
• I have increased the amount of rewards, and I will incorporate Hero Experience into it in the future.
• As you can see, I have made a separate ticket for Hardcore mode. I will make it drop from regular content in the future so that you feel rewarded. (This time, it is only basic.)

[Content] Dynamic Planning Cycle

• I think that one of the prominent characteristics of Dragon Nest from a simple point of view is the lack of a planning cycle. The content has been drawn out for a fairly long time, and the system has been developed in spite of what it lacks, yet I cannot integrate these two aspects well.
• When I create content, that is not the end of it. If I combine it with simpler projects, it is as if there are ten contents in one, reducing the boredom that results from repeated play.
• It is only a matter of the planning cycle, but even if I had kept the old content (T/N: old nests) in the meantime, Dragon Nest would have been much better off.
• However, I am a positive man, and I believe that this is the right path.
• In fact, I just did not include any good things in the planning cycle. Quest materials are dropped in five different stages. If you complete one quest, you will get a lot of Hero Experience.
• While we only have this simple planning cycle right now, I am working on some cool planning cycles that will change up the boring gameplay.

[Item] Green Dragon Accessories Boost

• I thought that the concept of Time Attack and reward per stage was well done. Despite the limitations of pure gold items, I also thought the clear rewards were also pretty good.
• However, there was a slight mistake in setting the stats of the rewards.
• To clear the first two stages, you needed Limit Break accessories. To clear the entire raid, you needed Refined Genesis accessories. As such, the clear rewards did not increase players’s stats.

• Looking at the chart, most players who met the requirements challenged the raid immediately after the update. The number of challengers dropped the second week. Many players who met the requirements did not even try it out.
• This conservative stats setup was expected because I was conscious of Genesis accessories.
• I will postpone addressing Genesis accessories. For now, let me describe the changes to the new set of rewards.

• Given the effort and expenses involved with investing in Green Dragon accessories, I have upgraded all the rewards with stats that I deemed more reasonable.

This is the costume for February. Boy and Girl Scouts?

Cash Shop

• In 2018, I plan to actively change the cash shop model.
• I am disatisfied with the current cash shop configuration. The reason is not just about money, but also to increase the satisfaction of players who buy cash items and reduce the adverse effects of cash items on the game.

Special Server Storage Movement Ticket

• When I decided to make level 95 equipment server storagable, I had difficulty applying this to Medea, so I only offered a package for Calypso equipment, but now I have a more scalable system.
• I cannot change the server storage settings. I do not want to reduce a [Character’s Farming Lifespan], and I also do not want to prevent multiple characters from using a piece of gear, but I want you to at least play those characters regularly.
• Therefore, I have created a way for you to switch main characters for a while. I call this the Special Server Storage, a system that allows you to move your equipment with some payment. I think I will continue to allow you to server storage those items, without further changes to this system. (This is ironic since this does not make us any money, but just avert your eyes.)

Crystal Shop 2015 Costume Collection

• I will add a new collection every month, but I do not think that I can fit them all in.
• I have added the animal costumes this month, with the exception of Machina, since she was not available at the time.
• Actually, I put in a request to make an animal costume for Machina. Since it is rather unfair to place items that were not actually sold in the past in the Crystal Shop, I will create a different way to acquire her costume.

2018 Seasonal Event

• Do you remember what I said during Chuseok? I was hoping that the Moonlight event would be a hot event for the holidays.
• I have decided to stage the Moonlight Event again as planned, but this time I have changed the reward to a necklace. There are some players who cannot play during the holidays, so I will launch the event on the day of the patch (There are two weeks left before the holiday).
• This is to let the people who will not be there during the holidays at least play a little at the start (myself included, haha).

Pet 3.0

• Pets are items with continuous maintenance costs, yet their stats are too low to mean anything. I figured that the depth in growth once your pet reached max level was insufficient.
• First of all, I have upgraded the stats of pets so that achieving max level will feel meaningful. Secondly, I have created a cycle to continously raise pets to max level, which will also make some money.
• When you extracted max level pets in the past, you obtained Bamboo Juice. Now, you get a Pet Accessory Voucher. If you collect three of these, you can purchase a Legendary Pet Accessory.
• In addition, the purchase cycle is conscientious, so I think that this pet boost is good. After all, it is a hassle to use a max level pet if you want to grow a pet.

Goblynn’s Small Box

• In addition, I have to talk about money.
• Honestly, the Gacha system is a mess now. Our consumers are disatisfied, and our products are not selling. First of all, I wanted to revamp the Gacha system, so I dropped Gacha Boxes from the VIP Package and decided to offer the VIP effect for about 3000 won.
• First off, I have added Goblynn’s Box. It has a small chance of dropping from the Dimensional Rabbit at the end of dungeons, and you need 500 won to open it. By changing the previous Cash Shop Purchase method to the Dungeon Drop method, I can simulate the amount of Gacha Boxes that would normally be bought. I can raise the purchase value of Gacha Boxes through selling limited edition Gacha Boxes. (Rather than think that I am greedy, I intended for this to guide everyone)
• The Gacha Box contains different items from the previous Pandora’s Box, which should satisfy the market deficiency. I have set the drop rate so that the items from the Gacha Boxes do not significantly impact the economy.
• The contents will change monthly, depending on the economy. The content of existing boxes will also change, so if you want an item, it is better to open it during the month that it is available.

Finally

• I know that you all have been waiting a lot, and I am frustrated that I cannot write faster.
• In fact, it takes me about 1-2 hours to write these. However, it is true that I should not consider this a matter of time or labor, since this is my unique way of communicating with you.
• To write a note, I have to ignore all of my coworkers ㅠㅠ. When I write notes, the operating team meets together for lunch. (T/N: I give up on this sentence. Here: 개노트 쓰려면 같이 일하는 사람들 연락 다 무시하고 딱 각 잡고 써야하거든 ㅠㅠ 각잡고 쓰다가도 결국 일이 생기고 생기고 하다 보면 또 마무리 못하고, 밥 먹다가 만나는 운영팀장님이 막 개노트 언제 쓰냐고, 그러게 왜 쓴다고 말해서 기다리게 하냐고 혼나고 ㅠㅠ)
• Ha, the road to proper communication is long and steep.
• Here I go. Stay healthy.

Later This Month

• Skill Balancing: Why? - The History of Skill Balancing and Its Direction
• Final Damage: Have you guessed? - Its Beginning, Past, and Future
• One Step Closer to “Godly Game” - The Labyrinth System
• Is Dragon Nest going to be a “Godly Game”? Or a “Trash Game”? - 2018 Development Direction

T/N: In Korea, they refer to good games as 갓겜, which literally means “God Game,” and bad games as 망겜, which literally means “Ruined Game.” But what is Dragon Nest? I think that this is an inside joke between Developer K and KDN players.