Upcoming PVP and Balance Changes

There’s been a lot of discussion about PVP and Balance issues. We’re very aware that things aren’t 100% perfect and we’re working hard on solutions that both fit our vision for SAGA and appease the concerns players have. While the following are features/changes/tweaks in development, nothing is set in stone. However, we’d really appreciate players to take a deep breath before giving into that early gut reaction to the ideas. =) I know it’s difficult…but it’s probably worth it. After that please feel free to send your thoughts our way. So without further ado…here’s Monk’s commentary on some future adjustments coming your way.

All initial balance changes are being made off level 10 units. I’m going to let out a secret right now since I think it will help everyone understand a bit more about how things are being balanced. There will eventually be increased ability changes for troops as they level up. The system is already in the game, we just haven’t “turned it on” yet. This means that all abilities are currently also being balanced for level 10 unit combat. Once we feel that things are in a good place we’ll be adding in the lower levels. This means that lower level combat will perform more akin to that of the higher level combat regarding direct damage abilities and the like.

There are also a few more PVP based changes nearly finished which will be added soon. The first is the garrisoning feature. This basically will allow players to remove units off the field, regain the cps, and then deploy a more useful unit for the situation. The cost will be that 5 cps from your max fieldable will be lost and the unit which was removed will not be available to deploy for some additional period (we’re currently testing 5 minutes). The unit can later be deployed and will maintain its current status while garrisoned (i.e. hit points and all will still be in the same state as when they left the field). This will affect both questing and PVP although it is primarily a PVP based adjustment.

Another update we’re making is that your max fieldable CPs in a PVP will be limited by both your level AND your buildings. So even if you have reached level 35 you will need to ensure that you have enough siege points on the field to muster your army. If you don’t, you will be unable to field your maximum army size. Additionally, we’re adding Stronghold and Keep destruction to the list of PVP victory conditions. While we weren’t too worried about city development being an issue once world conflict comes out, we see this issue as serious enough to warrant such a change. Things will actually be more in line with the original game design than before so we’re pretty happy about the changes.

There are many troop and spell based adjustments still waiting in the wings. It’s easy to make drastic changes to the way things work to try and appease a loud outcry on the forums or in chat but it’s generally not a good idea to give in to those uproars until the issues have been thoroughly dissected and analyzed. We’re trying hard to avoid making large sweeping changes to units in the game to avoid causing even more issues with the nearly unavoidable ripple effects of balance. With that said we are going to be making some big adjustments as we continue to gather the data on what is and is not working according to the “plan.” We’re appreciative of all the commentary on the forums even when it gets a little heated. Please continue to feed us the good stuff in a proper manner and we’ll eventually get things to where they should be. SAGA is a huge beast – it’s not as easy as simply “balancing things.” Complicating issues are the many various ideas regarding what real balance is. Even attempts at discerning the opinions of players as to what is and is not balanced end up being heated and there are normally advocates of both sides. This is only expected though as everyone has different play styles, goals, and capabilities. Consider also that what works for PVP doesn’t necessarily work perfectly for PVE. We don’t want to go the route of other games where we have separate abilities for PVP and PVE – so there will be much time spent on avoiding that sort of thing. Before making decisions we always try to exhaust our potential solutions.

Another interesting, upcoming tidbit would be the breakdown of rating and tournament rating. We’re hoping to separate the two out so players can better assess their competition. While it will remain possible to a degree to exploit/abuse the rating, your tournament rating will be much harder to compromise. We’re also looking at options for creating a “Looking For Battle” option in the game where players will be matched up into PVP battles rather than waiting in the queue for someone to join their game. Both options will still remain available, but we hope to make it easier to get into a PVP contest in the near future. I am under the impression that the tournament system will alleviate much of the PVP frustration being experienced at this time but we’ll continue to add solutions and possibilities as we go forward.

And then there was world conflict…

This is a system I’m really excited about. I’m not allowed to talk about it much yet but I believe it will be exciting and add a lot of fun and draw to most, if not all, of our players. We’re trying to include options for all types of players from the casual player to the hardcore, 18-hour-a-day fanatic. Things are looking good so far – I promise I’ll get news out about it as soon as the guards leave the gate. =)

Anyhow, much to do yet today – we’re working hard on getting tomorrow’s patch ready. It solves every known market issue, fixes some known crash issues, and offers a bunch of little but needed tweaks. We’re hoping to have a bigger update coming up in a few weeks which might be the solution to several of the other key issues plaguing some of you (i.e. crashes) . Thanks for your support and patience – we hope you’re enjoying SAGA as much as we are so far!