[Developer Letter] Contents, Improvements, Special News!

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2024-04-19 08:53

Developer Letter

Hello Agents. It's been a while since I greeted you.

This is Hyun-jun Kang, the PD of Closers. I hope everyone is doing well.

I have been meaning to reach out more often, but I wanted to make sure we had everything in order before sharing updates with our Closers community. We appreciate your patience. The development team and I are doing our best to make Closers even better. This developer letter is our way of giving you a preview of the content that will be introduced from June onwards, as well as the new content planned for the second half of the year. First, let me introduce the updates for June.

1. Conquest Program Ver.2

The Conquest program, which received much love from our Closers community, will be returning in June with Version 2.

As you've been waiting patiently, Version 2 of the Conquest program is returning in June. In Version 2, we aim to provide a more intense and combat-focused experience that highlights the abilities of your trained characters. Now, let me briefly explain the changes in Ver.2.

Firstly, we've changed the battle format from 2:1 to 1:1. This adjustment aims to remove elements that hindered control in the previous Conquest program. It minimizes interruptions to the flow of character skills caused by monsters dodging skills or two monsters using skills simultaneously or individually. In Version 2, you'll be able to fully enjoy the combat environment where you can showcase the specs and control advantages of your nurtured characters.

Additionally, we've added conditions within dungeons where resurrection is not possible, and buff items like the "Piece of Cake" cannot be used. This decision was made to address the imbalance caused by differences in resurrection times between characters and costume motions, as well as to ensure that dungeon clearances are not determined by resurrection or the possession of certain consumables, which goes against the direction of the content.

Overall, in comparison to Version 1, we've designed Version 2 to accentuate the specs and control elements of characters more prominently. Furthermore, to give it significance as challenge content, we've included emoticon tickets and prepared rewards that can only be obtained through the Conquest program. We kindly ask for your active participation, Agents.

2. Character Skill Remake: Yuri and J

The "Skill Remake" that we first introduced during 'CLOSERS CHANNEL ON EP.1' is set to make its debut in June. Separate from balance patches, our goal is to provide meaningful changes and new experiences for each character, aiming to alter the structure and forms of their skills to offer a better gameplay experience.

The first characters to be showcased are Yuri and J from the Black Lambs team. Today, we'd like to give you a sneak peek at the revamped skills and some skill combo footage.

*This content is under development and is subject to change upon update.

The goal of skill remake is to upgrade the quality of old skills' effects and enhance the usability of various skills, providing a new level of excitement in battles. In addition to Yuri and J, skill remakes for other characters will be continuously carried out, following the order of the teams. While we aim to update as many characters as possible in a timely manner, please understand that it requires careful development processes to present them in a highly polished state. We appreciate your patience and support as we strive to showcase each character's impressive actions after the diligent efforts put into the development process.

3. Ancient Dragon Historic Site New Dungeon: Tiamat of the Beginning

Following the introduction of "Mirage Repeated," the new dungeon "Tiamat of the Beginning" in the Ancient Dragon Historic Site will be unveiled for the first time since then, with an update scheduled for June.

In the upcoming new dungeon, we have planned for a different dungeon experience from what you've seen before, and we are currently preparing to present a high-quality appearance. Additionally, the transformed Tiamat awaits you in a new form. The intriguing story behind why Tiamat has become so small and cute, as well as its purpose, awaits you. We appreciate your anticipation for this exciting narrative.

With the addition of the new dungeon, there have been some changes. Whenever a new dungeon is added, it can be challenging to practice the gimmicks and patterns of the new monsters due to the dungeon entry limit. To address this, we have tentatively introduced a [Practice Dungeon] where you can research patterns and strategies without being limited by entry counts. We believe this will greatly reduce the initial burden of the challenge by allowing players to confirm monster gimmicks and patterns without the pressure of limited attempts. We appreciate your interest and participation in this addition.

Alongside the new dungeon, a new chip, the 'Tiamat of the Beginning Chip,' will be introduced. We aim to provide sufficient motivation for playing the new dungeon.

Next, I would like to introduce some of the improvements currently being prepared for a more enjoyable gameplay experience for all Agents.

1. Ancient Dragon Historic Site Play Improvement

With the update to the new Ancient Dragon Historic Site dungeon, there will also be a revamp of the existing Ancient Dragon Historic Site dungeons.
Rewards from the old dungeons will be partially transferred to the latest dungeons, and some dungeons will be consolidated to reduce exhaustion. Additionally, the number of entries required for gameplay will be reduced, and rewards will be increased accordingly.

Please wait a bit longer, and we will introduce a more streamlined Ancient Dragon Historic Site gameplay for you to enjoy.

2. Chip System Convenience Improvement and Chip Overclock Balancing

Some conveniences in the chip system will be improved. Changes will be made to the chip crafting UI to allow users to see the crafting list at a glance, and some tab names will be updated to be more intuitive.

*This content is under development and is subject to change upon update.

Additionally, we plan to add more crafting recipes to allow for the creation of more overclock chips. These recipes will be obtainable using resources acquired from the Tiamat Of The Beginning dungeon, enabling faster chip overclocking. The improvements to the chip system convenience and the addition of crafting recipes will be carried out simultaneously with the Ancient Dragon Historic Site update, so please look forward to it.

3. Inventory Improvement

You've been waiting for this for a long time, and I remember it being one of the most requested features. It's none other than inventory improvement.

It can be broadly divided into two parts: quantitative improvement and convenience improvement.

1) Quantitative Improvement
Currently, Closers utilizes a total of 5 tabs and 350 inventory slots. We have explored ways to increase this number, but we've concluded that it would inevitably impact the stability of the live servers with an unacceptable level of load. Given the complexity of the game system, a careful approach was necessary as any fundamental structural changes would be quite intricate.

Therefore, we've focused on practical improvements that can alleviate usability issues. One such improvement is the 'slot rearrangement' between tabs. Currently, the 'Mission' inventory tab is the least used, so by removing unnecessary items from here and adjusting the absolute usage, we can ultimately remove the 'Mission' inventory, thus adding 20 slots to other inventories. This results in a total of 360 slots utilized across 4 tabs, an increase of 10 slots from the previous setup.

*This content is under development and is subject to change upon update.

To achieve this, items that were stored in the existing quest inventory and deemed useless, being only used in simple quests, will be removed. Items with utility, such as farming materials, will be moved to the 'Materials' tab. However, due to the possibility of the 'Materials' inventory becoming temporarily full during the update, some items will be relocated to the [Virtual Bank].

The [Virtual Bank] is a system created alongside inventory improvement. It's a new Bank format where items can only be stored but not used. Unfortunately, due to server overload concerns, this system cannot be permanently applied. After a certain period, we will announce the scheduled deletion date.

Additionally, credit account integration, an increase in account credit holdings, an increase in stackable item maximum quantities, and the addition of an inventory item locking feature will be implemented.

We're committed to enhancing your convenience and, above all, ensuring stability.

2) Convenience Improvement
Next, we're focusing on convenience improvements. You may have experienced inconvenience when crafting specific items or using consumables and materials, often needing to retrieve items from your account storage or logging in with another character to transfer items through the bank.

To eliminate this inconvenience, we're developing a system where Bank-stored materials can be used when crafting or performing similar actions. Most systems are considered to be enhanced to allow the use of items from both the inventory and warehouse, as well as the account storage, reducing many inconveniences.

Convenience improvements will be implemented after the quantitative improvements are updated and are also scheduled for the second half of the year.

4. Character Creation Window Enhancement

We plan to renovate the character creation window. After the update long ago, certain aspects may feel a bit outdated, so we're improving them to better convey the character's charm and information. With an increase in the size of skill video clips and the ability to view all characters' promotion illustrations, you'll have a clearer picture. This enhancement is slated for release in the latter half of the year.

*This content is under development and is subject to change upon update.

<< If you feel like the number of characters varies by team, you're not mistaken. >>

5. [Training Ground] Adding Defense Training Dummy

A "Defense Training Dummy" will be added to the training grounds.

The Defense Training Dummy is a dummy that replicates most of the attacks used by monsters, such as regular attacks, super armor crashes, and attacks that ignore invincibility, within a certain time frame. Skilled Closers can summon the Defense Training Dummy, while new Closers can observe the effects of monster attack patterns based on their visual cues.

The Defense Training Dummy is also scheduled for release in the latter half of the year.

Next, although it's a bit early, I'll introduce some new content planned for the latter half of the year along with ongoing optimization efforts.

1. Optimization

The development team has been consistently working on optimizing the client. While you may not yet fully feel the effects, some optimizations have already been implemented, and work is underway to make optimizations that can be felt during gameplay. Specifically, we are addressing issues such as frame drops that occur in various situations, such as when staying in certain towns, when multiple monster respawns occur, or when using specific skills. These optimizations are scheduled to be completed by the latter half of the year. Once the updates are finalized, we will provide detailed information again. Please bear with us a little longer as we strive to make Closers gameplay more enjoyable by making sufficient improvements.

2. New Dungeon: Dragon King Hecatoncheir and Astarte

In the upcoming second half of the year, we are excited to introduce two new bosses in the latest dungeon. They are none other than 'Dragon King Hecatoncheir' and 'Astarte.'

Many Agents will surely recall the name 'Hecatoncheir.' Since the first season of the Black Lambs team, Legion Commander Hecatoncheir has been a figure of awe and respect. Now, in the upcoming second half of the year, he will finally reveal his true colors. How he returns from a state where he should have perished in the storyline, and why he appears in a slightly different form from what we knew, will all be unveiled in the update planned for the second half of this year.

Alongside the Dragon King Hecatoncheir, a new boss named 'Astarte' will also make her appearance. With her beautiful yet icy demeanor, one may wonder about her true identity. And what relationship does she have with Hecatoncheir? We kindly ask for the continued interest and support of all our beloved Agents.

This upcoming new boss dungeon is designed for a recommended party size of four. It will offer a gameplay experience different from the previous investigation teams or advance parties, aiming to minimize the shortcomings of the previous systems.

More details will be provided in the second half of the year.

3. 6th character of the Black Lambs Team: Lia Yun

In the last "World Peace Plaza: Epilogue - Audio Movie," the silhouette of a new character mentioned by Hildagarde was revealed.

This silhouette, as many Closers may have anticipated, belongs to the new character to be updated in the latter half of the year, 'Lia Yun.'

'Lia Yun' is the 6th member of the Black Lambs team. As a former idol with a unique phase force of 'Soundwave,' she is a rookie Closer who uses a microphone to defeat dimensional monsters. While we can't reveal too much yet, I'll share some glimpses of her appearance and skills, which I'm sure many Closers are eager to see.

*This content is under development and is subject to change upon update.

As a new member of the Black Lambs, we kindly ask for your attention to see what contributions she will make. More detailed information will be provided in our next communication.

That's all for today's prepared content.

Thanks to the support of all Agents, Closers is moving forward toward the future. We ask for your continued support and encouragement to bring joy to all our Agents.

We'll be back with richer content next time. Thank you always.

Best Regards,
Kang PD.

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