Nexon announced the server integration of the side-scrolling action RPG ‘Elsword’ in the first half of 2023. Users of ‘rural servers’ with a small population sometimes had difficulty moving content forward smoothly, but this problem is expected to be fixed. solved after integration.
On the 3rd, to celebrate Elsword’s 15th birthday, an offline event called ‘Welcome to Magmelia’ was held at the ‘Vita 500 Coliseum’ in Jamsil. This event is the first large-scale offline event after the meeting. All 175 seats were sold within 30 seconds of the ticket, drawing the attention of consumers even before the start.
Part 1 was a mini-game that involved user participation. A total of 7 booths were prepared, including ‘Find Alsongdalsong El Search Team’ and ‘Verd Appears in Magmelia’. Users can enjoy them in the order they want. Each game is implemented to feel Elsword’s ‘Magmelia’.
Various prizes such as a small amount of Nexon Cash and stickers were given to users who managed to clear the mini game. If all seven games were successful, an additional 40,000 Nexon Cash was awarded. If all are successful, it’s a ‘Hyeja’ event where you can get a total of 75,000 Nexon Cash.
■ 90% of users agree to server integration
Server integration, which many users have been waiting for, will happen in the first half of next year. The results of the last server consolidation survey were reflected. The proportion of users who are in favor of integration is close to 90%. Director Lee Dong-shin said, “It was delayed because we were reviewing concerns about server integration.”
■ Elesis Line 4 “The concept of a female knight who carves her destiny”
Director Lee said, “It took a long time to update the 4th line of Elesis. Thanks for waiting.” The 4th line Elesis will be updated on the 8th. With the concept of a female knight carving her own destiny, it is designed around the ‘chivalry’ system and a sword that transforms into different forms.
Cheong’s 4th line will be on January 5 next year. It is a concept of caring for those who defend themselves. He is a character that supports allies using the holy guardian stone and possesses fast mobility. In addition, the 4th line of ‘Ain’ on February 2nd next year, the 4th line of ‘Noah’ on March 2nd, and the story update of ‘Rosé’, predict a winter full of history.
■ “Receive the address the user wants” quest improvement
Various raid difficulties that users express dissatisfaction with are being improved. First of all, it’s an item exchange improvement of the abyssal raid. The amount required to purify ‘Mark of the Abyss’ energy is reduced. In addition, ‘Giant Village Station Stone’ is added to the Abyss Mark exchange list.
The difficulty of the Abyss Raid is also adjusted. Director Lee explained, “There was a lot of feedback on the raid structure that required the separation of physical and magic parties.” He continued, “In the case of the 2nd dungeon, it was a patch that should have been done earlier, but I’m sorry for the delay.” Some patterns are also changed.
Dungeon requirements that require 2 tokens are reduced to 1. In addition, the token reduction for ‘Land of Cold’ and ‘Old Site Village’ will increase. The difficulty of obtaining ‘public titles’ which help growth is alleviated. Announced modification of ‘Prunium’ raid amount acquisition weapon meter, improved extraction of ‘Tenebros’ armor option, and added EP shop products.
■ Added a maximum difficulty raid challenge mode
A raid challenge mode is added. It’s a raid party dungeon, not a 6-person quest team mode, and it’s a dungeon where 8 people attack each other. Director Lee emphasized, “We set the highest level of specification and difficulty requirements to match the challenging content.” More details will be revealed later.
■ Emphasis on the higher atmosphere as you go down the abyss
Art developer Myungsang Yoon presented the story, background design, and monster concept of ‘Abyss’, which was updated in August. The four key keywords that make up the abyss are ‘follower’, ‘primitive ecosystem’, and ‘colony’. It was designed around the ‘altar’. The point is, as you go down into the abyss, the environmental changes intensify. In addition, various works from the concept art draft to the final design were released along with the Abyss background thumbnail, and received great response from users.
■ 4th Line Development “Focus on maintaining identity rather than new elements”
Kang Dong-hun, the 2D character part lead, explained the story behind the development of the 4th line. To put it generally, this is the 4th job promotion. Leader Kang said, “The most considered part in designing the concept of the 4th line is the distinguishing charm.”
Then, the direction in which the character moves was mentioned. Leader Kang explained, “I tried to clearly express the growth of each previous rank.” He emphasized, “The 4th line is the one where each line achieved the maximum growth in a different position,” and “various attempts were made to express the peak of growth.”
In addition, he said that he expanded his mind based on the main factor of the character’s job change. Leader Kang explained, “It was important to maintain the identity of the basic job change so that users can understand it.” He submitted that he refrained from adding completely new elements that did not exist until the 3rd line.
I also focused on changing each character’s mind. I took the ‘Antize’ line from ‘Efa’ as an example. The Antithesis is a former line with a narrative that has become corrupted due to the side effect of the burden of rebuilding the kingdom. Leader Kang said, “I tried to express each character’s narrative well.”
He continued, “What I felt when releasing the 4 lines is that users really appreciate characters,” and expressed his gratitude, “I will try to design characters that users can understand and love.”
■ Q&A with Director Lee Dong-shin “Focus on 4 lines this winter”
Q. I wonder if there will be a theme song and story film for the character ‘Rosé’?
is currently being prepared
Q. I’m curious about the intention to make Essentia green, the reason for the withdrawal, and plans to reflect the balance in the future.
Withdrawal should not be avoided. However, user play patterns were considered. The development team thought it was okay to change it, but it was withdrawn due to the way it had been done and equipment replacement issues. I am reviewing again. I’m thinking of changing it, but I’m in no rush to do it. We will review it carefully.
Q. I wonder if the coloring function of rare avatars will be released.
Some possible unlocks in the next patch. We will expand gradually.
C. Improve modeling of old characters. It’s too unnatural compared to the new character.
I have been thinking about modeling old characters for a long time. However, there are many difficulties in applying it immediately.
Q. The balance sheet of the battle was last February last year. when do you start again?
In preparation for the 4th line, I decided not to patch the battle balance. As soon as the 4-line release of all the characters is over, I’ll try to fix it.
Q. I wonder if new characters will come out in the winter update.
not coming out This winter update is going to focus on the 4 lines.
Q. Do you have any plans to improve user convenience with direct patches instead of rushing through convenience patches?
I tried to patch for convenience, even when I had the chance. The development team drove convenience pieces related to the content, and otherwise proceeded in the middle. Being an old game, there are many derivatives when one is modified, so there were many cases where it was installed immediately. In the future, we will do our best to fix it so that users will not be inconvenienced.
