Greetings! It's Team SoulEve.
We would like to thank all our Warriors for participating in the Final Test and providing valuable feedback.
The feedback included both valuable positive and negative comments that the team will use to take the game in a better direction.
To summarize our primary goal for this Early Access, we aim to ensure more warriors play stably and smoothly.
Therefore, we have decided to focus on improving the servers for Early Access.
Service and Servers
During the Final Test, we think that a lack of servers and server problems caused access issues for specific regions.
The causes of these issues are complex.
The following are steps we plan to take to address these issues.
Issues
1. Custom Game Mode Unexpectedly Increased Server Strain
Custom Game Mode is one of our best features.
We plan to introduce Cross Draft Mode and continue to work on Custom Game Mode. We are planning to increase the number of servers to ensure stable gameplay.
2. Issues with Select Servers
We have identified the servers with an issue and fixed them.
3. Issues with Identification Process in Select Countries
There was an issue with the identification process in some countries, but it has now been fixed.
4. Early Access Server Operation Info
To provide a stable gameplay environment, new and additional servers are being created.
1. New Server: California (U.S. West)
2. Existing Server Expansion
MMR, Matchmaking, and Competitive
MMR and Matchmaking are important features that determine the quality of matches.
To increase the quality of matches, the following issues have been fixed or will be fixed in the future.
Issues
1. Overall Quality of Matches in Competitive
Competitive can be played when a player has (10 selectable heroes + N ban heroes) heroes, excluding rotation heroes, and has achieved account level 10.
Therefore, unlike the Final Test, only Warriors with more experience will be able to play Competitive.
2. No Limit on Matching between Grades, Increasing Match Range
For Matchmaking between Grades, unlike the Final Test which had a limited number of players, players will not be matched against other players above a certain Grade.
3. Low Starting Grade after Placement Match
Based on the MMR distribution that we saw from the Final Test, we are planning to adjust the number of points required to reach each Grade.
We are planning to adjust the Grade points so that Warriors who received high scores in their Placement Matches start at Gold at the least.
4. Team with Last Hero Ban Getting First Pick
We are planning to fix it so that the team that bans the last Hero cannot also have first pick.
5. Duo Possible Regardless of Grade Difference
We are planning to make it so duos that do not meet duo requirements are unable to queue for Matching.
Additional Feedback
1. Hero Pick Determined by MMR in Competitive
Hero pick order being determined by MMR in the draft is something we are not planning to change for now.
Being in a higher MMR bracket does not mean that the player gets #1 pick in the draft.
Of course, being in a higher MMR bracket than the other Warriors will increase the chances that you will pick first, but we believe this to be a very small number of Warriors.
If there are better ideas on how to improve the system, we will consider changing it, but for now, we are focused on working on priority tasks.
2. Too Many Banned Heroes (4) Considering the Total Number of Heroes (27)
There was a lot of feedback saying that too many heroes are banned considering the total number of heroes.
We are currently determining whether to lower the number of banned heroes from 2 to 1.
The change may come later after completing other priority tasks. If so, we will inform players of our decision ASAP.
3. Opinions on Playing Duo in Competitive
There were concerns raised about fairness and gameplay quality regarding playing duo in Competitive.
Therefore, we are planning to prohibit playing duo in the following two situations:
1) Players cannot duo in any way during Placement Matches (Placement Matches are solo only).
2) Players that are Master+ cannot duo (Master+ players have already proven their individual capabilities and, to keep matches fair, can no longer duo).
Heroes and Balances
Hero balances will be adjusted using data on a hero's Pick Rate / Win Rate / Damage for each Grade as well as feedback from players and the development team.
Of course, most player feedback is confirmed by the data. The data will be referenced for more precise balancing.
There are more fundamental issues that cannot all be addressed during Early Access due to a lack of time.
However, we have either found solutions to such issues already or we're in the process of finding solutions so that these issues can be addressed in a big update.
Issues
1. Magical Power (Magic Attack) Heroes Jungling Issues
We are aware that this is a big issue that hampers Hero diversity and use within the game.
Because this is a complex issue, we are being careful with making changes as it would affect balances and require system changes.
We are planning to make changes in a direction that increases Hero diversity for the various roles.
We are planning to reduce the problem by adjusting Jungle monsters first.
We plan to add additional bonus Magical Damage to Jungle items. (Destroyer's Stone: Magical Damage 30% added, Stone Breaker: Magical Damage 40% added, Bone Crasher Magical Damage 50% added)
2. Over-tuned Heroes (Twinblast, Murdock, Feng Mao, Phase, Zena, Gadget, Howitzer)
We are planning to prioritize making changes to Heroes that can be balanced quickly based on Final Test data on high Pick/Ban Rates and feedback.
3. Defensive Items Overall Too Effective
We are planning to adjust values on some defensive items and defense ignoring (penetration) items first.
4. Decreased Fight Frequency due to High Mana Costs
We are planning to make Mana Recovery on starting items and Mana Potions more effective and will continue to look for better ways to improve gameplay.
5. Lack of Large Objective Buffs that Increase the Mid-to-Late Game Time
We are planning to increase the effectiveness of some buffs so that they make a bigger impact on the game.
Heroes and Balancing are very sensitive topics that greatly affect the game.
We are being vigilant about reviewing feedback from multiple channels to ensure that it can be applied to the game effectively.
Please continue to give us your feedback!
Bug-related Issues
Major bugs that were affecting some games will be fixed.
Additional bugs that may result from the initial fix are scheduled to be addressed in the future in a big update.
Bug fixing is always our #1 priority, and we will prioritize it above all else.
We want our players to know that, besides the content that's already been completed, the team has decided to prioritize dev work to bug fixing above all else.
Feature-related Issues
Issues
1. Ping (Signal) Types and Speed
We are planning to improve the aforementioned feature.
We plan to make continuous efforts to improve in-game communication with a focus on the signals (Pings) that are most used.
2. Colorblind Mode
We have received a lot of feedback on this topic and this mode will be added in the future.
3. Wide Monitor Support
We have received a lot of feedback on this topic and this mode will be added in the future.
4. Changing Portraits for Each Skin
To ensure that there is no confusion on the scoreboard and Heroes are clearly recognizable, we are planning to show the default portrait on the scoreboard instead of the Skin portrait.
5. Matching after Picking a Role
Queuing after picking a Preferred Lane is a change we need to discuss further as it will affect many things related to the drafting method.
Although these changes may be confirmed in our discussions, they will likely take some time to be applied.
6. Replay Feature
Although enough R&D has been to make the replay feature somewhat functional, it is not at the top of our priorities.
To ensure that changes are made quickly, we have taken in many new developers.
Our team will do its best to ensure our Warriors will be able to enjoy their desired features in the game.
7. Questions related to penalties for reported players
We have been working on this since the early stages.
Once the game is out and in a stable state, we will be sure to notify players of our policies.
8. UI Customization Feature
We have not developed this feature but will do our best to make sure it is added.
9. Skill SmartKey Improvements
We are planning to improve this feature and details will be shared on the Paragon: The Overprime Community Board (Trello) before a big update.
10. Teleport & Charge Exclusive Hotkey / Watcher's Eye Exclusive Hotkey
The team is discussing these features.
Although a decision may be reached beforehand, these hotkeys will most likely be implemented during a big update.
If we decide to also include this feature, details will be shared on the Paragon: The Overprime Community Board (Trello).
11. Info on Melee / Ranged Hero Movement Speed and Basic Attack Penalties
By default, Melee heroes have faster Movement Speeds than Ranged heroes. The following Basic Attack penalties currently exist.
Ranged Hero
Landing / Missing a Basic Attack Movement Speed Penalty = Reduced by 25%
Melee Hero
Missing a Basic Attack Movement Speed Penalty = Reduced by 5%
Landing a Basic Attack Movement Speed Penalty = Reduced by 25%
Answers to Other FAQs
1. Console Release
We have created a team for console release.
We are working to provide a detailed schedule ASAP.
2. Opinions on Early Access Being Free-to-Play
We have received opinions from many sources regarding charging for Early Access.
However, we believe that this isn't in line with our goal of allowing more Warriors to enjoy the game by optimizing gameplay and supporting multiple languages.
To ensure that more Warriors can play our game, we are planning to stand by our original decision to keep it free-to play.
3. Reduction in the Number Skins and Skin Types
Many players may have been curious during the Final Test as to why there were less Skin types compared to the 2nd CBT.
There is a reason why we reduced the number of Skins.
As you may have noticed, we want to improve the effects and the overall quality of our Hero Skins.
We want to create Skins that players believe are worthy of purchase and will continue to work hard to do so.
Last but not least, we do not think that we have yet reflected all of the valued opinions of our warriors.
However, we can confidently say that we are doing our best to listen to the opinions of as many Warriors as possible
We are planning to continuously communicate through a variety of channels and remain transparent about our progress and the issues we are facing.
We will also try to continuously give rewards to our Warriors who have supported us this far as a token of our gratitude.
Thank you.