Heroes of Arkesia,
We've shared several exciting announcements through LOA ON and our recent Roadmap Part 3 article. While we've worked to provide comprehensive details in our updates, there are additional topics the community has been discussing that we'd like to address and offer more clarity.
Style Book and Stronghold Portrait Policy
First off, we’ve seen some confusion in the community regarding moderation of style book and portrait uploads. Anything that is merely showing off an in-game character in their skins/cosmetics is allowed (including swimwear and other revealing outfits). However, we will be moderating and applying penalties for uploads that attempt to depict sexual acts, character nudity with skin dyes, and other disruptive or harmful content. You can refer to the Amazon Games Code of Conduct for further information on what type of content is not tolerated.
July Update
Along with everything we already announced for July (Paradise, May/June Balance, UI improvements, Solo Aegir & Solo Rework, Skin Book, Una Overhaul, Gem Updates, Party Finder Lounge, Tripod Level/Epic Engraving simplification), there is a ton more in the update. When we share some of those specifics early in the roadmap, it’s meant to be an early sneak-peek into what’s coming, but not a comprehensive list of everything.
There is a ton more arriving in July, so here’s a few more selected spoilers (which we’ve seen the community asking about) to keep up the excitement before the full release notes with every detail are shared:
Maharaka Festival will be returning.
You will be able to celebrate in the pools of Maharaka Paradise with the latest swimsuit skins!
The Achievement system overhaul is arriving.
4 Hairstyles will be added (2 for each base class).
Beginner Growth Improvements:
Guide mission adjustments.
Mokoko Buff Extended to 1660.
Procyon's Protection expanded up to Aegir.
Gear Crafting requirement reduction.
Additional QoL surrounding daily activities, including Kurzan Frontline, Guardians, and Una’s Tasks.
Progression Event Update
We saw a lot of player requests for our team to attempt to move the Valkyrie Advanced Class from August to July. While the class won’t be ready in time, we also saw a lot of requests bubbling up in the community to have the progression events active for players returning or interested in starting their adventure in Arkesia when the massive amount of improvements arrive— so we made the decision to release the Powerpass and Mokoko Challenge Express Event early, in the July Update.
This shift means that players interested in making the Valkyrie Advanced Class will need to wait to activate the events, but we think that giving new or returning players the ability to hop right into the action will be a better experience overall. For those who wanted to create a Valkyrie nothing will change, and the events will still be live for several months after the release of the class— plenty of time to progress and unlock all the benefits offered by the Mokoko Challenge Express. We will provide a few more additional notices reminding players to save the events for Valkyrie if they’re planning to use them when the class releases in August.
We are planning to have an additional event that will release in August, similar to past “road/path” events to further help players progress, or allow players planning on making the Valkyrie Advanced Class to quickly progress.
Long Term Projects
We are currently targeting this fall (around October) to merge NA West & NA East, so we will have one region for North America and one for Europe. We’ve seen a lot of player feedback both requesting this merge along with questions regarding when it may happen, so we wanted to provide an update. There’s a ton of details that we’ll dive into as we head toward the merge in future team updates along with dedicated policies about the merge, but we wanted to be transparent about when we anticipate this arriving.
This will be a major project requiring a lot of the team’s attention, so we will need to put some other projects on the backburner, including work on the API. We will provide future updates on the API when we’re able, but need to adjust internal resources in the meantime.
Looking Ahead
While we provided some additional spoilers in this team update, there are still many other changes arriving to make your experience in Arkesia even better in the July Update. We’re excited to see players progress faster with Paradise and major QoL adjustments, and will be on the lookout for feedback as we continually strive to make life in Arkesia the best it can be.
We appreciate the ongoing support, feedback, and passion from you, the Lost Ark community, and will continue to provide team updates as soon as we’re able. In the meantime, we’ll see you in Arkesia!