A Merry Christmas to you all!
Hey there, people!
It's time for December's Producer Letter! For those who don't know me, I'm Myzzrym, Aura Kingdom's Producer. This month we'll be discussing quite a few things!
Also: Patch notes here!
Party hard, lag harder
For those of you playing on the US version of Aura Kingdom, you're probably aware of the dreaded "6 AM lag," as well as other times where the game seemingly stops responding. NPCs don't answer, and monsters stop spawning for several minutes.
The good news: we know what's mostly causing this issue. The bad news: we haven't managed to fix it yet. This means that we're still working on it. Even though it's been around for quite a while, we're not giving up! That being said, it's quite hard to deal with and will likely take more time as we are on the Publishing side and not the Development side.
Do Gingers have a soul?
Aura Kingdom is home to its fair share of bots. We all know how annoying and frustrating it can be when you're out questing and suddenly, an army of red-haired grenadier clones swoops in and guns everything down.
Are bots a problem? Yes. Have we already tried to fight them? Yes. Have we found a way to solve this issue? Not yet. However, that doesn't mean we've thrown the towel quite yet. We will be speaking with X-Legend early next year to try to convince them to switch to a stronger anti-hack security program. If successful, it should prevent most bots from accessing the game.
In the short term, you'll be happy to learn that bot-hunting season is coming soon! We'll be opening the PvP channel in January, after which you can go on a bot-killing spree!
I didn't know cats could fly
If you're a Diamond Founder or obtained Cleopawtra via Supply Packs during the launch of Aura Kingdom (almost two years ago now!), you might have noticed when logging in today that you received a brand new, shiny Key of Uriel in your Item Shop cart.
For those who didn't follow the story, we announced in September that we would make Cleopawtra available to all players with the October Patch. Our main reason behind this move was that Cleopawtra was scheduled receive a 3-Star evolution, and there was no way for us to sell it only to our Diamond Founders.
However, Cleopawtra was originally intended to be Founder-exclusive. So, we promised two things:
- All Diamond Founders and players who acquired Cleopawtra through Supply Packs at launch would receive a Diamond Skin for Cleopawtra, who was changed back to her regular non-shiny skin (sent in October).
- All Diamond Founders and players who acquired Cleopawtra through Supply Packs at launch would receive a free Key of Uriel with the roll-out of the December Patch (sent yesterday).
If you are a Founder, or acquired Cleopawtra through Supply Packs at launch and did not receive the mentioned items, please send us a ticket explaining your situation.
Money, Money, Money
Must be funny, in the rich man's world. In any case, Aeria Games doesn't happen to have the best reputation around. If you look at reviews, you will often stumble upon disgruntled players who once played our old games, speaking in angry whispers of Pay-to-Win and bans (well, if whispers were in caps lock).
I'm not going to deny the fact that Aeria Games used to be very player-unfriendly. Most of our old games were simply not tailored for Free2Play users who were looking for a good gaming experience. However, we are trying to change that. If you've read my previous letters (available on the forum only), I explained why some items were so expensive, and why you sometimes stumble upon crazy expensive offers.
In order to allow the vast majority of players to have an enjoyable Free2Play experience, we rely on those who are able and willing to pay more to keep the game alive and well. We have, in Aura Kingdom, rejected the choice of implementing in-game features or content locked behind paywalls.
In the past, some Eidolons were removed from dungeons as in-game drops. As of April, they are back. Now we are looking to return the two other starter Eidolons to the main quest (Aelius & Uzuriel).
Loyalty Programs will also have their Tiers gradually lowered in price. That doesn't mean fewer rewards. You'll simply have to spend less to get them. As usual, if you have suggestions, please don't hesitate to bring them up! While we do understand that not everyone wants to spend money in a Free2Play game, if there is a specific reason that is keeping you from buying anything in Aura Kingdom, be it our policies or our prices, please share it with us.
The December Patch is live!
If you didn't notice the launcher downloading new files (lucky you, that's gotta be a real good internet connection you have there), the December Patch is now live! You can click on the link at the top of the News to read the Detailed Patch Notes.
Our veteran players will be pleased to know that the limit on Extra Character Slots has been increased by one (although the text hasn't been updated yet). This change was originally intended to go live at the same time as the Greatsword Class update so players wouldn't have to delete a character to experience the new class. However, it wasn't able to be implemented in time. That being said, in the future, one Extra Character Slot will be added every time a new class is released!
Everyone will also be happy to know that you can now store your little Ostrich Mount in your warehouse, and you won't have to stare at it in your backpack any more! Goodbye, Beebis, you will always remain in our hearts!
Another item that we managed to introduce early is the Eidolon Star Shuffle Scroll, which allows players to re-roll their Eidolon's Star Bonus. This allows them to play with the Eidolons they prefer without missing out on the stat bonus they want. Roll on! If you don't like the new Star Bonus you just rolled, you can keep the old one. There's no risk of getting something worse!
One last thing that was unfortunately delayed again is the PvP Channel. While it's technically working, there are still quite a few bugs for us to iron out, so we're looking at a January release. In the meantime, you can look forward to all the bot-hunting!
When is next patch?
Due to Christmas, New Years, and Chinese New Years (which is a very important period for our Taiwanese developers), the next patch will most likely be around mid-February at the earliest, to March at the latest... unless a typhoon suddenly destroys X-Legend's offices, in which case we're all in trouble. But hopefully that never happens.
What will be in it? While I can't be too specific, and changes can always happen, there will new dungeons, all-around optimization, new 3-Star Eidolons, and maybe even a new level cap! Don't read too much into it for now, though.
That's all for today folks! As usual, if you have any question, feel free to discuss on our Official Forums or Steam Forums.
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Previous discussions can be found there:
- November Discussion
- October Discussion
- September Discussion
- August Discussion