It’s been just over a year since Lost Ark released globally, and the Korean-developed game has proven to be one of the best new MMOs on PC despite a host of startup issues, including server issues and an avalanche of bills. . As Year 2 kicks off, PCGamesN talks with Amazon Games Franchise Director Sumin Park about what the team has learned, their plans for the future, and how to bridge the gap between regional versions of Lost Ark.
PCGamesN: After a year of release, how does the team feel about the differences between the Korean and global releases in the first year? Were there any notable changes that you were forced to make, or areas where you felt the global release benefited from what you learned from the Korean release?
sumin park: After the first year of release in the West, the differences between the Korean and Western versions of the game are clearly felt. Our policy is to stay as close to the original Lost Ark material as possible, unless we feel it makes sense to edit it. something for the western audience.
A lot of what we’ve changed outside of text localization has to do with the game systems, where we feel the changes would make them more comfortable for Western audiences and what they want from a free MMO game. This means minor tweaks to aspects of monetization and some gameplay mechanics that we think will help Western players adjust to a game like Lost Ark.
I think the Western version has generally benefited from the Korean version of Lost Ark, as Smilegate has polished the game’s content a lot before it hits our region. Lost Ark players in the West were able to benefit from years of refinement and content and balance improvements when these updates hit the West.
Is there a desire to add new classes more quickly to servers around the world? Do you plan to close this gap with eventual update parity, or are you satisfied with the difference in frequency between releases?
Since we track player progress through Legion Raids and across all continents, and localizing content takes time, catching up with the Korean version is difficult, to be realistic.
What I can say, however, is that we expect to significantly narrow the gap between the Western assembly and the Korean assembly in our second year of live service compared to our first year. The rate of closure of this gap will be faster than players expected, with new classes releasing faster than Legion’s new continents and raids. We will have an official announcement soon that will shed more light on this positive news!
Since launch, a number of improvements have been made to both general quality of life and grind speed for late game levels. What improvements is the team prioritizing at the start of the second year? Are there any specific areas you hope to address soon, or new ways for players to get up to speed?
It’s true that as the game enters its second year of active maintenance, new users may feel some pressure to “catch up” given the sheer amount of premium content out there. We are constantly discussing this with Smilegate and an update will be announced shortly that will allow new and regular users to get up to speed a little faster, with the exception of existing tools like Power Pass and Hyper Express which will continue to be rolled out. We are delighted to share this news, so stay tuned!
On top of that, Lost Ark places a lot of emphasis on endgame content. How do you encourage new players to play Lost Ark for the second year? Are there any additional features planned, such as the Punika Power Pass and Hyper Express events, to help newcomers get up to speed quickly, or ways to encourage veteran players to help these new players through old content, such as some games like Final Fantasy XIV? do?
As mentioned above, we will continue to develop and expand tools like Power Pass and Hyper Express to ease the burden on new players coming into the game who want to progress quickly. And, as mentioned above, we’ll soon have news of a new event that will allow new and old players to catch up faster.
We’re always looking for new ways with Smilegate to help the onboarding process for new players, whether it’s through items that speed up progression or through special events where players can access important content to upgrade their characters.
The Witcher crossover was a very interesting collaboration. How did the team think it went? Do you plan to do more of these projects in the future? What dream crossovers would you like to see (even if they’re not in development yet)?
We think The Witcher crossover was a success and we’re happy to bring it to gamers. Given the [The Witcher] so popular in the West that it felt like a great collaboration, especially for our audience, since it was a combination of two beloved RPG franchises. Amazon and Smilegate are still discussing future content together and what we can bring to audiences in Korea and the West, and crossover events are what we’ll be looking at going forward.
Lost Ark has had quite a few issues over the past few months: bugs and exploits that caused server downtime, stability issues that caused disconnections during raids, and of course, an erroneous inactive player account ban issue, which later it was solved. What did the team learn from them to help mitigate and minimize these issues in the future?
As with any live service game, there are a few issues and things to fix. There were some growing issues in our first year with Lost Ark, but a big plus to address is how Smilegate and Amazon worked together to resolve them for the community. Many major issues were resolved in a matter of days and the community was compensated for these issues.
Some issues remained, like the bot situation, but they got better over time. Smilegate and Amazon remain committed to addressing these issues in Lost Ark’s second year to create the best experience for Western players.
On top of that, there is a lot of discussion about the compensation that is offered after such problems: what is needed to determine the appropriate amount to give and who should receive it?
This is a joint decision between Amazon Games and Smilegate. Either Smilegate or Amazon Games will present a proposed compensation package and distribution strategy, both teams will discuss and reach an agreement on compensation. The solution is always a collaborative effort.
You’ve been doing a great job fighting bot accounts lately. Have you seen any tangible improvements from this implementation? How are you working to continue to improve the player experience and make sure there aren’t too many bots disrupting the game and the economy?
Bots are one of those issues mentioned above that, to some degree, still persist in the game, but the situation has improved a lot since last year. With every tactic we use, we learn something new and get better at dealing with bots. But solutions that work today won’t necessarily work a year from now, such is the evolutionary nature of the problem. It’s a bit of a moving target, but Smilegate and Amazon continue to work on it for our players.
What future update is the team most looking forward to from the players?
There will be some great content in the game this year, but I don’t want to spoil it for the fans! I encourage you to keep an eye on the Lost Ark website and social media for updates.
Interview with Sumin Park by PCGamesN via email.
Find out what’s next for RPGs in our Lost Ark Tulubik Battlefield review, featuring massive faction battles with up to 96 players at once. If you want to try the game yourself, check out our Lost Ark class tier list and how-to guide to finding all the Lost Ark Mokoko seeds in the game.
Source : PC Gamesn
