The rallying horns of Adenthia are sounding, the DragonHeir CBT2 is about to begin! Since CBT1 ended, we've developed lots of new content! We'd like to now introduce you to one of this update's biggest highlights: Seasons! [b]Question 1: What are Seasons?[/b] [b]Answer 1[/b]: Much like when you're running around adventuring, we want to keep your experiences in the "Campaign" of Adenthia fresh and varied, including ever-changing plots and environments. Seasons are episodic experiences, each one offering players something complete and fresh. A Season will initially run for 12-14 weeks. Other Seasons will see inclusions of the following: - New narrative content: New maps, new stories, new bosses, and all-new heroes and new populations! - New collaborations: We'll gradually be introducing licensed DND crossovers with Drizzt, Elminster and other heroes who are visiting Adenthia. - Combat companions: Players from other planes can join your adventure of the new Season and aid you in your crusade against an ancient boss or compete for glory in the arena! - Reroll: A herculean strongman with all points in Strength can become a wizened Scholar with significant Intelligence! - Elemental Affinity Rotation: Affinities among elements change between Seasons. For example, in S0, Ice and Poison may have an affinity, but come S1, Ice might instead have an affinity with Necrosis. It will impact combat strategy dramatically! - Resetting Game Resources: The reset is to ensure gameplay doesn't become stale. Once a Season is closed and totaled up, everyone will receive a boatload of goodies! (That includes limited and exclusive rewards). See Question 2 for more information. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43178138/14269b151bbd406a64aa5b8099f49fbd7f6ccffe.jpg[/img] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43178138/bc7cff8d1d64947015f983a2bb279b878e2aa905.jpg[/img] [b]Question 2: Which resources will be reset each Season?[/b] [b]Answer 2[/b]: We've actually been discussing this for a long while. At the core of "Reset" is the desire to prevent players getting bored, giving them the fun of rerolling, and trying out new strategies so the late game doesn't become tedious. [b]Reset rules of S0 are as follows:[/b] [b]Permanently Saved[/b] High-value resources purchased or acquired by players, including Heroes, Artifacts, and Skill Scrolls, will not be reset. [b]Seasonally Reset[/b] Stamina acquired in the current Season and resources transmuted from Stamina, such as Hero Upgrade Materials, Improvement Materials and Equipment, will all be reset. Of course, whilst equipment will be reset, there will be new dungeons to undertake and strategies to employ for each new Season, ensuring acquiring those materials and equipment won't be as troublesome as in some other similar games. (I'm sure we're all fed up of farming instances over and over only to end up with worthless equipment drops!) If you're curious, more detailed reset rules will be found in-game. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43178138/509d0bc3ab9f776595e6f6a85af3f746f6d19e0c.png[/img] [b]Question 3: Why do Seasons? That seems like a risky decision.[/b] [b]Answer 3[/b]: It certainly is risky! But having spent thousands of hours with Team RPGs, the development team picked out a few issues: - Alongside raising stats over a lengthy period, players wanted to try different team builds, but found it wasn't affordable. Challenging stages became increasingly difficult, and they found themselves expending waaaaaaaaay too much effort to complete a stage. - The longer the game is live, the greater the chasm between the old players and new players becomes, and so ever fewer players can stay and play together. - The dungeons and bosses never change, the teams barely change, and players end up farming for equipment, an experience which is grindy and tedious. So, that's why we aimed to solve this problem by making the bold but difficult decision to implement Seasons. - New Seasons mean all-new content, brand new goals, and fun gameplay. - Resetting stat values lowers leveling costs and lets players try out a wider range of team builds. Plus, for players who need time away from the game, coming back after a break isn't the end of the world! When a new Season begins, everyone is back in the same starting position. - Season Settlement is a nice justification to shower players with rewards from time to time! But equally, we recognize that Season is a brand-new design, so we are expecting plenty of problems and bugs. That's why we need to run this Pilot Season (S0) to perfect it. [b]Question 4: CBT2 is the Pilot Season, S0. How will the pilot differ from the official ones?[/b] [b]Answer 4[/b]: CBT2 (S0) is essentially a preview version of the official Season (S1). Nothing will be deleted, you can make purchases and enjoy a taste of S1 content in advance. The primary aim is to verify Season gameplay on a small scale. Therefore, S0 will only be open for a limited time (limited access as well) and only in some countries/regions. S0 will have the same settlement process as the official Season. Rewards obtained in S0, including heroes and artifacts, will also be kept until the official Season is released. S0 testers will also be rewarded with exclusive commemorative rewards! As for what's to come in S1, we're going to leave you hanging and build the suspense! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43178138/6ab152e0e8f8842ab0ce05b6ddfb223a664224c8.jpg[/img] Note: Season rules will be changed and adjusted in accordance with test feedback.