[Revast]

Blade & Soul: State of the Game
With 2012 coming to a close, NCsoft has reminded us how hard they are working on bringing Blade & Soul to our doorsteps with an outlook on their current status and plans for the localization of Blade & Soul for the western audiences. NCsoft is addressing not only the obvious need to translate the game, but actively addressing potential issues in an effort to make the game as enjoyable as possible for all players in all regions. Take a look at the official announcement below.

NCsoft West

As we approach the start of a new year, we wanted to bring you up to speed with what's been happening with Blade & Soul®, and what happens next.

The game is already in its finished form in the original Korean-language version, but bringing Blade & Soul to the West involves more than simply translating the text and recording new dialogue. Gameplay styles differ greatly in different cultures, meaning that what players in Korea consider fun and balanced might not be as well-received in Europe and America. Addressing considerations like these takes time and NCSOFT® is committed to doing it right--without sacrificing any of the elements that make Blade & Soul as popular as it continues to be in Korea.

The development team at NCSOFT West has been working closely with Team Bloodlust to ensure that we deliver the best, most faithful version of Blade & Soul to Western gamers. We are making progress and plan to reveal more details about the game in the coming year.

In the meantime, our goal is to build excitement for Blade & Soul, by introducing Western audiences to the game's beautiful graphics, compelling story and innovative gameplay. Then, when the time is right, we will release the sorts of details you have been waiting so patiently for.

Thanks for bearing with us, and stay tuned!

With potential changes coming to the game intended to better suit the regions it's released in, we will be interested in seeing Blade & Soul's western development during this exciting time and the community's reaction. Keep a close eye on the Dojo and NCSoft's official site for new developments.

[Ghastly]

Thank you but keep it the same! Or please specify what you're changing.

[ღKurori~Iaara-Haanღ]

Ghastly, on Dec 06, 2012 - 12:31 AM, said:

Thank you but keep it the same! Or please specify what you're changing.

Eh, this info is pretty much a rehash Ghast~ =/ I'm thinking it's just more reflection on what they were saying earlier, about how pretty much the game has to turn into TEACHING us about Asian and/or Korean lore(their child stories, myths and tales, etc) versus 'REFLECTING' on it like the Korean audience~ That and of course we'll get our 'oh too natural' exp curve difference~

But a major change, I'm thinking not~

This post has been edited by ღKurori~Aonaiღ: Dec 06, 2012 - 12:36 AM

[Ghastly]

ღKurori~Aonaiღ, on Dec 06, 2012 - 12:36 AM, said:

Eh, this info is pretty much a rehash Ghast~ =/ I'm thinking it's just more reflection on what they were saying earlier, about how pretty much the game has to turn into TEACHING us about Asian and/or Korean lore(their child stories, myths and tales, etc) versus 'REFLECTING' on it like the Korean audience~ That and of course we'll get our 'oh too natural' exp curve difference~

But a major change, I'm thinking not~

Let's hope, I don't want to reach cap level in one week

[Garzel]

To what people like to spew out of the mouth holes to me

Korean = Grind in everythong

America = End game / Gear Progression / Raid Progression

I don't know exactly what the difference is.....

This post has been edited by Garzel: Dec 06, 2012 - 12:41 AM

[ღKurori~Iaara-Haanღ]

Ghastly, on Dec 06, 2012 - 12:39 AM, said:

Let's hope, I don't want to reach cap level in one week

That's the one fear I have of them changing our leveling curve as usual >w<
What's most amusing is, they usually change it thinking we'll be all 'NUUUUUUU!!! to much grind!' only to find out we don't mind, and end up changing it back~ =X

Worse case is, turns out to easy, Ghast gets to cap in a week and then they're all 'wow, that's easy, lets pump it up for the next gen of BnS gamers'~

xD

Makes me almost sad I spent day after day pressing F5 on the news page >w< just for this~
WHELP *runs off to press F5 on the news page* x3~

Garzel, on Dec 06, 2012 - 12:41 AM, said:

To what people like to spew out of the mouth holes to me

Korean = Grind in everythong

America = End game / Gear Progression / Raid Progression

I don't know exactly what the difference is.....

Comes down to mindset I suppose~ Most put the field of grinding in pure 'I run out and fight everyday mobs until I level'
then you have 'farming' Gear Progression/Raid Progression/End Game, kind of fall under what most would put as 'farming' even though in a technical sense...it's still grinding.
I would prefer the game isn't easy to get to cap, because as you boot up an online game, that's the initial default goal anyway~ The true task, is to find a way for an mmo to have something for you to do, something that you WANT to do, outside of getting to cap and finding the next game~

This post has been edited by ღKurori~Aonaiღ: Dec 06, 2012 - 12:46 AM

[BrandX]

ღKurori~Aonaiღ, on Dec 06, 2012 - 12:42 AM, said:

That's the one fear I have of them changing our leveling curve as usual >w<
What's most amusing is, they usually change it thinking we'll be all 'NUUUUUUU!!! to much grind!' only to find out we don't mind, and end up changing it back~ =X

Worse case is, turns out to easy, Ghast gets to cap in a week and then they're all 'wow, that's easy, lets pump it up for the next gen of BnS gamers'~

xD

Makes me almost sad I spent day after day pressing F5 on the news page >w< just for this~
WHELP *runs off to press F5 on the news page* x3~



Comes down to mindset I suppose~ Most put the field of grinding in pure 'I run out and fight everyday mobs until I level'
then you have 'farming' Gear Progression/Raid Progression/End Game, kind of fall under what most would put as 'farming' even though in a technical sense...it's still grinding.
I would prefer the game isn't easy to get to cap, because as you boot up an online game, that's the initial default goal anyway~ The true task, is to find a way for an mmo to have something for you to do, something that you WANT to do, outside of getting to cap and finding the next game~

As long as the button smashing is fun, that's all I care about :)

Sadly, there's many who think they have to rush to get to cap, get the best gear, then go "There's nothing left!" :/

[Nekuraba]

I capped in Tera in like a week =/ god I hope its not like that. >_>

[BrandX]

Nekuraba, on Dec 06, 2012 - 1:29 AM, said:

I capped in Tera in like a week =/ god I hope its not like that. >_>

But how long were you playing a day?

[Nekuraba]

BrandX, on Dec 06, 2012 - 1:48 AM, said:

But how long were you playing a day?

With working killing me I'd say about 5 to 6 hours

[Aari]

Nekuraba, on Dec 06, 2012 - 1:29 AM, said:

I capped in Tera in like a week =/ god I hope its not like that. >_>

Lvling in B&S is allready faster or at least the same speed to hit max lvl in the Korean Version then it is in Tera. If they make it even faster, we are gonna have a bad time.


To the other things, I also really really hope they dont nerf it down like EME did with Tera. But it was not only nerfing content to no end, EME also destroyed Tera with all the other changes they did, messing around with mechanics and removing Key-Elements that used to be in place in KTera, making Tera a lot less enjoyable.

I really hope that NCSoft will not make the same mistake. Currently, I dont see any problem with the level speed (It could even be slower imo), overall difficulty of the game or gear "grind".
As with the current content, talking about PvE only now, B&S offers ways to get gear for all kinds of people. You don't have to be a hardcore gamer, you dont need to have a group. B&S offers a great way to aquire gear even if you are solo, while not giving solo players to much of an advantage as they will have to grind a lot more for what a group will be able to get.
As an example, Pohwaran 4/6 and Stormy Pohwaran (Open "Raid" dungeon). While you do not need a group for Stormy Pohwaran and you can just go in there alone it will take you a lot longer to get the perfect weapon out of that dungeon, simply due to Pohwaran not spawning as fast as a solo group would clear Pohwaran 4 man. Additionally to that the weapons in Pohwaran 4man have a higher chance to more damage on them compared to the Stormy Pohwaran ones. But a solo player can still get the same gear as the group players at that stage of the game.

Quote

"Gameplay styles differ greatly in different cultures, meaning that what players in Korea consider fun and balanced might not be as well-received in Europe and America."

I really dislike this sentence at it allready implies that they will make changes depending on how NCWest thinks its best. I don't think they have any feedback from western players about the game and might do the same mistakes EME did, changing game elements without knowledge about the game.
For some reason western develepors think that gamestyle of Asian and Western Gamers differ greatly, wich is actually not the case, at least not in my opinion.
The biggest difference between Asia and West is, and im sad to say this, the community. Usually Western communities are a lot more whiny compared to Asia. Koreans especially, adapt a lot more to what happens in the game while Western people tend to rather go into the forum and whine about it.

This post has been edited by Aari: Dec 06, 2012 - 1:59 AM

[Nekuraba]

Aari, on Dec 06, 2012 - 1:57 AM, said:

Lvling in B&S is allready faster or at least the same speed to hit max lvl in the Korean Version then it is in Tera. If they make it even faster, we are gonna have a bad time.


To the other things, I also really really hope they dont nerf it down like EME did with Tera. But it was not only nerfing content to no end, EME also destroyed Tera with all the other changes they did, messing around with mechanics and removing Key-Elements that used to be in place in KTera, making Tera a lot less enjoyable.

I really hope that NCSoft will not make the same mistake. Currently, I dont see any problem with the level speed (It could even be slower imo), overall difficulty of the game or gear "grind".
As with the current content, talking about PvE only now, B&S offers ways to get gear for all kinds of people. You don't have to be a hardcore gamer, you dont need to have a group. B&S offers a great way to aquire gear even if you are solo, while not giving solo players to much of an advantage as they will have to grind a lot more for what a group will be able to get.
As an example, Pohwaran 4/6 and Stormy Pohwaran (Open "Raid" dungeon). While you do not need a group for Stormy Pohwaran and you can just go in there alone it will take you a lot longer to get the perfect weapon out of that dungeon, simply due to Pohwaran not spawning as fast as a solo group would clear Pohwaran 4 man. Additionally to that the weapons in Pohwaran 4man have a higher chance to more damage on them compared to the Stormy Pohwaran ones. But a solo player can still get the same gear as the group players at that stage of the game.



I really dislike this sentence at it allready implies that they will make changes depending on how NCWest thinks its best. I don't think they have any feedback from western players about the game and might do the same mistakes EME did, changing game elements without knowledge about the game.
For some reason western develepors think that gamestyle of Asian and Western Gamers differ greatly, wich is actually not the case, at least not in my opinion.
The biggest difference between Asia and West is, and im sad to say this, the community. Usually Western communities are a lot more whiny compared to Asia. Koreans especially, adapt a lot more to what happens in the game while Western people tend to rather go into the forum and whine about it.

I randomly found Tera on a mmo site when I was looking for a new mmo to play so unlike BnS I wasnt really that hype about it first nor did any research on it, so im unsure of what changes your talking about? please tell me tho

and yes I agree with you 100% western games whine so much once something doesnt go their way
"omfg this mage just 70% my hp that class is so broken nerf it plz" I cant express how many threads Ive read like that on different forums for different games.

[Suto]

I'm really frightened now. >_> I really wanted BnS to stay the same, that was like one of my number one concerns. It's not nice finding out that they're only taking ages to release the EU/NA version because they want to make it easier. I actually wanted them to make it harder, heh..

[JemL]

"Gameplay styles differ greatly in different cultures, meaning that what players in Korea consider fun and balanced might not be as well-received in Europe and America"

''by introducing Western audiences to the game's beautiful graphics, compelling story and innovative gameplay''

i still find these comments so funny

what i would like to see in any mmo gone would be bound item system and server separation (pve pve rp), let me do whatever i want with my items and one server type

yeah doomsday coming

[Kogane]

Oi~.

NCSoft---stop assuming you know what your player-bases know and don't know & the ways they play and don't play. For one we all know how to google and research---I myself will STUDY something before I hop away not knowing what it is and just cramming info down my throat. Secondly even if the western audience is whiney---you'll find they're actually pretty great at adapting when forced.

Not allowing growth and adaptation is what's killing MMOs in the west. Get it through your skulls!

[Wolfie]

.......uh oh.

[BrandX]

Suto, on Dec 06, 2012 - 2:22 AM, said:

I'm really frightened now. >_> I really wanted BnS to stay the same, that was like one of my number one concerns. It's not nice finding out that they're only taking ages to release the EU/NA version because they want to make it easier. I actually wanted them to make it harder, heh..

My guess is increased drop rate.

It's the only thing I can think of, right off the bat that they would change to suit the western audience, who do in fact, whine a lot when they don't get their gear fast or upgrade it fast (TERA had a lot of people whine about having to hunt down material and then have a chance to not get the upgrade).

Personally, I think, what else are you going to do when you're maxed out?

Also, PvP leaves a lot of the western audience whining. I'd just leave it alone. People will whine when they lose and think they're great when they're winning.

[Kogane]

BrandX, on Dec 06, 2012 - 3:41 AM, said:

My guess is increased drop rate.

It's the only thing I can think of, right off the bat that they would change to suit the western audience, who do in fact, whine a lot when they don't get their gear fast or upgrade it fast (TERA had a lot of people whine about having to hunt down material and then have a chance to not get the upgrade).

Personally, I think, what else are you going to do when you're maxed out?

Also, PvP leaves a lot of the western audience whining. I'd just leave it alone. People will whine when they lose and think they're great when they're winning.

-COUGHCOUGH-S4 League-COUGHHACKGCOUGH.-

I say let 'em whine.

[Nekuraba]

Kogane, on Dec 06, 2012 - 3:45 AM, said:

-COUGHCOUGH-S4 League-COUGHHACKGCOUGH.-

I say let 'em whine.

^so much truth its blinding

[AceO]

NCs make the game , we play.
just no SHi t xD
if some1 need to know or learn about kung fu's , go play RUMBLE FIGHTER