GM Information Sessions - Featuring: Orange, Guava, Papaya and Mango

[Queue]

Hi everyone, this is a collection of conversations with the GM’s. Like previous ones, there are similar answers to before, but it’s important to stay up to date with information, even if it’s the same. These all happened over multiple occasions, under many different circumstances, the earliest one dates back to March, and the latest in May.

Hopefully this can help create questions for further discussion at the 3rd Official GM Meet-up:

Meet-up the GM! We're back again! May 17-19

If there are any corrections, or changes with information please let me know. Thank you for answering all of these questions and communicating with us. I’d also like to thank the other players who were present.

GM Orange:

• Orsha - Klaipeda merge is a difficult choice to make, they will look at all the angles

• Not all players are in favour of it

• Bug fixes remain a priority

• Orange would like them to be done before R9

• Understands player discontent with Practonium

• Delay in the second GM Meet-up caused in part by preparation for it

• Has a Canadian friend spy network

GM Guava:

• She reads the forums regularly, even when there’s other work

• Her job involves translation and further helping players

• She enjoys her job

• Focus on making the forum more welcoming

• More consistent moderation and rules on the forum

• Forum Revamp (looks like I should have mentioned this one earlier…)

• She enjoys playing the bad cop

GM Papaya:

• Some planning work on R9

• Optimisation improvements will continue, often unannounced

• The extended Maintenance on April 24-25 was caused by having to fix bugs

• May 2 Patch notes were delayed due to various issues

• Putting hair accessories on companions is on the do-to list, though far from a priority

• GM’s don’t have much influence on the decision making process, but they do give regular feedback

• GM’s are able to talk to some Devs more than others

• The event Devs are directly communicated with frequently

• Bugs can be very complicated, and a simple fix for a seemingly small bug, often doesn’t exist

• The “top Devs” are working on bug fixes, but that doesn’t always mean they’ll be fixed faster

• ITOS has a limited testing environment making bug fixing more difficult for our version

• Updates are improving, stable updates take precedence, faster if possible

• Papaya Eats Kepas D:

GM Mango:

• TOS’s QA process will be improved and bugs will be decreased

• Through more developers and simply more skilled, especially in the merging process

• Content gap delay from KTOS is in part from bug fixing

• Balancing was delayed in favour of focusing on addressing bugs and new content

• GM’s make daily reports to Developers about our feedback through email, they translate them entirely, though they make minor alterations when necessary for clarity

• Currently unlikely that Developers will respond directly to player feedback other than through official announcements, due to language barrier and being too busy

• Made sure I wasn’t sleep deprived <3

Previous GM Information:

GM Meet Up Event Information

I wanted to compile a list of all the information we received from the event. I myself was on Orsha and had the pleasure of having GM Papaya. Anyway, this is the list of things that was said, feel free to add or correct based on information from your own servers. Also if any Staff or GM's want to correct any misunderstandings please do.

Next Major Update

Future Updates

Saalus

Saalus They are aware it is problematic Maps will not be choosable in Saalus

Misc

Thank you to all the GM's who participated, and to the players who asked questions.

GM Papaya's Information

After today's maintenance GM Papaya was at the Event Board in Klaipeda on Orsha. For 40min or so he answered some questions, and although it wasn't overly concrete I wanted to present some of the insights and information he shared. Keep in mind it is very broad, and non specific, but it helps us see where Tree of Savior is headed. Current IMC strategy is still releasing large content updates, they don't want to release it in small batches as they are more buggy than fleshed out updates. IMC…

Another Information Session with Papaya

The hero of Orsha, GM Papaya was at Fedimian and answered more questions. Some of what's here has already been confirmed, and there were more broad answers, but we got some insight into IMC, as well as some information that may be deemed, "controversial." :wink: For previous Papaya information sessions: The developers, not just the GM's, check the forumsThe devs are aware of the community's discontent Optimisation and stability are still the primary focuses ITOS is ahead of KTOS …

GM Information Session - It's Mango Time - Now with Orange Flavour

Mango graced us with her presence on Orsha and answered some questions. The questions were more related to bigger policy and strategy opposed to individual balance, but as always all communication is welcome. Some of the may info have already been released but it's good to see further confirmation, plus if you happened to miss it you can see it here. As always please correct or add any information I may have missed, or misunderstood. Previous GM information: Channel/Server Capacity…

[Nirimetus]

Understands player discontent with Practonium

This sound kind vague, I don’t think people dislike the item, but how it is acquired. And I do agree there, it’s plain dumb have to roll a cube that expire the next day if you fail to open it in time.

Want to make an special item fine, but at least make the way to acquire it interesting, I wouldn’t mind a quest line that could take 1 week to complete or gather tons of materials to give to an NPC to create it in the time span of a week.

At least we know we WILL get it.

PS.: The examples above where made earlier in the morning and shouldn’t be taken seriously, but the concept behind them are serious, that is, the time and the certain the player will receive the item.

She reads the forums regularly, even when there’s other work

Stop doing that and get to work, that is why things are delayed.

Forum Revamp (looks like I should have mentioned this one earlier…)

Was she who had the great idea of the snowwhite forum theme?

She enjoys playing the bad cop

Most of the team seem to like too…[quote=“Queue, post:1, topic:359471”]
The extended Maintenance on April 24-25 was caused by having to fix bugs
[/quote]

It became a lot worse, now we can’t even open the abandoned quest tab.[quote=“Queue, post:1, topic:359471”]
Putting hair accessories on companions is on the do-to list, though far from a priority
[/quote]

Instead of that, why not create a skin slot and sell skins like costumes (futurep plan), but in TP shop, and remove this crap of Exchange Shop but keep the refund of TP stuff for the same value of medals but in TP (30 TP)?

Bugs can be very complicated, and a simple fix for a seemingly small bug, often doesn’t exist

Dug their own grave huh?

ITOS has a limited testing environment making bug fixing more difficult for our version

Merging Klaip and Orsha would allow them to use the empty server as test server without having to waste (or at least little) money and increase the speed of bug fixing with the reports made.[quote=“Queue, post:1, topic:359471”]
Through more developers and simply more skilled, especially in the merging process
[/quote]

If I got this right they are hiring more “capable” people for the merging process? That’s a good improvement, I hope.[quote=“Queue, post:1, topic:359471”]
Content gap delay from KTOS is in part from bug fixing
[/quote]

Even if it wasn’t it would still be understandable, some MMO’s have a huge gap in versions due to their own planning anyway, we are luck being so close to the source version.

Currently unlikely that Developers will respond directly to player feedback other than through official announcements, due to language barrier and being too busy

I feel the CEO of this company is a freaking stingy for not get his employers english lessons.

---

Again, thanks @Queue to take your time to compile these collections of information for us.

And thanks to watch another: “Niri is being an ass again!” (LOL).

[TacioDaito]

Already talking about R9?

[Queue]

Just thinking about the future, no further information on it.

[Seiran]

Made sure I wasn’t sleep deprived <3

I laughed at this xD

EDIT:
One thing I want to tell in the meeting though, if someone else has the chance, please reinforce this:

The issues with PvP are a bit more than just balancing >.<

There are some bugs that seems to be easy to fix and others that aren’t.

But, overall, it would be pretty nice if the revamped PvP system + balance also came with some bug fixes such as:
-> FPS drops with some skills.
-> Cata Impale’s lasting more than one round.
-> Ausrine being unavailable on next rounds on certain conditions.
-> Prophecy counts being lost too quickly due to Frost Pillar and/or Links.
-> Links on Players+Objects sometimes have higher range than intended.

And some like these, if you get into the meeting, please remember them of these things >.<

[Queue]

I’ll be sure to mention it. But when it comes to in depth discussion, forum threads are always better. They give very detailed feedback to the devs, that often means exact translation. A few chat bubbles in game can only go so far, I recommend making a thread. If you do, make sure to tag the Staff as they have requested that, especially if the post is well thought out.

[_Val_]

Thank you @Queue a lot for providing us with this information, as always! It’s highly appreciated.

She enjoys her job

This is very nice to hear! I hope she sticks around for a long time!

[Queue]

I do too. She’s very pleasant, even when she goes rogue.

[Tankhime]

…'Didn’t even ask any of them if they had a fear of blenders, gosh.

I think a good relationship between GMs and the playerbase will be really beneficial to the game.

Also, I can see why server merge would be a difficult thing to settle (given any players who played on both would have to pick one team name, and how they go about doing that… it’d be a big mess)

[Queue]

…'Didn’t even ask any of them if they had a fear of blenders, gosh.

My apologies! Top of the list for next time.

A server merge is certainly difficult, but we know it can be done from a technical standpoint as it’s been done both in ITOS and KTOS. But you are right, there are hard decisions like that.

[Lurii]

gm grape is my mom she called me sweetie

[Queue]

Tell your mum to come to Orsha more then.

[SlyGoat]

To be honest, and I know this is just going to come across as cynical, but I don’t see much use in these GM Q&As because I don’t think the GMs have much to really say on anything. Their answers are usually just “Yeah that’s a problem” or “We’ll pass that on” because they aren’t really involved in development. Kinda just a part of playing a foreign version of a Korean game that sucks.

[Queue]

GM’s are not Devs, so while they do have limited information comparatively, there still is significant value in this. There’s an insight into the behind the scenes, confirmation of IMC’s priorities, satisfaction of curiosity, and perhaps most importantly, it shows us who the GM’s are, and by extension what IMC is.

[Queue]

This sound kind vague, I don’t think people dislike the item, but how it is acquired. And I do agree there, it’s plain dumb have to roll a cube that expire the next day if you fail to open it in time.

Want to make an special item fine, but at least make the way to acquire it interesting, I wouldn’t mind a quest line that could take 1 week to complete or gather tons of materials to give to an NPC to create it in the time span of a week.

At least we know we WILL get it.

Players dislike Mystical Cubes and how Practonium is/was essential for the best weapons. That’s what was being referred to. Regardless, the Devs are aware of player dislike of the Mystical Cubes and at the time, it was the only way to get anything close to end game weaponry.

I do agree though as I’ve said before, Practonium and the Mystical Cube are bad design.

Stop doing that and get to work, that is why things are delayed.

You want a GM to start programming? Why would you want her to not do her job?

Was she who had the great idea of the snowwhite forum theme?

Not sure, it was long before the design change.

Most of the team seem to like too…

That was a bit of a joke, but she was referring to moderation.

Instead of that, why not create a skin slot and sell skins like costumes (futurep plan), but in TP shop, and remove this crap of Exchange Shop but keep the refund of TP stuff for the same value of medals but in TP (30 TP)?

I like the idea of skins, but accessories are good to, especially if their enchant stats are added to companions.

I also dislike the Exchange Shop and I’ve always been in favour of removing it. If I’m already paying money, don’t add more restrictions.

Merging Klaip and Orsha would allow them to use the empty server as test server without having to waste (or at least little) money and increase the speed of bug fixing with the reports made.

I’m not sure that’s the problem, a testing environment would require completely remaking the server anyway so freeing one up wouldn’t do much, especially since those servers would have to be dedicated to expanding Klaipeda’s capacity to accommodate the population increase.

If I got this right they are hiring more “capable” people for the merging process? That’s a good improvement, I hope.

Much of it is their team getting more experienced, especially with all the new hires. The Devs themselves are better. The larger Dev team will also mean they have more resources to spend more time on problems, QA, content, etc.

Even if it wasn’t it would still be understandable, some MMO’s have a huge gap in versions due to their own planning anyway, we are luck being so close to the source version.

IMC is trying to close the gap even more now. That’s one of the advantages of a larger, more experienced Dev team.

I feel the CEO of this company is a freaking stingy for not get his employers english lessons.

You’re going to be saying that about a lot of CEO’s. That’s not a reasonable thing to expect.

Again, thanks @Queue to take your time to compile these collections of information for us.

You’re welcome. There’s always more, even if I don’t say anything about it.

And thanks to watch another: “Niri is being an ass again!” (LOL).

I’m pretty easy going, and you’re not awful so it’s all good.

[Nirimetus]

You want a GM to start programming? Why would you want her to not do her job?

I’m not saying to her go do codding, but do her job lol, if others go on her pace things might take longer than now.

I’m not sure that’s the problem, a testing environment would require completely remaking the server anyway so freeing one up wouldn’t do much, especially since those servers would have to be dedicated to expanding Klaipeda’s capacity to accommodate the population increase.

The catch here is, since the start, when we had 50k+ players spread across the servers, it was already unstable, after 2 months and a large amount of players leaving, the stability came back (except for Siliute).

But after a while we entered the 5k and under range, the development seem to have gathered around that amount of players, now that the population increased a bit in the first 3 days of this reset event, we saw how unstable the server was

I haven’t take a look at the charts to know how much it increase at that time, but I could see how bad the development went regarding server capacity and stability.

You’re going to be saying that about a lot of CEO’s. That’s not a reasonable thing to expect.

I can tell you for sure, that where I worked we where always offered chances to learn new stuff, even if we had to pay it in installments later on, we at least got all the things setup for us.

But then again, even when I didn’t had that kind of opportunity, I always ran after new knowledge.

[Seiran]

I always ran after new knowledge.

I just want to add a random comment. A friend (silute player) told that one GM learned to type some Portuguese things lol (er, I mean, or maybe google translate it? still an effort though)

[Nirimetus]

I just want to add a random comment. A friend (silute player) told that one GM learned to type some Portuguese things lol

It’s good when they try to learn to communicate.

[Queue]

I’m not saying to her go do codding, but do her job lol, if others go on her pace things might take longer than now.

She’s not the one you should be saying that about, I assure you.

The catch here is, since the start, when we had 50k+ players spread across the servers, it was already unstable, after 2 months and a large amount of players leaving, the stability came back (except for Siliute).

But after a while we entered the 5k and under range, the development seem to have gathered around that amount of players, now that the population increased a bit in the first 3 days of this reset event, we saw how unstable the server was

I haven’t take a look at the charts to know how much it increase at that time, but I could see how bad the development went regarding server capacity and stability.

The population has increased substantially, and we’re seeing more server instability though IMC is making moves to try and correct it. But that would happen if there was a test server or not because that’s almost certainly not what the server would be used for, especially since we’re talking about bugs.

I can tell you for sure, that where I worked we where always offered chances to learn new stuff, even if we had to pay it in installments later on, we at least got all the things setup for us.

But then again, even when I didn’t had that kind of opportunity, I always ran after new knowledge.

Sure but that’s a very odd criticism. The Dev’s aren’t just going to suddenly dedicate the time to learn a new language, that’s not a reasonable thing to go on about. Encourage it sure, but blaming for it makes no sense.

[Nirimetus]

The population has increased substantially, and we’re seeing more server instability though IMC is making moves to try and correct it. But that would happen if there was a test server or not because that’s almost certainly not what the server would be used for, especially since we’re talking about bugs.

The test server here would have the same function as the KR one, not only for instability issues but for balance and bug fix.

What I mean is, with a test server, they can concentrate their attention in one place instead various reports from across the servers.

It’s less stressing too for who is passing the information to the devs, and can be assigned to a 2 or 3 persons team instead of 5 or 6. The others can do other jobs like forum moderation or even in-game interaction to remove bots and RMT spammers.

Sure but that’s a very odd criticism. The Dev’s aren’t just going to suddenly dedicate the time to learn a new language, that’s not a reasonable thing to go on about. Encourage it sure, but blaming for it makes no sense.

No I’m not blaming tbh, but I do think it’s a necessity, even if they never do talk to us, in programming, you still need to know english for some stuff.

Just knowing that If, Define, Get and whatever other component or variable is doesn’t mean one will be able to program correctly, hence, end up with a “dirty” code causing all kinds of unnecessary trouble.

I’m not being unreasonable, it’s the person that have a drive to learn new stuff will suffer less later on, I won’t say the dev team need to learn, but if they want and can, then go for it.

Life is not only Work > Pleasure > Rest, unfortunately…