Some Important News as we Move Into May

Hello Citizens,

This blog post will be a quick one with a few announcements from myself to you all. 

Last week ended the Easter Event 2015 and a new month is just around the corner. With the upcoming month of May, I will be providing the next batch of answers to your inquires and posting my questions to you very shortly. 

One issue I will address in this post regards our Trophy system that started in February.  The goal was for participants to collect unique items in past and upcoming events and then reward players with an upcoming unique event and customizable versions of their items. 

Much as the idea of a trophy system was solid, the methodology and practice did not perform as well as I expected.  So, with the next live release, all players that have earned the Valentine quiver and Easter egg head trophy will be provided with customizable versions of their very own.

As mentioned in the first Q&A session, we had plans to change the direction of our Trophy system in 2016.  The feedback and concerns from players provided us with the proper info and guidance to create a more valuable and promising system for the New Year. 

For your feedback, I say thank you in making our game better each and every step of the way.

Well, as I said this was a quick post so till next time citizens.

MoK

 

Server Merge Update and Name Survey

Hey San Paro!

We have been working hard this month toward the scheduled EU server merge this Wednesday, and the US merge 2 weeks later. As promised at the beginning of the process, I'd like to keep you updated on where we're currently at.

New Merge Dates

We are pushing both merge dates back by two (2) weeks. This means that the new merge dates will be:

• EU: Wednesday, May 6 
• US: Wednesday, May 20

Setting up a successful merge involves a ton of moving parts, including hardware setup (which requires flying out to the data center), database and server configuration, and extensive scripting work. We unfortunately ran into a series of events involving international travel complications and hardware shipments over the last couple weeks that delayed our timeline. 

Still, most of the configuration work is already complete and we are in a solid position to complete the merge. And despite these setbacks, we were considering different ways we could get everything in place by the original date. In the end, we felt it was best to reserve another 2 weeks for simulation and testing to take extra care that your characters appear on the new worlds just as you left them. 

Server Name Survey

We need need six new names for each of the servers that are soon coming online (PC/PS4/X1 on US and EU). One (or more) of these servers will be your new gaming home over the coming years and it's fitting that you take part in their creation. 

After gathering your suggestions for what to name the new servers, we compiled the most popular names into a survey for you to cast your votes. In case your chosen name isn't on that list, we left a space for you to write it in. Should you write yours in, we only ask that you pick a name that appears in the APB universe.

So please cast your vote here by May 1st 11:59 PM PDT! 

APB Server Merge Survey

Jobs

Weapon Rebalance and a Few Other Things

Hello Citizens,

We are halfway through April and we have more things to bring to your attention.  First, the Easter Event will be coming to a close and you have till April 22nd to earn those rewards and Egg Head trophy.  For those that have already played or have been playing, we appreciate all your feedback and all data in game and from the forums will be taken into consideration for all future gameplay and events.

We are also happy to say that we have now moved 10 of our newly balanced weapons into the advanced testing stage, our goal again is to give them the good once over before making these changes live.  The 10 weapons again are:

• NTEC
• HVR-762
• VAS-C2
• ISSR (A/B)
• OCSP
• FFA-BULLSHARK
• COBR-A
• VBR
• NFAS-OGRE
• NCR-ANUBIS

With this testing we are also refining a variation of the WEAPON PICKUP mechanic, which players saw in last year’s Christmas Event.  The goal is to release this mechanic and the rebalanced weapons within a few months.  There will be a forum post as soon as testing is completed regarding our final changes, listing each weapon as well as a brief description of the changes.

The next Q&A session will be started in a few weeks on our forums.  Of course, you the audience can ask any questions you may have.  I do ask that each person please limit your questions to 2, this way the same or similar questions can be answered as one response.  

New questions for the players will also be posted shortly after the Q&A session is posted.  The information you provided previously are actively being considered and in some cases have been implemented in our present weapon rebalancing stage of our testing.

In a few days APB will be having a Video, Art and Music competition open to our entire audience.  This will be your chance to show off your creative chops and help spread the word about the APB universe and how elements in game should be made to look, read and sound cool.  Details will be made available on the forums within the next few days.

So to recap…

• 10 rebalanced weapons are in advanced testing – details will be posted on the forums when testing is completed.
• Introduction of the Weapon Pickup mechanic – as seen on Xmas event 2014
• New Q&A session – details will be posted on the forums this Friday.
• APB Reloaded new Video, Art and Music competition – details will be posted on the forums this Friday

As you can see we have a few coals burning and are all excited to see what the end result will bring. We look forward to announcing the release date of the rebalanced weapons, but only when we feel they are fully ready.  But at the same time we are excited to see what your next questions may be as well as the answers you will be providing and the creative output some of you will attempt to do with our upcoming completion.

This is going to be an interesting couple of months.

Till next time citizens,

MoK

Easter Update Patch

Hello Citizens,

After Thursday’s release the team and I further reviewed our play testing sessions and also read the feedback you all left on the forums. On many issues we agree with you and went forward with some rule changes to the event.

To tackle some of the exploits and obvious balance issues base on play styles, we implemented a few changes with tomorrow’s update:

• PLAYERS will be invulnerable and will have a speed boost for 10 Sec when Re-spawning with eggs.
• CAR SURFING will be removed from the Easter Event.

The additions above should remedy a few of the bad experiences players are encountering.

Back by popular demand, we will also be awarding players with Rabbit Ears for just logging in.

Finally, we are introducing last year’s EGG HUNT 2015! ROLE that has been updated for this years event.

Level 1 (250 eggs) : Animal Suit
Level 2 (500 eggs) : Rabbit Mask
Level 3 (1000 eggs): 'Easter Bunny' Title

That’s all from me gang, thank you again for the feedback and stay tuned for a new post from Jobs regarding other game developments.

Till next time Citizens,

MoK