IT HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN ONE MONTH SINCE LOST
ARK WAS RELEASED IN THE WEST, AND WITH THAT CAME BOTH UPS AND DOWNS FOR THE GAME. HEY THERE FRIENDS IT’S CODIAK HERE AND WELCOME
TO LEGACY GAMING. TODAY WE ARE CHECKING OUT THE COLLABORATIVE
UPDATE BETWEEN SMILEGATE AND AMAZON INTENDED TO TARGET THE NUMEROUS PAIN POINTS CURRENTLY
BEING EXPERIENCED IN LOST ARK. [TRANS] LET’S NOT BEAT AROUND THE BUSH WITH THIS
ONE. WHILE I MAY NOT BE IN TIER 3 JUST YET, A WHOLE
HOST OF PLAYERS ARE INCLUDING LIVID AND MANY HERE IN THE LEGACY GAMING GUILDS. ACROSS THE BOARD, THERE HAVE BEEN FRUSTRATIONS
WITH THE WHOLE HONING EXPERIENCE, BE IT THE SEVERE LACK OF SOURCES FOR PROGRESSION MATERIALS,
PAY TO WIN ELEMENTS ALLOWING PLAYERS TO DOMINATE THE MARKET, AND EVEN BOTTING ISSUES MAKING
IT EVEN MORE DIFFICULT FOR THE EVERY DAY PLAYER TO PURCHASE MATERIALS THEY NEED. THE TEAM OVER AT AMAZON HAS ACKNOWLEDGED ALL
OF THESE THINGS AS ISSUES AND ARE SITTING DOWN WITH SMILEGATE RPG OVER THE NEXT WEEK
TO TAKE A CRITICAL LOOK AT THESE PROBLEMS, THEIR ROADMAP FOR WESTERN AUDIENCES, AND HOW
THINGS CAN BE ADJUSTED IN THE SHORT AND LONG TERM. THAT’S A GOOD THING IN OUR OPINION, BUT
AS WE ALWAYS SAY, ACTIONS SPEAK MUCH LOUDER THAN WORDS AND WE WANT TO SEE THESE THINGS
HAPPEN BEFORE WE PRAISES GOOD DEVELOPMENT INSIGHT. SO LET'S PULL BACK THE CURTAIN A BIT, AND
TAKE A DEEPER LOOK AT WHAT THEIR TEAM IS ACKNOWLEDGING AS AN ISSUE, AND WHAT FIXES THEY ARE LOOKING
TO MAKE. FROM THE START, THE GOAL OF LOST ARK HAS ALWAYS
BEEN FOR PLAYERS TO PROGRESS AT WHATEVER PACE THEY SEE FIT WHILE MAKING THE EXPERIENCE ALONG
THE WAY FUN. TIER 1 AND TIER 2 CONTENT WAS ALWAYS DESIGNED
AS A SORT OF MID-GAME PROLOGUE FOR THE WEALTH OF END-GAME TIER 3 CONTENT THAT SMILEGATE
HAS BEEN DEVELOPING SINCE THE ORIGINAL LAUNCH YEARS AGO. THE WESTERN RELEASE WAS ALWAYS INTENDED TO
BE AN ACCELERATED VERSION OF THE GAME SO AS TO CATCH UP WITH OTHER REGIONS, AND LAUNCHING
THE GAME WITH CONTENT 1370 AND ABOVE WAS PARTIALLY DUE TO PLAYER FEEDBACK IN THE CLOSED ALPHA
AND BETA TESTS. NOW WAS THAT THE RIGHT MOVE? STILL NOT ENTIRELY SURE ON THAT ONE, BUT BASED
ON THE SEVERE LACK OF PLAYERS REPORTED TO EVEN BE IN T3 YET, LET ALONE HAVE ALTS CREATED,
THAT’S LEANING MORE TOWARDS PROBABLY NOT. ONE OF THE BIGGEST COMPLAINTS HAS ACTUALLY
BEEN THE RELEASE OF ARGOS ALREADY, AS THE SEVERE LACK OF PLAYERS IN TIER 3 AS WE JUST
MENTIONED HAS EXACERBATED THE FEELING OF THE GAME BEING PAY-TO-WIN, WHICH AT THIS POINT,
IT 100% IS WITH WHALES DOMINATING THE IN-GAME ECONOMY WEEKS, EVEN LIKELY MONTHS BEFORE YOUR
AVERAGE PLAYER CAN EVEN DIP THEIR TOES IN. EVEN LIVID IS EXPERIENCING THE PROBLEM FIRST
HAND DESPITE HAVING ALMOST 30K GOLD AND ACTIVELY TRYING TO PLAY THE MARKET, GEARING HIS CHARACTERS
WITH ITEMS THAT COST 10K+ GOLD JUST TO BID ON, MAKES IT NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE. THE TEAM CLAIMS THEY NEVER WANTED PLAYERS
TO FEEL RUSHED IN THEIR QUEST TO HIT ITEM LEVEL 1370, AND THEY THOUGHT HAVING ARGOS
AVAILABLE NEAR LAUNCH WOULD BE A GOOD THING CONSIDERING HOW ABYSS RAIDS ARE AN IMPORTANT
STEPPING STONE TO HELP BRIDGE THE GAP TO CONTENT EVEN FURTHER OUT, LIKE LEGION RAIDS. THIS HOWEVER DOESN’T APPEAR TO BE THE CASE,
AND THEY’VE OPENLY ACKNOWLEDGED THEY MADE A MISTAKE RELEASING THE MARCH UPDATE FAR TOO
QUICKLY AFTER LAUNCH. THE ORIGINAL DATA PREDICTIONS PROJECTED A
MUCH LARGER PORTION OF THE PLAYERBASE WOULD HAVE REACHED THE LEVEL REQUIRED TO CHALLENGE
ARGOS BY NOW, BUT HAVE COME TO FIND OUT KEY VARIABLES WERE OVERLOOKED THAT DIRECTLY INFLUENCE
THIS DATA. BEING A BRAND NEW AUDIENCE HERE IN THE WEST,
THE TIME BEING ACTUALLY SPENT ON HORIZONTAL PROGRESSION LIKE ISLANDS, COLLECTIBLES, AND
MORE IS VASTLY OUTWEIGHING THE NUMBER OF PLAYERS PUSHING VERTICAL PROGRESSION. BOTS AND REAL-MONEY TRANSACTIONS ARE ALSO
CAUSING THE PRICE OF HONING MATERIALS TO SKYROCKET, FURTHER LOCKING OUT PLAYERS EVEN IN TIER 3
FROM PROGRESSING IN A REASONABLE FASHION. THERE’S ALSO JUST A SHEER SCARCITY OF TIER
3 HONING MATERIALS. A LOT OF YOU MAY NOT BE AWARE JUST HOW MANY
SOURCES OF ADDITIONAL WEEKLY HONING MATERIALS OTHER VERSIONS OF THE GAME HAVE, TO THE POINT
WHERE PROBABLY 60% IS STILL MISSING FROM OUR END-GAME, FURTHER COMPOUNDING THIS ISSUE. BECAUSE OF ALL THAT, SMILEGATE AND AMAZON
WANT TO TAKE THE NECESSARY STEPS TO GATHER COMPREHENSIVE DATA DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE
WESTERN RELEASE THAT WILL HELP THEM MAKE MORE ACCURATE DECISIONS BASED ON PLAY PATTERNS
IN ORDER TO BETTER INFORM THEIR FUTURE CONTENT ROADMAP. AS A TEMPORARY BAND-AID TO THE ISSUE, THEY
WANT TO SHIFT SOME OF THE FOCUS TO HELPING PLAYERS PROGRESS RATHER THAN FOCUS ON NEW
END-GAME CONTENT. THE GOAL? PROVIDE FUN CONTENT FOR PLAYERS, EVEN IF IT’S
AT A HIGHER LEVEL, WHILE NEVER MAKING PLAYERS FEEL PRESSURED THAT THEY NEED TO PAY TO PROGRESS. MAYBE THAT IS A BIT TOO LATE CONSIDERING THE
ISSUES, BUT IT’S GOOD THEY ACKNOWLEDGE IT. THEY ALSO ADMIT THEY NEED TO BE, AND REMAIN,
MORE FLEXIBLE TO THE WESTERN AUDIENCE, AN EXAMPLE BEING, REDUCING THE PAY TO WIN ELEMENTS
IN OUR VERSION OF THE GAME AND MAKING IT POSSIBLE TO EARN A MAJORITY OF CONTENT IN-GAME. THIS IS SOMETHING WE TALKED ABOUT AHEAD OF
LAUNCH BUT THINGS DIDN’T PAN OUT THE WAY WE HAD HOPED, AND A NUMBER OF ISSUES HAVE
CAUSE THE ECONOMY TO SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL. THEY STILL WANT TO PUSH FOR GETTING LEGION
RAIDS, THE DEFINITIVE LOST ARK RAIDING EXPERIENCE, IN SOONER RATHER THAN LATER, BUT THEY ALSO
WANT TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THAT PLAYERS NEED TO FEEL CONFIDENT IN THEIR ABILITY TO REACH
AND TACKLE THESE COMPLICATED CHALLENGES. WITH JUST A SMALL FRACTION OF THE COMMUNITY
BARELY REACHING ARGOS, MAINLY THOSE THAT PAID THEIR WAY TO THE TOP, SOMETHING IS OFF AND
THE TEAM ADMITS THAT. IN THE MEANTIME, A BIG SHIFT TO HORIZONTAL
CONTENT WILL TAKE PLACE, MEANING NEW LOCATIONS LIKE SOUTH VERN BEING RELEASED, NEW ISLANDS,
AND BRINGING IN MORE OF THE NEW CLASSES OTHER REGIONS HAVE INTO OUR VERSION. THIS IS GOOD, AND HONESTLY, THIS SHOULD HAVE
BEEN THE FOCUS FROM THE START. NOTHING FEELS WORSE THAN WANTING TO PLAY A
CLASS THAT HAS NO TANGIBLE RELEASE DATE, ALL THE WHILE INVESTING IN A CLASS YOU AREN’T
EXCITED TO BE PLAYING. AS A RESULT, A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT THEIR
CONTENT ROADMAP FOR APRIL AND MAY WILL BE UNVEILED IN THE NEAR FUTURE ONCE THEIR WEEK
OF IN STUDIO COLLABORATION HAS CONCLUDED. THEY WANT TO ALSO MAKE SURE THAT AS THEY RELEASE
NEW CONTENT, NEW CLASSES THAT COMPLIMENT THIS CONTENT WILL ALSO RELEASE ALONGSIDE IT. WE’RE ALL FOR THAT. WE’VE TALKED A LOT ABOUT HONING THIS AND
HONING THAT UP TO THIS POINT, SO WITH THAT, LETS DIVE INTO THE ECONOMY OF THE GAME. AMAZON HAS ACKNOWLEDGED THERE IS MAJOR PLAYER
CONCERN AROUND HONING AND THE FRUSTRATIONS WITH FAILING AND CONSTANTLY BEING WITHOUT
MATERIALS TO TRY AGAIN MOST OF THE TIME. WHILE WE’RE WELL AWARE A HUGE PORTION OF
THIS IS DUE TO THE LACK OF MOST END-GAME MATERIAL SOURCES, THEY’VE POINTED TO MORE IMMEDIATE
REASONS SUCH AS THE BOTTING ISSUES THAT HAVE INFLATED THE ECONOMY AND A DISTINCT LACK OF
ALT CHARACTERS BEING CREATED TO HELP FEED MAIN CHARACTERS. THE BOT ISSUE IS BEING ACTIVELY PURSUED, AND
HAS BEEN SINCE LAUNCH, BUT MORE AND MORE KEEP SPRINGING UP. THE REMOVAL OF EARLY GAME GOLD SOURCES HAS
RESULTED IN A STEEP DECLINE OF BOT ACTIVITY. WE’VE PERSONALLY SEEN THESE BOTS BEGIN TO
POP UP IN MORE END-GAME LOCATIONS NOW, SO THAT ISSUE STILL ISN’T FULLY UNDER CONTROL,
BUT THEY ARE WORKING ON IT. AS FOR THE HONING MATERIAL ISSUE, THEY WILL
BE SUPPLY MUCH MORE PROGRESSION MATERIALS FOR PLAYERS TO EARN THROUGH FUN IN-GAME EVENTS
AND INJECTING MORE GOLD INTO THE MID AND END-GAME. NEXT WEEKS UPDATE WILL ALSO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL
GRAND PRIX HONING REWARDS, SUCH AS THE ADDITION OF TAILORING AND METALLURGY BOOKS TO ASSIST
WITH HONING ATTEMPTS, AS WELL AS INCREASING THE NUMBER OF EVENT COINS EARNED. THEY WILL ALSO BE DETAILING A NEW GUARDIAN
RAID FOCUSED EVENT IN NEXT WEEKS UPDATE WHERE THE “SCALE OF BALANCE” WILL BE APPLIED
TO CHANGE ALL CHARACTERS STATS TO MATCH A GUARDIAN’S LEVEL, ADJUSTING THE DIFFICULTY
TO MATCH THE NUMBER OF RAID PARTICIPANTS. YOU’LL BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE ONCE PER DAY,
PER ROSTER IN AN ATTEMPT TO EARN NEW EVENT SPECIFIC COINS TO SPEND ON EVEN MORE HONING
REWARDS FROM A NEW VENDOR. SEASON 1 OF COMPETITIVE PVP WILL ALSO RELEASE
IN NEXT WEEKS UPDATE, PROVIDING A NEW SOURCE OF WEEKLY HONING MATERIALS AS WELL AS OTHER
REWARDS. A HEADS UP TO ANYONE THAT DIDN’T KNOW, YOU
CAN START PLAYING MATCHES NOW TO EARN THE PVP RESPECTIVE TOKENS WHILE ALSO RANKING YOURSELF
UP TO TIER 1, A REQUIREMENT TO ENTER COMPETITIVE MATCHES. FINALLY, LETS TALK ABOUT FREE GIFTS. WE ALL LOVE FREE STUFF RIGHT? PLAYERS IN KOREA RECENTLY RECEIVED IN-GAME
ITEMS TO COMMEMORATE THE LAUNCH IN THE WEST AND IT LOOKS LIKE THE WEST WILL BE RECEIVING
THESE REWARDS AS WELL. THIS INCLUDES: * New Animal Skin Selection Chest
* Mokokon Pet Selection Chest * Moko-board Mount Selection Chest
* Lost Ark United Structure * Appearance Change Ticket
* Pheons x132 * Menelik's Tome x5
* Legendary Card Pack Selection Chest x2 * Jukebox songs that will be provided when
Jukebox content is released in the future. ONE IMPORTANT THING TO BE AWARE OF SO YOU
DON’T MAKE A MISTAKE WHEN RECEIVING THESE REWARDS. DO NOT USE THOSE LEGENDARY CARD PACK SELECTION
CHESTS UNTIL YOU KNOW WHAT CARD YOU NEED DOWN THE ROAD. AS YOU GET INTO END GAME CONTENT YET TO BE
RELEASED, CERTAIN CARD SETS ARE A MUST HAVE AND A LOT OF THESE ARE LOCKED BEHIND SPECIFIC
LEGENDARY CARDS. WAIT TILL YOU KNOW WHAT YOU NEED SO YOU AREN’T
FULLY AT THE MERCY OF MONTHS OF BAD RNG. [OUTRO] LOOK IT’S NO SECRET THE AMAZON AND SMILEGATE
TEAMS ARE DIGGING OUT OF A HOLE THEY’VE CREATED HERE IN THE WEST. THE GAME IS STILL WILDLY POPULAR WITH HUNDREDS
OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE PLAYING EVERY DAY, BUT CHANGES HAVE TO BE MADE IF THEY WANT TO
KEEP THE PLAYER BASE ENGAGED. WE’VE SEEN POPULAR STREAMERS AND CONTENT
CREATORS CALL OUT SOME OF THE FLAWS AND BALANCE ISSUES, BUT I WILL SAY THE COMMUNICATION IS
A NICE CHANGE OF PACE. MOST TRIPLE A DEVELOPERS TAKE WEEKS, IF NOT
MONTHS, TO ADDRESS THESE CONCERNS AND AT THIS POINT WE KNOW THINGS ARE ON THEIR RADAR. IT DOESN’T EXCUSE ISSUES LIKE THE CLOCKS
BEING BROKEN FOR MULTIPLE DAYS DUE TO DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME, BUT WITH BIGGER ISSUES ON THE
TABLE, JUST KNOWING THAT THESE ISSUES ARE BEING TAKEN SERIOUSLY IS A SMALL COMFORT. THAT BEING SAID, AND WE SAID IT BEFORE, ACTIONS
SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS AND THE CLOCK IS TICKING FOR BOTH TEAMS TO TAKE THE NECESSARY STEPS
TO KEEP LOST ARK RELEVANT HERE IN THE WEST. AS ALWAYS FRIENDS WE’VE BEEN HAVING A GREAT
TIME MAKING LOST ARK CONTENT FOR YOU, SO IF YOU WOULD DO ME A SOLID AND HIT THAT THUMBS
UP AND CONSIDER SUBSCRIBING WE WILL CONTINUE TO BRING YOU NEW LOST ARK VIDEOS ON A REGULAR
BASIS. IF YOU’RE ON US-EAST REGULUS AND WANT TO
BE PART OF THE LARGEST LOST ARK GUILD IN NORTH AMERICA YOU CAN JOIN ONE OF OUR 30 LEGACY
GAMING GUILDS, JUST CHECK OUT THE DISCORD LINK BELOW AND SIGN UP. FINALLY IF YOU LIKE EVERYTHING WE’RE DOING
HERE ON THE CHANNEL AND YOU WANT TO SUPPORT US EVEN MORE YOU CAN DO SO BY BECOMING A MEMBER. FOR JUST A COUPLE BUCKS YOU’RE HELPING LIVID
AND I ACHIEVE OUR DREAMS OF BECOMING FULL TIME CREATORS, CHECK OUT THE LINK BELOW TO
LEARN MORE MY NAME IS CODIAK AND FROM EVERYONE HERE AT
LEGACY GAMING THANKS FOR WATCHING AND PLAY ON.
