DRAGON BALL PROJECT: Multi
Regional Beta Testing and BeyondDRAGON BALL
PROJECT: Multi
Regional Beta Testing
and Beyond
Let us start off by saying to all of those who’ve participated in the Beta test, thank you! With all of the in-game and out-of-game feedback we’ve received, there’s loads to work on. In this letter, we would like to explain a few of our design philosophies as well as the direction PROJECT: Multi will be going towards its release. But before going into the details, let us preface this by saying this letter will be pretty long.
[Original Intent]
PROJECT: Multi was designed to provide the experience of freely controlling your beloved Dragon Ball characters “wherever,” with “whomever,” and “whenever” through the franchise’s first team-focused multiplayer game. Specifically, we aimed to create a game where a fun competition could be had between most any player even with a bit of gap between their skills. Deep understanding of the game and practice will serve you well, but swaying game elements will ensure that each round will play out differently from the last. All of that, in roughly ten minutes for a satisfying experience without overstaying our welcome. The regional beta’s purpose was to ensure the above values could be properly felt, as well as other fidelities including but not limited to network stress and in-game balancing. With that in mind, our conclusions for the two weeks test are as follows.
- High interest in future hero characters
- General rules are not too confusing and easy to get into
- Ease of control
- Network latency was not detrimental to overall experience
- Isometric views did not diminish the value of the world of Dragon Ball
- General aesthetics are in tune with fan expectations
- Demand for cosmetic items exceeded expectation
- Certain game systems felt unrewarding
- Specific characters roles (tanks) out-performed others to an extreme degree
- Slightly confusing UI
- Friend/party system bug
- Lacking mobile tailored interface
- Crashes & high temperature hardware on mobile
- Too many bots
- Not enough difference between rounds to warrant long term replayability
Our intention is to further strengthen the positives and solve the negatives to provide the experience we’ve originally envisioned. At the same time, we hope to keep expectations on what’s to come at launch at a realistic level so as not to cause any disappointments.
Major Changes
Before moving on, please note that not all of our changes and fixes are set in stone yet. Discussions and planning are still being made and details of our plans will be expanded on in the coming months through our official channels. With that, here are some of our major changes and directions on the future of PROJECT: Multi.
- 1) Great Ape
- 2) Matchmaking
- 3) Hero Characters
- 4) Game Rules
1) Great Ape
Its original objective was to up the ante to accelerate the game and provide a chance for either team to win. Both objectives were accomplished, but the latter came at a detriment for the majority of players. As was our original design philosophy, the Great Ape will still maintain its function to encourage a climactic end of the round but the boon it provided to its defeaters will be removed entirely.
2) Matchmaking
In order to pleasantly continue playing multiplayer games, it is essential to shorten the matchmaking and loading time as much as possible. Let us admit that we overdid the tuning for this during the beta test, forcing the game client to instantly give up when looking for other players to match. This is simply our mistake, and although bots will not disappear entirely, matchmaking in general will be made better by launch.
3) Hero Characters
To provide a chance for every one of our hero characters to shine, we will be making frequent balance changes whether they directly or indirectly change how a specific hero behaves. One key point we hope players will understand with this is that “not every character will perform perfectly in the same meta environment.” There will always be certain heroes out-performing another in different scenarios and we feel that’s what will make this game fun and engaging. Our aim is to shift the spotlights from time to time onto different heroes to incentivize a variety in gameplay. That is not to say our beta test environment was perfect. On the note of hero characters, the “shop level” and “hero coins” are planned to be removed. Instead, hero acquisition will be consolidated into the “collection level” rewards with a curated order of heroes available. As heroes are added, additional level rewards will be implemented for players to acquire them from. For those of you who may be worried that heroes in the farther ladders of “collection level” rewards may provide unfair advantages, we assure you that every hero will have its strengths and weaknesses.
4) Game Rules
Although the specifics are still on the drawing board, we have plans to implement a system of randomness to sway the outcome of a match to provide a certain degree of unpredictability. We do not wish for players to constantly be forced to perform optimally in the same fashion over and over again. Nor do we want for players to feel their accomplishments and team fights to feel insignificant to the outcome of the round. We understand that the Great Ape was not optimal in that matter. Regardless, additional rules and tweaks are being worked on, and they will be disclosed in the coming months.