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Throne and Liberty has continued to maintain its early momentum rather well, holding firm to its place among Steam’s most-played games despite the launch of a new FF14 patch and the start of Ashes of Creation alpha two. With its first grand-scale Castle Siege event behind it, Throne and Liberty’s globalization design manager Tico sits down in a new ‘Tico talks’ video to discuss community feedback and the team’s plans for the remainder of 2024.
Tico opens by thanking the Throne and Liberty community for its friendly and thoughtful feedback. “While we may not always make decisions that align with everyone’s individual wishes, please know that I’m committed to maintaining this open communication with you, and that every choice we make is aimed at creating the best possible game for our community as a whole.”
He then kicks things off by talking about Castle Sieges, which he says “truly sets Throne and Liberty apart.” With its largest battle featuring more than 3,900 participants, it’s easy to see why this vast-scale mode helps it to stand out alongside the best MMORPGs. Around 45% of castles changed hands during this first event, Tico notes, and the team is now in process of reviewing all the battles individually to help improve the mode moving forward.
Specifically, Tico explains addresses a tactic that attackers used to infiltrate the inner courtyards earlier than they should have been able to – this was caught too close to the event to make a change, so instead the team decided to simply warn defenders of the issue. He also notes two server battles where pillage zones weren’t properly distributing their rewards. Both of these issues will be fixed for the next Castle Siege, Tico reassures, and those affected by the missing rewards will be identified and paid out correctly.
Tico also talks about the 30-second PvP immunity timer that applies after resurrection and teleportation. He explains that while this is “excessive for certain siege scenarios,” it will take some time to change as it’s currently tied into other modes where the existing timer does make sense. It won’t be altered before the upcoming round of Castle Sieges, therefore, but it will be lowered further down the line.
Speaking to PvP generally, Tico notes, “We think that crowd control is having a larger-than-intended impact on battle without sufficient methods to prevent it.” To help counteract this, two new measures are being implemented. In a December update, the CC immunity bar will fill much faster than before, especially when you’re affected by multiple controlling instances. The cleansing Purification Stone item will be also able to apply an additional enhancement to players when used, and this should likewise come into effect in December.
Next on the table are so-called “mega alliances,” where one faction becomes overly dominant in size. To help counteract this, hostile guild relations will be entirely removed from Throne and Liberty in December. Tico also addresses “the human element” and what causes such guilds to form, and says the team is currently looking at adjusting how rewards for conflict mode bosses are managed in a way that “creates a fair balance across all participants while still ensuring that the strongest performers see the appropriate benefit.”
Amazon Games is looking at more ways to lower the barriers for players getting into PvP, which starts with the arrival of WarGames on Thursday December 5. This feature will allow you to create full custom lobbies, defining the goals and the number of teams involved, and then kick things off either in private or public matches to your designated specifications. Tico says the tool will continue to improve based on how players use it.
Another point of contention is Conquest battle times. “It’s clear that the large majority of our community thinks they start too early,” Tico says. While the exact time change hasn’t been locked in yet, they’ll be moved to a later slot from December 5 in an effort to allow more players to take part.
Tico then acknowledges that players have found ways to take advantage of the new random dungeon queue feature in a manner that essentially bypasses the randomness. Others, meanwhile, feel restricted by the inability to play with friends in the mode and say they’re pressured to choose between playing with friends or the more efficient option.
On Thursday November 21, Amazon Games introduced the ability to queue for random dungeons with up to four players. In December, penalties will be applied to players who queue for a random dungeon only to not accept it when it pops, or who leave it before it’s done.
Arch boss fights that spawn in ‘peace mode’ (where multiple instances of the boss allow players to all get their chance at rewards without fear of PvP interference) will now appear with more portals, giving players a better chance to all grab the boss drops. Following that are Dimensional Trials on December 5, which are repeatable PvE instances that are packed with rewards.
To close out the video, Tico discusses additional quality-of-life improvements. In December, you can look forward to additional skill and equipment presets. An option to automatically decline party invites from those outside your guild and friendly guilds is on the way. Tico also says players can expect “several impactful updates that we think will make combat and movement feel more fluid, intuitive, and natural” to arrive early in 2025.
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