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Hey Slayers! I’ve been reading through all of the feedback on the Ostian Armour showing up in the Alchemy of War Hunt Pass. So, I wanted to give you a peek behind the scenes so you know how we make those decisions and also give you a heads up on what you can expect to change going forward.
Our main goal with every Hunt Pass is to give Slayers a chance to take on a new kind of role - live a new particular fantasy. We want to inspire them to turn their character into an alchemist or a barbarian or a ninja or a druid or whatever. So we create new armour sets, new weapons, and - more recently - new abilities that let them do that.
For the first 7 Hunt Passes, armour and weapons were only available on the Elite track. But in an effort to really push the awesomeness of the armour skins, we developed Basic and Ultra armours. Basic armors for the free track, and Ultra for the Elite. They looked similar, like two versions of the same set. The idea was, if you really want to stand out, you'll want to get the Elite look. We started that with Way of the Fist (1.0) in September last year.
Pretty quickly, we realized that creating two armour sets that were nearly identical led to some unfun designs -- you get a lot of ornate trims to make the Ultra look cool. Or you get some basics that just fall very flat. And players who purchased the Elite Hunt Pass ended up with a lot of sets that were just toned-down versions of others they had. What a waste! We also were stuck sticking to one look each season. If you weren't into that, you had to wait until the next pass rolled around.
It was clear -- instead of investing in two armour sets that look almost the same, we could deliver more value to players if we made two armour sets that were different, told different stories, or offered a different take on the same one. More viable options. More choices. Fantastic!
Here's the snag: in a free-to-play game like Dauntless (where every piece of playable content, every mode, every level, every bit of progression and power is entirely earnable) cosmetics are the main items up for sale. When slayers can drop in, play all the content, get all the gear, and get the latest cosmetics that match the new theme on the Hunt Pass free track -- we aren't setting the game up for future success. But if we’d added both armours to Elite and left free with no armour set, the free track would have been a lot less exciting.
That's how we came to revisit some old sets from the store. It's true, there are some players who purchased those sets individually (thank you for supporting!), but the goal is to keep the Current Theme cosmetics as an optional buy-in and give players who can't or don't purchase the Elite Hunt Pass something meaningful to look forward to.
Does that feel bad for some players? Feedback is clear: yes. So, my job is all about trying to balance the wants and needs between different groups of players.
Let’s go behind the curtain and I’ll share some numbers we look at to make decisions like these.
Since it launched about 2 years ago, about 0.0005% of players have purchased the Ostian Armour set. In fact, only a handful of players bought the armour this year. These armours are very cool, but they aren't on-season and they aren't promoted and they're much more expensive than, say, a full Hunt Pass that includes 2 armour sets and weapons and more. It's not surprising that players use platinum for other things.
For those who did purchase (you’re awesome) -- they get it when they want it and they trade platinum. When it drops in the free track, more players get access to that content (yay) but they've got to trade time and energy.
I hear y'all pointing out if you’re one of the slayers who did buy it, there's no alternative reward. There's something on the free track that is, essentially, blank for you. And that's no fun. Plus, it’s hard to know if something in the store will eventually make its way onto a Hunt Pass track.
Here's what you can expect in the future. (Also I'm trying not to spoil too much for future releases!!)
The next Hunt Pass begins early in December, and will be pretty different. December is going to bring some awesome updates to the game as a whole and the Hunt Pass will adjust to support those changes.
At a high level, we'll continue to make sure the Elite Track has all the new, optional cosmetics that a Slayer needs to get right into the current season and become a [REDACTED] that can really [REDACTED] [REDACTED]. And the free track will focus more on meaningful items and [REDACTED] that tie directly into the new features and help every player (rookie or vet) through their journey in the Shattered Isles.
I know that’s not the MOST specific, but your feedback here on this post and throughout the season on all of our channels will help us build an awesome Hunt Pass experience. Your feedback is crucial to everything we do. I’m around if you’ve got questions about this, the pass, or just want to chat about your favourite armour sets.
Clear Skies, Slayers. And be nice to each other. :)
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