ArenaNet:Developer updates/20081121

[Dev Update] - 21 November 2008
We would like to follow up on several points from last week’s title balance build that have been heavily discussed. We are continuing to monitor the effects of this build and plan to make adjustments as we move forward.

Storybook Storage
The addition of seven new Storybooks is putting a lot of pressure on player inventories.

We are aware that inventory space was already at a premium and that the new Storybooks only add to this issue. Prior to adding this feature, we did look into adding a Storybook tab to the Xunlai storage boxes. However, when we looked at available server space, we found that this was not feasible. To increase player storage by adding new tabs, we would have needed to expand our existing server space or purchase additional servers. We are actively exploring alternative ways to relieve inventory pressure and would like to reassure players that this is an issue very much on our minds.

Storybook Retroactivity
Storybook NPCs allow players to purchase the pages of missions completed without having the book in inventory. However, we decided not to allow players to purchase the pages of missions that were completed prior to the update. This was a difficult decision to make, but an important one.

We monitor the economy closely and found a significant fluctuation in how much gold players had on average after the addition of the M.O.X. quests (which give a 10 platinum reward). If we allowed players to purchase those pages, any character that had completed all three campaigns in Normal Mode would be receiving 18 platinum and 42,750 gold for Hard Mode completion for a grand total of 60,750 gold. In light of how much the economy was affected by just 10 platinum, the inflation caused by giving out 60 platinum per character was too significant for us to allow.

Luxon and Kurzick Faction Points
With the increased rewards to Luxon and Kurzick missions, we decided to retroactively award faction to players for missions completed prior to the build. This faction was credited to players as they logged in with each character that had completed these missions, which meant that large chunks of both types of faction were received at once. As players went to turn in their newly received faction, they were losing faction from the opposing side due to the conflict between the Luxons and the Kurzicks. This meant that players would not necessarily get the full benefit for the faction they earned depending on the order in which they logged in with characters and turned in faction.

In most cases, the trade-offs when turning in Luxon and Kurzick faction points are just a part of aligning with one of two warring factions. In hindsight, with this set of retroactive rewards, we should have done a better job accounting for characters who had completed both campaigns, and for accounts with multiple characters who had completed different campaigns. Unfortunately, now that this has gone Live, we don't believe there is a fair or reasonable way for us to change this, so the issue will not be addressed further.