Happy Summer, Rebels! Well, at least to those up here in the Northern Hemisphere. Now that we’ve released a set of hulls for each Tier 15 faction, it’s time to have a discussion about the tier and what we plan on doing with Vega Conflict in the coming months.

We’re now a few months into Tier 15 and, even though we were excited to try some new ideas with the content stream and event systems, it doesn’t seem to have landed correctly with the most important group, the players. This doesn’t mean that Tier 15 is to be considered a failure, but it does mean that changes have been, and continue to be, made so that we can continue to bring you an enjoyable experience. We continue to focus on balancing the game with each release, and this upcoming release is no exception. We continue to be open to constructive feedback regarding content and the event structure. That being said, let’s discuss the original vision for the tier.

One of the primary goals of Tier 15 was to cut back on the reliance and usage of what we referred to as “Legacy Tech”. This included components and Fleet Commanders from deep in the game’s history, which usually led to unintended balance issues when new tech was released. By switching slot types and creating new weapon types, we were able to cut off a good portion of Legacy Tech, as well as limit the overall impact of existing Fleet Commanders. It was, by no means, a perfect execution, but it got the ball rolling and gave us more design space to create new tech and components. Of course, Fleet Commanders continue to be a nuisance, but there isn’t much we can do at the moment to fully address them. Based on player feedback, we wanted to revisit a three-way faction system, while changing how the factions were released, in order to promote further PvP play while granting a bevy of new content at a slower pace. We also wanted to shake up the existing event cadence, giving players a different way of acquiring new content and building it up, while having a consistent value to each hull release as each set arrived. Our goal was to alleviate some of the grind while offering players a chance to collect 3 factions' worth of content that was optional, while focusing on their favourite faction.

As it stands, the intentions of this new event system were not as well received as we had hoped with the player base (that’s on us) and, as a result, we will be making further changes to the event system, in order to restore a cadence you’re more accustomed to and that will allow ships to continue to have the value you want and deserve. Damus is hard at work cooking up some exciting content pathways for you to enjoy, and I genuinely think you’re going to like what he has in store for you. We will be returning to a content release cadence you are more familiar with, as mentioned above, but it will not reduce the value or the effectiveness of the existing Tier 15 content you have already acquired. We intend to improve that value and effectiveness. That being said, Tier 15 isn’t going anywhere. We are going to continue to build and expand upon the current tier. Think of it more like a “living tier”, where we will continue to balance and make changes, as necessary, to the existing content while still releasing new and exciting content. Our goal is that this will lead to a more gradual power curve and allow the power progression of the content to grow naturally instead of by leaps and bounds here and there. We will continue to listen to player feedback and make balance changes as the need arises.

When it comes to the current PvP situation, we are aware of some big issues plaguing players as we speak. Low-level turtle bases continue to be a thorn in everyone’s sides, and we are currently looking into multiple solutions to address this. It is not something we are ignoring; we want this problem to go away as well. There is also the incredibly weird ship explosion issue that still pops up from time to time. Again, we are constantly trying to address that issue, as it is incredibly elusive to us. Finally, Tier 15 still hasn’t found its footing when it comes to base combat yet. The new base content, along with some balance changes, should send the tier in the right direction when it comes to that. As mentioned above, we will continue to strive to make everything better and more balanced.

We hope that you will stick with us as we continue to balance things out for this Tier. We have some exciting stuff coming up quickly for the game:

• The Frontier will provide a powerful Flagship (one might even say Dreadnought, but not me, Damus will get mad) to bolster your forces.
• More T15 Base content, including more Base Officers
• New T15 Fleet Commanders
• Module Skins
• If V.E.G.A. gets a Flagship, then shouldn’t the Saprophyte and the Guardians?
• And, coming very soon… a new foe/friend joins the fray…

• Of course, we also have some fun things in mind for this year’s Haunted event.

On top of these things, we have some PvP-focused ideas that we are currently working on, but will take some time. So stick with us, because there are some exciting things coming to Vega Conflict in the coming months and remember, we are listening. Until next time, Rebels!

KIX_Lore_Master