Heads up - this is pretty long. There's a lot to unpack, both foundationally and topically.

We’ve heard the concerns about splitting focus between increasing relic levels on older characters to account for Relic Delta while still wanting to pursue newer characters. With our upcoming release, we will be changing how players get and invest in new characters. More details to come on that later, but the relevant portion for Relic Delta is this: You will be progressing through gear tiers and lower relic levels without needing to use gear or relic materials, which frees up those resources to be spent on older characters.

Additionally, both Droid Brains and higher level Signal Data will be added as outputs from the Scavenger, giving players an alternate means of acquiring those materials.

Lastly, the playtest is still ongoing, and we are continuing to gather feedback from the testers and the community. We simply wanted to provide the context that folks have been requesting. Let’s get into it.

Table of Contents

1. The Basics: Vertical Progression
2. The Problem: Scalability
3. The Options: Possible Solutions
4. The Chosen Solution: Relic Delta
5. The Variations: Alternative Versions
6. The Future: Where Does This Leave Us?

The Basics: Vertical Progression

Games with progression fall into two main categories:

• Horizontal progression: As a primary vector, power does not increase. Rather, over time you gain additional tools in your toolbelt to solve the same sorts of problems at similar power levels.
• Vertical progression: As a primary vector, power increases with new releases. This doesn't have to be a rapid increase, and the team has done an excellent job of taking measured and calculated steps when it comes to power increases. This power increase can come from new equipment/stats, new kits/abilities, new systems, etc.

 

Both types of games need new content, at least in the context of a live service game. They have different constraints and objectives with this new content, but they both need it. Vertical progression games generally need new content at a higher power that players transition to (and transition away from older content).

We see this in Galaxy of Heroes because it is, of course, a primarily vertical progression game (with some horizontal progression elements). Your account gets stronger over time as a result of gaining stronger characters, increasing gear and relic levels, acquiring and refining better mods, etc. And you rightfully want to engage with new content, which most of the time needs to be at higher power levels to absorb, showcase, and reward the power increase of your account.

Please note that this doesn’t mean we’re suddenly going to leap forward multiple relic levels. We do want to introduce new relic levels over time, but we also want to bring players along at the same pace and catch players up to make sure all players are able to engage with and enjoy new content.

The Problem: Scalability

In Systems Design, we try to make systems as scalable as possible. If you can build your system in a way that adapts to or accounts for changes to the game that you don't yet know are coming, you've built a robust and scalable system. If you build a bunch of features that aren't scalable, at some point you have to spend all your time updating older things rather than building cool new stuff for players to enjoy. That isn't to say we shouldn't or don't update older systems (just look at GAC out of GA, Raids 2.0, Ships 2.0, etc). Even scalable systems need updates sometimes. But the more you can build your game to have scalable systems, the easier it is to maintain and make more fun stuff for players.

6 years ago, we transitioned from Gear to Relics as the primary progression system for characters. Relics were added because adding a new gear tier was a massive undertaking. New pieces with a variety of stats had to be designed that somehow benefited the entire roster roughly equally using different combinations despite kits wanting to focus on varying stats. The balance work was even worse, needing to account for multiple possible combinations of these “buckets of stats” for each character. And the roster has only grown since then. The reason for Relics’ entire existence is to solve the scalability problem of the gear system.

However, Relics haven’t seen a new level of progression for 4 years. This is due to two aspects - there was nothing to absorb, showcase, and reward that power increase, and there was minimal-to-no reason to push for higher progression. New content usually isn't cheap, and it's never free, so we often have to make difficult choices around what gets built. It's bad to introduce a new level of progression without the content to absorb it, since there's no reason to invest or use the new level of progression. It's bad to introduce new levels of content without the increased progression to enter and take it on because, well, you can't enter it and complete it.

The core problem is that Relics don't have a scalable system component promoting and rewarding investment.

What eventually happens to a live service vertical progression game that stops releasing vertical progression?  What happens to any live service game when the core gameplay loop is removed?

There are two operational reasons to invest - the stats given on each individual level and content entry requirements - but at some point the stats have diminishing returns, and requirements can’t update as players’ rosters evolve. Players invest in unlock/entry requirements for content they want to engage, but the higher the relic level, the scarcer its materials and the less likely players are to invest those resources.

We've heard from the community that players don't think R9 is worth investing outside of requirements, GLs, and the occasional tank. R9 still loses to R5 just like R8 does. R9 doesn't make battles in early phases of TB meaningfully faster. R9 doesn't make Assault Battle challenge tiers or Proving Grounds or other events much easier. It comes up short in both PvE and PvP content, both solo and group content.

You could say "just make the stats on R9 bigger", and we'll address that possible approach in just a bit, but the short response to that is a series of questions: What does that mean for R10? What does the impact on R10 mean for R11? Higher relic levels in the future? How will this be sustainable for multiple future levels of progression? How does an increase in stats on R9 help players below R9? We have to look at the long-term future of Relics, not just the levels that players currently own.

In the end, the problem is far bigger than "protect higher relic investment", which is as much as we revealed to the testers initially. Yes, that is part of the problem, but it's not the whole problem. We need to facilitate all players having a systemic and scalable game-wide reason to pursue upward progression.

The Options: Possible Solutions

We've seen some suggestions from the community on other ways to solve this core problem (albeit without knowing what the problem was). Now that the problem is revealed, let's take a look at why these other options weren't chosen.

Do nothing

Example: The game stays at R9.

Result: Players eventually have enough resources to take the entire roster to R9. There is no new level of progression, no new challenging content that players can strive to overcome. As players don't have upward progression to pursue (in a primarily vertical progression game), there is no longer a reason to engage with the core gameplay loop of Play > Get Rewards > Invest > Get Stronger > Play. Rewards don't matter and there is nowhere to invest. The core of the game ceases to function and the player experience is ruined.

Change relic stats on existing relic levels

Example: R9 is updated to add an additional 50 Mastery and 100 Speed.

Result: The value that players receive from their prior investment and upcoming investment goals changes. Some characters probably come out "winners", but many would certainly be "losers". Different characters are impacted to differing degrees, which results in a fractured solution rather than a solidified one. The meta still shifts, potentially drastically, especially if Mastery constituent stats are touched. Relic levels beyond R9 aren't directly supported, and this doesn't address the core problem of scalability.

Introduce R10

Example: Add R10 by itself.

Result: R10 exists with no new content to support it. With R9 being difficult to acquire, many wouldn't have any R10 characters. The top end would invest as much as necessary for any new requirements and also updating GL teams, and then R10 would be in the exact same state as R9. It plays into and exacerbates the existing problem rather than solving it.

Add the damage increase/decrease on the top few relic levels

Example: R7 deals 10% more damage to and receives 10% less damage from R6 and below. R8 deals 20% more damage to and receives 20% less damage from R7 and below. R9 deals 30% more damage to and receives 30% less damage from R8 and below.

Result: This is honestly the closest these possible solutions came to solving the problem before Relic Delta was chosen. Unfortunately, this does nothing to help players below R7. It even creates a bit of a wall at R7, or wherever the value is introduced. Additionally, it would need to be removed and shifted up as new relic levels were introduced, since increasing to +/- 40% and beyond isn't scalable (eventually a single relic level is unbeatable by any relic level below it). And removing value from players' investment feels terrible. Sometimes it has to be done for the greater good of the game's health, but it's never something we relish doing, and we avoid it whenever possible.

The Chosen Solution: Relic Delta

Relic Delta was conceived about a year ago at this point. The basis of and inspiration for this system actually comes from within our own game. 10 years ago the game launched with a level delta system whereby attacks would experience modified Crit Chance, Accuracy/Evasion, Damage, and resist chance based on the difference between the attacker’s and defender’s character levels. Only Crit Chance and resist chance have any values, so only those two were ever in play. Recognizing that most vertical progression live service games have some kind of delta system to facilitate conquering old content and not pushing too far ahead on higher level content, we decided to update relics to use a similar system.

A level delta system is used so broadly because it is incredibly scalable. While players are leveling and working toward max progression, the delta "sticks with them" and applies equally to their experience regardless of where they're at in the progression curve. If progression levels are increased, the system accounts for that by automatically applying equally as players work toward the new cap, without requiring bandwidth from developers to balance and maintain bespoke bonuses.

For all players at all relic levels:

• It speeds up and/or simplifies older content.
• It protects newer content and investments made to engage with that content.
• It supports a distinction in power level in PvP.
• It rewards those who have "made the climb".
• It promises that “your investment of time and resources will be rewarded.”

We chose for Relic Delta to only apply to damage because we wanted the stats on the relic levels themselves to still matter. Individual relic levels should still be able to express varied stats based on what the meta needs at the time that relic level is introduced.

We’ve heard the concern around Relic Delta eliminating strategy (mods, counters, theorycrafting), but we aren’t seeing a complete elimination of strategy during either internal testing or the current playtest. We fully intend for strategy to continue to be a central aspect of both PvP and PvE content. Yes, Relic Delta eliminates some cases (e.g. G12 Malicos beating R8 Rey), but it also introduces some strategy around which characters to invest in and by how much based on your usage of them and their place in the larger meta.

We are aware that there have been other similar games with what seems like the same concept on the surface, but there are 2 critical differences that make this more favorable for F2P and folks who have invested into Galaxy of Heroes:

• This system is a gradual curve rather than a massive boost at just one level of difference.
• This system has a single progression path (Relics, which are becoming more accessible in the same release) rather than requiring investment in multiple disparate systems that have differing rates of accessibility.

The Variations: Alternate Versions

There are some alternative executions of a Relic Delta system that we considered, some of which we've seen suggested by players. Similar to above, I wanted to briefly cover why we didn't go down those routes.

Kick in later

Example: Relic Delta doesn't take effect until you're at R7 or R9; lower relic levels are unaffected.

Result: This introduces inconsistency in how the system is applied. Messaging for a system that suddenly turns on after you've crossed a threshold is difficult. Additionally, how do you say "R9 has Relic Delta active" and not have that apply to R3 when they’re battling each other? A delta implies two different values. It requires the context of the other side, at which point the lower relic is inherently involved in the system and affected by it. Why shouldn’t lower invested units also benefit from having a higher relic level than units below them (whether PvE or PvP)? When adding new relic levels, should the threshold move up or stay the same? If it stays the same, eventually all relevant relic levels are affected anyway.

Only increase damage, don't decrease it

Example: The higher relic character deals more damage to the lower relic character, but the lower relic character deals its normal damage to the higher relic character.

Result: This helps address the problem, but it doesn't protect the higher relic character. Think of a glass cannon build in an ARPG - you can add more damage, allowing you to kill things faster, but you still die to that 1 ground effect you step in. You're still susceptible to the same things, you just get more efficient in between dying to the same stuff. It's not holistic enough of an impact.

Use the average relic level of the team (or lowest level)

Result: Both of these approaches have unintended effects on undersized squads. If an R9 SLKR gets weaker because a player brings in R5 General Hux, it feels bad to use Hux even though he synergizes well with SLKR. It negatively impacts a player who brings in weaker units, dropping the entire squad down rather than just the one character being affected. There's also a lot of gamification and cheesing of the system that can be done if the average is used.

The Future: Where Does This Leave Us?

With these changes, Relic 10 is being added to the game (though please see above as to why it doesn’t solve the core problem). It will use a new Signal Data, which will not be farmed with energy (so it doesn’t disrupt your current Signal Data farming). Instead, the new Signal Data will be available in both the Scavenger and other game modes.

Finally, there will be a new game mode, new events, and an update to Era-related Journey Guide events, ensuring that all players get to use new characters right away for valuable rewards. We want all players to be able to enjoy the latest characters and content being released to the game.

We hope this context helps our choices around Relic Delta make a bit more sense. We will monitor the impact of Relic Delta in PvP modes and make adjustments as needed.  We are passionate about the game and care about you, our players. As always, we’d love to hear your feedback on this and your continued feedback on Relic Delta.

Until next time,

CG Dev Team