Community Update - July 2023

[Majora]

Greetings Skylords!

A new month; a new Community Update! It's time to bring you up to speed with everything going on in Skylords Reborn!

• Share your feedback, get two boosters!

Our yearly feedback survey has become a tradition by now. Because Skylords Reborn is a community project, we want to know what our players like about Skylords Reborn, and what could be better. We want to keep improving the game and growing our player base, and your feedback is crucial for us! 

As a thank you, there will be two boosters for everyone who fills in the survey. Your feedback will be anonymous.

• Announcing a new rPvE difficulty

As mentioned in previous Community Updates, we are currently hard at work creating more map-based content, like the much anticipated new campaign maps. But we are also aware that one of the most played game-modes in Skylords Reborn is rPvE, specifically difficulty level 9. Today we are excited to announce we are close to complete a new difficulty for rPvE, sitting between difficulty 9 and 10!

We sat down with one of our designers to share some more information about this upcoming new difficulty. Take it away, RadicalX! 
 

What was the motivation to create rPvE 9.5?
Based on game data, we noticed the difficulty spikes from rPvE difficulty 9 to 10 are too big. The change in win rate is even greater than the difference between difficulty 5 and 9, and the majority of games at the highest difficulty just result in a loss.

What makes rPvE 10 so difficult?
Outside significantly strengthened camps and waves throughout the entire game, early layout changes from single to double camp at the T2 row greatly increases difficulty. These camps also include spawn buildings, resummoning dead units and sending out very early waves towards the players. This requires a different strategy compared to lower difficulties. Getting used to these new threats takes some time, but since none of the other difficulties work in the same way, it’s hard to prepare and practice strategies.
 

What are the goals of rPvE 9.5?
The new difficulty is supposed to achieve two things. First, we want to provide players a more enjoyable experience by adding a more linear difficulty scaling in rPvE. Whereas single player rPvE already functions like that to some extent, 4-player rPvE lacks a proper difficulty scaling, currently generating the same amount of games as all other difficulties combined. Second, we want to provide players an environment that allows them to learn and understand how rPvE 10 works on a structural level.
 

What can players expect from rPvE 9.5?
In order to achieve the two previously mentioned goals, rPvE 9.5 is using the same layout as difficulty 10. To smoothen out the early game experience, all fliers are removed from camps in the T2 row. Starting void was increased towards the level of rPvE 9. The T3 area will not feature spawners, reducing the total wave income in the early game. This makes more methodical approaches viable and removes some of the toughest mechanics rPvE 10 has to offer. Camp density in post T4 camps is reduced a little bit, waves will generally be comparable with difficulty 10.

From that point we did further tweaks based on map tester feedback, to address more specific preset dependent issues. Because rPvE 9.5 is a systematic change, certain rPvE layout issues are inherited. That said, the adjusted unit compositions and wave spawn structures should still help with making these very unforgiving maps appear less frequently. Ultimately, this should give players a new challenge beyond difficulty 9 and also give a better indication on what difficulty 10 will look like.

 

Alongside this new difficulty, we will also be changing the naming of the rPvE difficulty scale. 

New Name      Difficulty according to current scale
Standard           (4)
Standard +        (5)
Standard ++     (6)
Advanced          (7)
Advanced +      (8)
Advanced ++    (9)
Expert               (9.5) New!
Expert +            (10)

As you can see, we will be removing rPvE levels 1, 2 and 3. Data shows us these levels don't see play, and their difficulty and rewards are very lackluster. By using this new logic, the difficulty should also be more in line to the campaign difficulty scaling, giving new players more clarity of what they can expect. 

Difficulty rPvE 9.5 will be available for 1, 2 and 4-player scenario's, and contain all factions, meaning our newly added Nature and Fire factions will also appear in the pool of enemies. This new difficulty will go live alongside our next patch, currently planned for a Summer 2023 release. 

We hope players are looking forward to face these new challenges!

 

• Voice Acting – Update

Last month, we started looking for voice actors who could help us to bring upcoming characters to life. We are about to close the application window for the second wave of voice-acting, so be sure to apply this weekend if you are still interested!  

We are looking for a variety of voices (both male and female), and encourage everyone who is interested (and has a decent microphone!) to apply. You are also welcome to apply if you did so in the original application round in 2021! 

To apply, fill in a brief survey to provide us with some information about yourself and select which characters you are interested in. We will be in touch with you for a trial script, and select our favourites from the provided recordings.  
 

 

• Tournaments and Events

In between our monthly Community Updates, we host various events and tournaments, so be sure to keep a close eye on the in-game event tab and the forum calendar to stay informed and not miss out on any exciting events!

 

 • FINISHED - Official Event #9: Who Dares Wins! 
Ultralord will be hosting a stream to showcase the winners of the last official event. Join us on June 3rd at 19:00 CET on his Twitch channel, which you can find here. 

 

• NEW - Crappy Community Contest #11: Meme-fy BattleForge - Until July 3rd
A non-gameplay event where you create GIF-content for our Discord. Meme content, emotions, ingame scenes – everything is welcome. Help unlock a booster code by participating! More information.



• Host your own tournament / event
Want to host a tournament or event yourself? Please reach out to our Event Organizers, @Metagross31, @Minashigo Hiko or @nukie! We can help you out with various topics and are glad to discuss potential ideas. We can also sponsor the prize pool for your event. If you have a cool idea for a PvE event, or want to host a PvP tournament, please don't hesitate to reach out to us, we will gladly assist you.

 

• Contribute

Skylords Reborn is a community-driven project fuelled by the passion and dedication of over 40 volunteers. We are always on the lookout for like-minded individuals. If you have a passion for gaming, programming, design, or marketing, we invite you to have a look at our open positions!
 

 

• In Conclusion

That's all for this Community Update! We appreciate you taking the time to read through it.

As is tradition, we're including a scratch code as a small token of our appreciation for your support.
The code will reward you with a General booster: SOON-RPVE-NINE-FIVE

The code is valid until August 1st, when we will bring you another Community Update. 

We're always looking for ways to improve and value your feedback. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please don't hesitate to share them with us. We'll be back next month with more updates on our ongoing projects and upcoming features. You can also sign up to our e-mail newsletter here. 

Archive
• Skylords Reborn Documents (Deep Dives, Behind the Scenes, PvP Guide)  
• Overview Community Updates
• Community Update June 2023

Edited July 1, 2023 by Kapo

[Majora]

Something went wrong with the boostercode, the right one is now in the post.

[mtolderlund]

Hi - this one doesn't work either. Maybe something else is at play here? Anyways thanks for all the work with the game 🙂

Edit: Nevermind - it does now. Sorry

Edited July 1, 2023 by mtolderlund

[WatcherOfSky]

Making an easier version of rPvE 10 makes a lot of sense! Very cool include!

[KeyNeR]

What if the survey is linked to Gmail, and the game is linked to another mail? Where to specify an account so that boosters go where they need to go?

[Majora]

1 minute ago, KeyNeR said:

What if the survey is linked to Gmail, and the game is linked to another mail? Where to specify an account so that boosters go where they need to go?

You do not need to link your e-mail account to the survey. There will be a boostercode at the end of the survey. 

[Riviute]

I just wanna throw out a huge thanks to all the developers on this project. But I wanna ask the devs something. How do you keep going? I mean I dont wanna be the negative dude here but the playerbase has shrunk down a lot, yet you guys just shrug it off and keep working on this. How do you keep up your motivation?

Again this is not meant as something negative... I'm just bamboozled by all this

[Kapo]

31 minutes ago, Riviute said:

I just wanna throw out a huge thanks to all the developers on this project. But I wanna ask the devs something. How do you keep going? I mean I dont wanna be the negative dude here but the playerbase has shrunk down a lot, yet you guys just shrug it off and keep working on this. How do you keep up your motivation?

Again this is not meant as something negative... I'm just bamboozled by all this

Where do you get the impression that player numbers are so far down?

There was a up-spike during the Hand of Blood-streams, but besides that its pretty constant.

But maybe I'm wrong on this?

Edited July 1, 2023 by Kapo

[Metagross31]

[Dallarian]

It's been already a year? That's so crazy, time flows so fast. I still am still thinking about the results of the previous survey 😅

[itap]

Good job guys

Standard ++

Advanced ++

(Expert ++) maybe coming to in a future update?

[Carofex]

Maybe you make a new archivement for 9.5 similar to 9 and 10?

 

[DDrazard]

This gonna be so cool. ^^ Superb works like always.

[WindHunter]

27 minutes ago, Carofex said:

Maybe you make a new archivement for 9.5 similar to 9 and 10?

 

We will do doing just this, yes. The existing level 10 achievement will be moving to 9.5 (6 booster one). A new cosmetic-only achievement exclusively for level 10 will then be released alongside it. 

[LoganOn]

Hi all ok when i must writing to help you 🙂

My hobby activities:
- Video editing at a fairly good level I can create various types of presentations or some videos 🙂 (if I am given all the material such as a voice mp3 or other).
- Fairly good 3D graphics creation (I don't paint) more graphic editing etc.
- I am a 3D graphic designer and I run a company in this direction myself 🙂
- I can support the project with a lot of animations and 3D models of monsters + I will help to obtain models that are legal for CC0 and have bones and are compatible with FBX animations.
- I can also be a tester of all kinds of maps etc.
 

In general, I have a very wide spectrum of interests and I think I've tried everything in my life, from creating games for smartphones to larger projects for PC 🙂 I'm not a coder, I'm more of a level designer 🙂

[Little_Ducky]

14 hours ago, Kapo said:

Where do you get the impression that player numbers are so far down?

There was a up-spike during the Hand of Blood-streams, but besides that its pretty constant.

But maybe I'm wrong on this?

The numbers have dropped 20-25% during the times I've played, i've checked this with !stats past few weeks, I log on at all different times of the day. The only time you will not find me online is 5pm - 10pm CET so I can't comment on that period. 

 

Edited July 2, 2023 by Little_Ducky

[Deadman]

cool

[Metagross31]

22 hours ago, Kapo said:

Where do you get the impression that player numbers are so far down?

There was a up-spike during the Hand of Blood-streams, but besides that its pretty constant.

But maybe I'm wrong on this?

Might also be because of (northern hemisphere) summer, so people do other stuff currently.

[Kapo]

17 minutes ago, Metagross31 said:

Might also be because of (northern hemisphere) summer, so people do other stuff currently.

Agreed, I remember in WoW that raid attendance got a real problem once it started to get warmer outside... 😃

[Majora]

On 7/1/2023 at 12:33 PM, Riviute said:

I just wanna throw out a huge thanks to all the developers on this project. But I wanna ask the devs something. How do you keep going? I mean I dont wanna be the negative dude here but the playerbase has shrunk down a lot, yet you guys just shrug it off and keep working on this. How do you keep up your motivation?

Again this is not meant as something negative... I'm just bamboozled by all this

Can't talk for the whole team but:

Love for the game. Me and most of us were there when the original servers were down, and I was pretty devastated about it, having wonderful memories of playing it with my brother, ex girlfriend and friends. Its quite rare (especially for an online-only game) to be revived, so I personally count my blessing to be able to enjoy it once more. 

Potential. This game is super unique. I have not encountered anything like it. While it has some issues because of this (how on earth do you market this?) I still fully believe in what this game has to offer, and still hold on to hope that sometimes it will be discovered by the right group of people. 

New players. We still have an influx of new players coming in, either returning from the EA days, or finding the game as its own thing. This is not a case of a group of people slowly dwindling, there are people coming in and going out. 

Non-active players. While active players go up and down, there is still a large number of players with warm feelings towards Skylords Reborn, as we tend to see with, f.e. the Yearly Feedback Survey. As was mentioned in this topic already, we also see numbers go down a bit during summer time in general. I also don't expect people to continue playing daily for 2+ years straight. There is only so much content to experience and replay. But most of them keep a close eye on the project and return for big patches or other exciting changes. Leading to:

Upcoming new Campaign Maps. When I joined the team, one of my first pushes was for new cards to enter development. The team achieved bringing back BattleForge into a playable state, but if we wanted it to not face the same fate, we had to keep improving on it, and the easiest way to communicate new stuff is new cards. But new cards only do so much for time spend playing the game; we need people to actually have new content to play. Achievements, rPvE Nature and Fire and the upcoming 9.5 difficulty are good examples of this (and previously mentioned Map Modifiers will also do a ton for replayability) . But the biggest ask from the Community has been New Campaign Maps. We still have this up our sleeve, and I fully expect a lot of those non-active players will return to take a look once we start releasing them. Non-active players need a hook to come back, and I expect this will do the trick.

The Community. Skylords Reborn has an amazing community. Its a bit of a cliché for a Community Manager to say this is the best community to be in, but honestly, the absolute majority of our players are amazing! When things get rough, I sometimes take a look at the kind words our players mention in f.e. the Survey. At the end of the day, everyone is grateful for all the hours we pour into this, and its important to remember this.

Though I will admit, sometimes I wish some players remember a bit more that we do this in our free time as well 😅 There have been a couple of moments where some of our teammembers, myself included, got very demotivated by the way certain players expressed their disagreement. So to everyone reading, if I could ask for a single favor to keep the motivation up for both me and the team; please keep in mind we are all volunteers. We do not get paid, yet we show up day after day, working on the game while we have a lot of things to deal with, both in Skylords Reborn and outside of it. Most of us combine the hours we pour into this game with a job, study, kids, marriage, etc, to the point where we don't even have time to play the game we put so much hours in as much as we would like. We love the game, and want to see it succeed, and for that we absolutely want to hear your feedback, we create this game for our players after all. But be constructive, and be kind. It really goes a long way for our motivation and the health of the project. 

Thank you for being a part of this game. ❤️

 

[Hrdina_Imperia]

Looking forward to all the new content, as well as the survey results. Going to be really intersting. 

[Xamos]

On 7/1/2023 at 4:43 PM, itap said:

(Expert ++) maybe coming to in a future update?

That´s what I thought as well xD
This one should then have another different Layout, where 2 players start next to each other and have to have decks that complement each other to deal with the differet kinds of enemies - that would be cool

[Riviute]

Thanks @Majora for your explanation. I was also there when the servers were shut down, so I know the feeling, i think its also nice for the devs to look back and think about what you've achieved so far. The game is currently imo in the best state it has ever been in. Very inspiring what you guys are doing, looking forward to everything you have planned. 

Oh and of course, thanks for everything!

Edited July 3, 2023 by Riviute

[DieToPlay]

On 7/3/2023 at 2:16 PM, Majora said:

Though I will admit, sometimes I wish some players remember a bit more that we do this in our free time as well 😅 There have been a couple of moments where some of our teammembers, myself included, got very demotivated by the way certain players expressed their disagreement. So to everyone reading, if I could ask for a single favor to keep the motivation up for both me and the team; please keep in mind we are all volunteers. We do not get paid, yet we show up day after day, working on the game while we have a lot of things to deal with, both in Skylords Reborn and outside of it. Most of us combine the hours we pour into this game with a job, study, kids, marriage, etc, to the point where we don't even have time to play the game we put so much hours in as much as we would like. We love the game, and want to see it succeed, and for that we absolutely want to hear your feedback, we create this game for our players after all. But be constructive, and be kind. It really goes a long way for our motivation and the health of the project.

 

We are not trying to demotivate you, and we appreciate the effort. However, ignoring any constructive criticism given and continuing to repeat the same mistakes, is a wrong path to take.

I stopped playing this game, just because I got demotivated so hard by the developers, and I assume the same thing happened to many others.

Edited July 6, 2023 by DieToPlay

[TimmieTuinbroek]

5 hours ago, DieToPlay said:

We are not trying to demotivate you, and we appreciate the effort. However, ignoring any constructive criticism given and continuing to repeat the same mistakes, is a wrong path to take.

I stopped playing this game, just because I got demotivated so hard by the developers, and I assume the same thing happened to many others.

I had stopped playing for about a year after playing quite a bit when it just released. For me the only reason was initial lack of updates/events, but since I came back a few months ago that changed quite a bit. So if anything I came back/stay right now BECAUSE of the developers, not in spite of them.

Would you care to elaborate on what exactly developers do that made you quit?