Chapter 140 - Rewards and Upward Adjustments
The update live stream continued playing the PV even after the scheduled time.
It was delayed by about 15 minutes last time, wasn’t it?
“Mashiro-nee, you’re playing with friends, right? Have you decided where to start?”
“The Kingdom? There’s a place like that, right?”
“Mhm, mhm. I am also there, so you may rest assured.”
Starting in the Kingdom, huh? Well, I guess I can leave it to Miki.
Then the screen changed, and the live stream began.
“Ah, is it starting? It’s starting.”
Still a laid-back start, as usual.
Same as last time, two avatars in a virtual space: GM Choco and Misha P. No signs of nervousness whatsoever.
*“Alright, everyone, thank you for waiting.
We’d like to begin the Iris Revolution Online update explanation live stream.
I’m Saika Chiyoko, GM Choco, the Game Master Supervisor, serving as MC. And for the explanation, Yamasaki Misa, Misha P, the General Producer. Thank you for joining us.”*
“Thank you for having me.”
“So, let’s get right into the update details, shall we?”
At her words, the screen changed, and the official ‘Update Announcement’ was displayed.
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[Update Ver 1.2.5 Overview]
◇Main Story “Chapter Two: Fantasy Encounter Arc”◇
・Grania Empire, Paltheim Principality’s capitals, towns, and villages are now selectable as starting locations for new characters.
・The above locations are now Safe Zones.
・The Safe Zone in the Grania Empire’s Imperial Capital, which was removed, has been restored.
・New Safe Zones created in pioneered towns and villages are maintained as they are.
・In the Grania Empire and Paltheim Principality, full item loss upon death has reverted to partial item loss, as per normal.
◇System Changes Accompanying World Quest Conclusion◇
・The following will apply to new characters created after noon today:
・[Appraisal] and [Dismantling] skills are pre-learned.
・Additionally, the following skills are pre-learned for each race:
・Human: [Gathering]
・Elf: [Woodcraft]
・Dwarf: [Crafting]
・Halfling: [Presence Concealment]
・Characters created immediately after the World Quest ended until noon today will receive an additional 3 SP for the above skills.
・With the generalization of skills, rarity has decreased.
・[Taming]: Rare → Uncommon
・Upward adjustment of skill experience gain after skill level 5.
・Applies to all players. Past gains will also be recalculated.
◇Bug Fixes◇
・Fixed a bug where the streaming camera did not submerge underwater.
………
……
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“That’s quite a lot. When was this announced?”
“It seems it was at midnight today.”
Mion showed it to me on her tablet, and Miki peered over her shoulder.
I didn’t really… or rather, I don’t usually check official announcements in the morning.
Still, “Fantasy Encounter Arc”… I wonder if it’s related to the Fairies I helped?
There was talk of Gnomes too, and Winged Folk, so it feels like stories revolving around those races will become the main focus?
“Alright, let’s go through the details from the top and pick up comments.”
“Okay, okay.”
First, it was about the aftermath of the Empire’s civil war.
Things like the restoration of Safe Zones that had disappeared and the relaxation of death penalties.
New Safe Zones created in pioneer settlements would remain, so they could be used without problems.
“Uhm, let’s take this question: ‘Can the Empire and Principality travel between each other?’ ”
“If I were to answer now, it would be ‘It varies depending on the situation.’ The two nations are in a ceasefire, but the war hasn’t ended.”
Since it was a temporary ceasefire, it meant that the war could resume at any time.
“Oh, so they were at war.”
Mashiro-nee said, her eyes sparkling.
“The kind of serious combat you’re hoping for, Sister, did not occur.”
“Eh, what’s that supposed to mean?”
Miki explained things clearly, which was helpful.
Or rather, I needed to warn Mashiro-nee, as I had a feeling she’d PK someone if provoked.
After that, there was a short Q&A session, then the discussion moved to the next system change.
It was about new characters created after the World Quest ended.
“Hey, Shou. What’s all this about new characters?”
“Uhm, it’s probably so that new users can catch up to users who started earlier, I guess?”
It’s natural for users who played earlier and spent more money to have an advantage, but if that gap becomes too wide, new users won’t increase…
“Heh, they’re thinking about a lot of things, huh?”
Well, Mashiro-nee wouldn’t worry about things like that.
Normally, you’d get 5 SP as a reward for completing a World Quest, so this is less than that, but… the Republic players in the comment section are in agony.
“Mm.”
“Yeah. The fact that [Taming] is changing from Rare to Uncommon is a bigger deal…”
Requiring 9 SP down to 4 SP is insane, isn’t it? As expected, the comments are in an uproar.
“Regarding this, we apologize for the order of information being reversed. Reversed compared to what? This:”
And then a caption appeared.
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・Reward upon reaching skill level 10 (MAX), according to skill rarity:
・Rare Skill: 4 SP
・Uncommon Skill: 1 SP
・Common Skills: No reward
If a rarity change occurs, the reward SP for both the acquisition rarity and current rarity will be added.
――――
The comment section again scrolled at an incredible speed with that announcement.
Huh? So, Taming…
“So, if the Taming skill reaches level 10, you get 5 SP, which is the sum of the Rare and Uncommon rewards, right?”
*“Yes. Oh, and if a skill whose rarity is decreasing was already level 10, you’ll receive it immediately.
And from closed beta predictions, we expected people to reach it before the World Quest ended, but alas~”*
“Therefore, we will have an upward adjustment to skill experience gain. Please explain.”
*“Currently, skill levels are slow to increase, which is called the ‘Curse of Skill Level 7,’ and we are addressing that.
It actually starts from skill level 5, but it’s a change to increase the skill experience gained.
This calculation method has already been changed since midnight today, but previous gains will also be recalculated offline.”*
“Since the cumulative value has changed, some people might gain two levels at once the next time they earn skill experience.”
“Exactly.”
So, my character, who wasn’t logged in, was also recalculated, then.
I’d be happy if my Carpentry skill went up quickly again.
“They’re talking about some complicated stuff. Is this a game I can even play?”
“Sister, you can play however you like without worrying.”
Somehow, that exchange makes me uneasy…
When these two team up, the only result is “overdoing it.”
“So, how can I meet Shou?”
“…Mashiro-nee. You didn’t understand anything we talked about on the way here, did you?”