"가디언 테일즈" QA 최적화 제안서에 관하여

Letter to Kakao Games & Kong Studios Regarding "Guardian Tales" Optimization Suggestions Signed: Luo Yu Date: Noon, September 25, 2025 I. Studio and Core Game Positioning Issues 1. Small Studio Dilemma: Due to insufficient benefits, it is difficult to attract senior programmers. Most teams are new, and breakthroughs are needed in talent retention and development. 2. Core Positioning Conflict: The "deep development" positioning has structural problems, inevitably leading to a gameplay path of "early PVE one-off content → late PVP involution." Modifying the PVP layer can only delay this conflict, but cannot fundamentally increase player base. Long-term adjustments to the positioning are necessary. We recommend shifting to a more social aspect [due to the complexity of the growth model]. Use the social aspect to determine core elements, such as stamina acquisition, to increase value or revenue. II. Gameplay and Revenue Optimization Suggestions (I) PVP and Competitive 1. Mechanic Adjustments: Deathmatch mode has declined due to issues with balanced and uncompetitive gameplay, and the 3v3 Arena has low participation (veteran players vs. familiar players). We recommend switching to an "Event Mode" and using event tokens to redeem rewards to increase participation. Deathmatch's "one-sided" nature could see the addition of a "team vote surrender" feature. Capture mode remains unchanged (wins are determined by points). 2. New Player Experience: The already launched "Boot Camp Benefits" have effectively improved the new player experience, but guidance needs to be strengthened (some players are unaware of these benefits). Channel difficulty remains problematic despite multiple adjustments. This is primarily due to players using 3- and 4-star heroes, so guidance on hero builds in Boot Camp needs to be strengthened. 3. Hero Balance: Maintain a rotation order of "Human Rights" → 4v4/3v3 Exclusive Heroes → Guild Wars to avoid a "new hero in each patch" pattern. The blooming mechanism leads to a gap in hero strength (heroes without blooming are less useful), so the practicality of blooming and non-blooming heroes needs to be balanced. (II) PVE and Development 1. Development Line Simplification: The current "hero growth + equipment growth" system is complex. While expanding the development line is necessary, simplifying the existing system should be prioritized to alleviate the structural drawbacks of "deep development." 2. Balancing Resources and Revenue: - Training Room expansion requires caution to avoid impacting core PVP revenue. - Triple benefits for Blooming and Redstone Dungeons are recommended to be divided into "New Player Growth Monthly Pass (Basic Resource Buff)" and "Veteran Blooming Monthly Pass" to resolve disputes. - The addition of Blooming Stone gift boxes to the level 150 dungeon and Yellow Block Star Segments, both of which involve core revenue, can be left unchanged for now or supplemented with paid monthly pass buffs. - Minor improvements to resources such as Refining Stones, Lockstones, and Exotic Faces are sufficient. The "Multi-Resource Consumption Exchange" feature in the Cafe is not recommended for now due to its impact on revenue from high-level resources like Exotic Faces. III. Content Production Capacity and Story Optimization 1. Breaking Through Story Production Capacity: To address the limited story production capacity of small studios, we recommend optimizing the "Friends Circle" gameplay. This "virtual social circle" allows for lightweight and resource-reuse capabilities, allowing for faster production of daily hero stories. Furthermore, story content can be supplemented through "My Room" short stories, floating city comics, and story news announcement pop-ups to reduce production costs and increase production capacity. 2. Story Experience Improvements: For "Recall" stories, refer to the pop-up box for World 13's "Fake Knight Falls" and add a narration summary before the main storyline. The "Skip Story" and "Skip Floor (Sweep)" features for Thetis Heroes are optional and have a lower priority. IV. Hero and System Detail Adjustments (I) Hero-Related 1. Blooming Candidates: Comprehensive Attributes, Usage Rate, and Mechanics: Currently Considered: MK99 (Form Transformation Mechanism; if transformed into a machine gun, it removes the cannon state, reducing its usefulness unless considered for range), Nefertiti (Turret Summoning Enhances the Competitive Experience), Miko (Void Attributes can be brought to bear by powerful characters), Cindyla (Guild Wars Near), and Fairy Dabin (Powerful buff, inherently strong). 2. Hero Release and Balance: The current release pace of "one every two weeks, two per month" is already quite fast. The original intention of the five-star buff was to prevent a six-star monopoly (six-stars were rare in the early days). However, due to the new mechanics of six-star blooms (such as Bess's Sphere, Galaxy Range, Daisy's self-healing), the bloom has become completely unbalanced. Without blooms, you're considered inferior. Just stick with the status quo... (II) System Functionality 1. Guild System: - The "highest damage retry" feature in Guild Wars can easily lead to internal competition among front-line players. We recommend developing a "Knight Attendance Selection Book" to record damage after successfully defeating a boss, allowing you to choose the best damage from 3 options. - Add a "Guild Attendance Reward" to earn a small reward for daily attacks. - Avoid designing new bosses that are "invincible" and frequently dodge to reduce the operational burden on front-line players. - Due to the high resource demand for front-line players due to the "deep development" strategy, "Dream Evolution Stone Donation" may be unavailable, so proceed with caution. 2. Other Systems: - Floating City Elevator: Establish a clearing statistics database, automatically displaying the first-time clearing lineup for player reference; - Farm/Ranch: The current mode has low revenue, so one-time content updates are not necessary; The resource exchange system can be expanded based on "Visiting Friends' Homes" (e.g., feeding the little princess to consume vegetables/cakes to obtain random resources), reusing the existing friend database and farm code; Specific Operational Process: This involves the current game's transformation and improving the complexity of the growth system; Regarding "resource exchange," the existing "Friends' Homes - Farms" process is a "face-saving project." However, based on this content, we can expand on "resource interaction" and bind "server resources - player data" to it. We can also build a built-in database system, allowing players to query friends by their UIDs. Then, loading the friend scene, players/users can interact with the NPC (the little princess in the home) to feed their friends. Since we already have a "friend database," we simply need to improve and expand the existing "home visit" button code to implement server data and resource interaction, and modify the current module. Reference: The "harvest crops" code for single-player farms. Linking to the server database. Implementing the player who visits the home (that is, the player who clicks the "visit home" button control bound to the corresponding UID player data, which is the player who uses the "click this button event"). Does this give us an idea? // User visits the homepage Then, based on the server-bound data, associate and consume resources from their account, such as "cake, bell peppers, vegetables, and chicken legs." Simply follow the recommendations and create separate databases for desserts and vegetables, associate and consume them. Finally, through a pop-up window, load the obtained random resources [Resource Configuration]. Then, based on the "Homepage Little Princess is fed bell peppers and clicks the bell pepper button" event, execute the load and display in the main lobby of the user's homepage where the little princess is located. Add a small pop-up window with an animation showing the little princess crying. Then set the repeating code. This not only creates an interactive topic about bell pepper feeding, but also enables homepage visits and resource interaction. Then, resource interaction is also very... It's simple. The farm interface, loading code. [Based on seed classification] Set the time to mature in 8 or 24 hours. Rather than simply consuming stamina to mature, it seems simple. However, as the "structural positioning contradiction" expands, resources continue to depreciate, and stamina increases. So, isn't your farm model a non-profit project? I understand you're a newbie, but I'm a newbie too. Theory is theory, but I don't have access to the project. Can you implement it? ◆Also, I saw your company's recruitment announcement for casual designers. Because of the content of the letters, income, positioning, and problem reports, I'm not sure if you plan to develop this type of expansion. ◆A "large-scale fishing" network system? I didn't mention the fishing system. The network I want you to implement "home visits," "resource interaction," and feeding gameplay. This is just an improvement to a small module. ◆Obscured area: I'm not sure if you're referring to the unexplored area in the farm or the final area in the third season's floating city. ◆Regarding the plaza function: Is it large-scale online content? That's certainly not easy, as it's difficult to load a large number of users. However, it's possible to implement "mini-connectivity" based on each user's home. This is also done by loading the user's hero model and developing some interactive NPCs in a large, shared environment, much like the "early GT" version of the previous game's "Dungeon Link." This involves loading into an open, main storyline environment, rather than the current level-based gameplay. - Co-op Expeditions: Low matchmaking rates are due to insufficient online activity (players are concentrating on daily tasks). Rotating themes can be added to address the "boredom" issue. - Roman Arena and Squirrel Quiz Challenges: The former requires an additional tutorial, while the latter can expand on the "player-to-player quick-answer" feature. Loading user models allows for LAN connectivity. V. Benefits and Operational Suggestions 1. Benefit Adjustments: The rewards for the Pass (including the Returning Knight) are inefficient and need optimization. The 5,000 Diamond Benefit Pack will continue to provide resources such as special faces to alleviate player development pressure. Free buffs can be distributed during periods of inactivity to help players catch up. 2. Operational Support: Schedule a fixed schedule for online Q&A and real-time communication. Switch live streaming is recommended (with online translation support). Subsequent Q&A sessions will provide "pure text documents" to facilitate efficient communication between players and developers. 3. Skins and Collaborations: If Carly's costume contains spoilers, non-mainline skins may be developed. Minor collaborations will primarily be paid, while major collaborations must be compatible with heroes and storylines. Avoid adding paid collaborations immediately after the current paid store period ends to prevent conflicts. VI. Unclarified and Low-Priority Issues 1. Unclarified Issues: The "obscured area" must be confirmed to be the farm expansion area or the Season 3 floating city area. If the "Plaza Function" requires large-scale multiplayer, it is recommended to first implement a "small multiplayer" based on the home, loading hero models and interactive NPCs, referencing the open-ended "Dungeon Link" scenario from the previous game. 2. Low-priority issues: Guild chat history preservation (players can create groups through social media), Guardian Level Points (for obsessive-compulsive players only), 21 and Kelly's rhythm (will be optimized and guided later), and adjustments to the level 150 dungeon (which can be supplemented with monthly card buffs) are all considered low-priority. The above suggestions focus on "alleviating the contradictions of deep development, improving new player retention, and balancing revenue and player experience" and are provided for the team's consideration and decision-making.