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Alganon gives preview of class updates with first expansion
The first free expansion for Alganon, titled "The Dawning," has been getting a fair bit of talk from Quest Online. They've been a bit longer on talk than on details, however, leaving us largely to guess what it might contain aside from promises of new dungeons and large changes to the game world. Some of the silence has been broken now, however, with Systems Designer Josef Shindler breaking word on several upcoming class balance changes in the game. The most recent small patch contained a number of small class tweaks, but there are more extensive changes for everyone in the future. Mages are currently in the best place, from the design team's perspective, but there are plans to allow characters specializing in one type of damage to branch out to other elements without sacrificing damage. Healers are also going to see some changes to damage, as their focus on one element makes them susceptible to enemies who are strong against it. Meanwhile, Rangers will see an extensive overhaul in terms of damage buffs and their operation in groups, and Soldiers will see several tweaks to their Anger generation to make its buildup and release more strategic. While it's not a great deal of information, it's good to see the design team keeping themselves hard at work on improving Alganon's overall class balance.
New Alganon producer letter looks forward and asks for patience
Alganon may have launched a little early to implement all of its promised features, which is never a good thing for a game in a competitive market. A month out from launch, it's still working on playing the catch-up game and getting itself to where the developers want it to be. However, that doesn't mean the game is already dying -- truth be told, as the latest producer letter from David Allen states, they're looking to the future. There are many things planned for the game, starting with plans for the game's first large content update, "The Dawning." While details on exactly what content will be added with the update are sparse, it promises to add new instances as well as expanded lore options for players to gain a deeper understanding of the world. The team also plans to expand the tutorial and introductory areas, as well as details on the upcoming Library Scrying feature that allows players to cooperatively develop knowledge of the game world and receive credit for their accomplishments. While the game can be a bit rough around the edges at the present, Alganon has a dedicated team working hard to make it the best it can be, and the letter's promises for the future certainly sound appealing.
Alganon developer roundtable answers player questions
Coming up on its first full month of being live, Alganon has had a bit of a rocky start thus far. Whatever one's opinions on the game might be, however, the amount of enthusiasm the development team has for their game is admirable, and any issues it has certainly can't be attributed to a lack of caring. The most recent communication has been the release of a new developer roundtable, with several questions from the game's community answered directly by the developers. One of the largest highlights in the discussion is the question of gear prerequisites. Rather than focusing exclusively on level-restricted items, Alganon also has equipment limited by the game's study system instead of experience. There's also talk of multiple instance sizes within the same map, with each "version" re-tuned for the differing number of players in the encounter. Or, if you prefer non-sequiturs, there's a reference to The Lonely Island in a discussion of the game's current and upcoming transport options. The full set of questions and answers can be found on the official site, and includes further discussion on instance unlocking and the upcoming in-game event "The Dawning." If you're interested in the game on any level, it's worth taking a look.
