Next Livestream: 9-9-2015
Most Recent[]
#5: 8-27-2015
Summary: There's a new Community Manager named Linda Hime on the Blade & Soul Team. There are no dates for CBT, and there wasn't any discussion about CBT. The new costumes in the game were presented for every race/gender combination as well. The next livestream will be on 9/9.
Q&A (If the text is in italics, then it's in verbatim with the livestream itself. If it isn't, then it's my interpretation.):
I got a grey box when buying a Master Pack. What do I do?
This issue has been fixed. NCSoft says, "Buy it."
I'm using Chrome and I tried buying a Master Pack, but nothing happened. What's happening?
This issue has been fixed. NCSoft says, "Buy it."
Are the costumes bought with the Master Pack account bound? How will I receive them?
They are account bound, and they will be delivered by the in-game mail system. You will only get one, and you will have to share it between your characters. They are non-tradable.
Why aren't there any name reservations in the Initiate Pack?
Name reservations. That... has been a big topic of controversy because people have believed that it needed to be part of the Initiate Pack. So, we explained in the last livestream that... one name is shared across all the servers. We're gonna have two kind of "universes" to explain it. We'll have a European universe and a North American universe and all the servers will be in those particular universes. Because that name is gonna be shared across all the servers, that makes name reservation a really really big deal. Only one "Naruto" per universe. Let's take for example that we've managed to sell 100,000 packs altogether. We had name reservation available on the Initiate Pack. If you had purchased one of the higher packs, and you wanted that name reservation, and you really wanted "Naruto", right? Imagine 100,000 other people also wanting Naruto, and one lucky person gets it before everyone else and then you'll be really upset that you spent a lot of money and you didn't get the name that you wanted. I mean, I understand that it's a very desirable thing, and... that's kind of the reason [why we] also gave you head start because that's still kind of... a mini name reservation before we actually do the full launch. But, the fact of the matter is, we're looking at everyone who will be coming in, and there will be people who will not be able to get the name that they really want. If 30,000 people; 3,000 people; 300 people; 5 people want "Naruto," only one is going to get it. Our primary focus is, not trying to destroy your fun, but [it's] really making sure that you're not unhappy. And unfortunately, we kinda have to make these things... restrictive, in order to make sure that everyone feels like they have a fair chance and they they are getting the value that they want. So, that's kinda the big reason [why] we don't have name reservation in the Initiate Pack. As much as it's incredibly desirable, it's just the way that our naming system works. We may have 100,000 servers up, but only one "Naruto" in there. That just makes it a little bit more difficult/exclusive, so you'll have to jump to one of the higher packs if you want that.
When will players be able to reserve their names?
It will happen before Head Start. We don't have a specific date as of yet, or a specific timeframe: it's all gonna be a matter of making sure that everything runs smoothly after CBT, making sure we have all the feedback and the patch notes and everything organized. Then we'll open up for name reservation. ...you should also be able to pre-download the client before name reservation actually starts so that you don't have to waste all your time downloading the game.
Do these name reservations expire?
They don't really expire, but if you don't use it during the name reservation period, it's kind of useless... 'cause once we open the game, everyone can become it.
[What about] the products usable in the CBT?
None of the perks in the packs are gonna be used in CBT, except for the... test NCoin in the CBT shop. But all of the items in the packs will only be redeemable when Head Start begins. Don't worry; you cannot lose your items in CBT.
Weapon skinning. Can players apply it to a different weapon? How does it work in Blade & Soul?
Weapon skinning is a brand new system. We just started testing it, so please pardon our lack of information. [I] actually tested it yesterday so I can give you guys more information on how it's gonna work. You need [the] base weapon you're gonna apply the skin on. You'll need what we call an "offering weapon," which is the weapon that you're gonna use to get the skin from. When you actually do the weapon skinning process, the offering weapon is gonna be consumed, and then the skin is gonna be applied to your main weapon. There is a fee... it's actually pretty expensive, so you won't be able to use the weapon skin until you're [a] pretty high level player, so that's not really a risk if you're applying the skin on a lower level weapon that you're not gonna use later because you probably won't have enough money to do that at the beginning. It's a one time use, meaning [that] since the offering weapon is consumed, you can only use it once, and the way it's gonna work is with the Master Pack weapon skin is: whenever you claim your weapon skin, you're gonna receive a level 1 weapon that does one damage [and] has the Heavy Metal skin on it. Then you have to use that level 1 weapon and apply it to your main weapon, and then you're gonna get the skin, and the level 1 weapon will be destroyed. Be careful [with] what character you open the box with, because that skin is gonna be associated with that class. You can remove it if you want, it's possible, and you can reapply another skin on the same weapon. But if [you] remove it, it's destroyed. Some of the legendary weapons and some of the unique weapons cannot be skinned.
How does the Premium Membership work?
Premium Points (PP) are XP for your Premium Membership. The more Premium Points you have, the higher your membership will end up. You cannot use the points. They're really just a measure of how high your Premium Membership is going. Now, we currently have 10 levels of Premium Membership. After level 1, you're gonna get most of the benefits, and then with every level that increases, those benefits are gonna get better. For example, if you get a 5% XP boost level one, then you may get to 10% XP at level 2. The way to accumulate the Premium Points is to level up your membership by spending NCoin or Hongmoon Coin. Hongmoon Coin [is] our free currency in the game. You're gonna earn Hongmoon Coin by playing the game. You will be able to spend Hongmoon Coin in the Hongmoon Store to buy a lot of items, and every time you do that, you're gonna increase your Premium Points. You can increase your level, but if your membership is not active, you're not gonna get the benefit[s]. It does not increase drop rate.
What's actually exclusive to Founder's Packs vs. what you can purchase in the shop?
Most of the items are gonna be sold in the store. Obviously, the exclusive costumes will not be sold in the store. The head accessory and the weapon skin will not be sold in the store. But everything else is gonna be sold in the store. All of the Booster Pack items will be available [in] the store.
Are the Founder's Packs upgradable?
We are currently working on being able to upgrade your Founder's Packs. At this point in time, it's not doable, but we will let you know when you can.
But if you absolutely want to upgrade now, [then] you can contact our customer support and they will try to assist you.
I just bought a Founder's Pack. Are there Beta Weekends or a full Early Access Beta over several months/weeks?
They give you access to all the Beta Weekends, with no exception of days. So you will be able to enter all the Beta Weekends that we have from beginning to end.
Are you able to preload the game before the Beta Weekends?
I actually do not have the answer to that yet. I think that's going to be possible for the Closed Beta, but we're looking at making that available for the launch.
Are we okay to make and stream videos during CBT?
Yes. Please! You'll link us on Facebook and Twitter, or on the forums just to see what you guys have been doing. I'll be playing during the CBT timeframes as well so I might just pop in and say hi. I'm sure other people will be doing the same thing as well. So we'll have little events during those CBT times. We'll interact with the community. Actually I'm encouraging you to stream!
Are Hongmoon Coins dropped or bought?
They're dropped. Actually, it's a little bit different You have to combine two different items to create them. One of the items is gonna drop, and the other one needs to be bought [with] in-game currency. When you combine these two items, then you create Hongmoon Coins.
Is Premium Membership for the account or just the character?
It's account-wide.
If they wanted to reserve a name for this particular Warlock class, do they have to wait until Warlock comes out, or can they...?
They have to wait until Warlock comes out. So, there's a trick. They can create a trash character, pick a name, and just keep it there until the Warlock launches.
If you don't have a Founder's Pack, is there a way to get into the Closed Beta?
Yes! More details will be released when we get closer to being more solidified on the Beta. But essentially, if you signed up for a newsletter, from when we announced, or even prior to that, you're already registered for a Closed Beta key. And then we will continue doing giveaways on that newsletter registration as well, and then we'll have partner promotions and other key giveaways as time goes on.
Payment Methods
I know the payment methods that we have currently are a bit limited. We're looking at expanding that so, keep an eye out for it and we'll let you know when there's PaySafeCard or anything like that available for you to utilize. We won't have a physical copy unfortunately. If you really want a Founder's Pack, you're gonna have to do it digitally.
What are Hongmoon Brilliant Keys?
They're basically the keys that allow you to [get] the weapon for your class when you open [a] chest. Whenever you get rewatches from dungeons [or] from the wheel, you have to wait to open that chest. You know you use a regular key, and that's gonna give you a random weapon. You may end up getting [a] weapon that's not for your class, and then you have to trade it or sell it... If you get the Brilliant Key, you'll [be] guaranteed to get the weapon for your class. And we're giving away two of those keys in the Master Pack Extended Booster Pack, and that really helps you progress faster at the beginning because you're gonna need that weapon to actually evolve your main weapon.
Do you have to decide between NA or EU, or can you play both?
You can play both. So it's the same topic [as] talking about separate universes. The EU universe and the NA universe. You can roll up a character there in the EU universe and play that, [and] you can roll up a character in the NA universe and play that.
If we ever [get] a Southeast Asian server... Oceanic server, I'm still hoping for that one. That would also be universe switch. [It] can have that kind of stuff applied, but you won't be able to play the NA character in the EU servers, or vice versa, or switch them, or anything like that.
Past Livestreams[]
#4: 8-18-2015
Summary: The team describes what's in each Founder's Pack, along with specific details about each thing. The link to the shop is here. (Due to this article, a lot of people bitched about the prices being too high and that they need to get more for their money. Obviously, these people need to calm down. They're sacrificing the pay-to-win model to please people, and they need to get the money somehow. No money = no game. Here's what they can do: if they're in the EU, they can use a VPN and buy it cheaper using USD, or save their money for a while. If a student can do it, they can too. -Editor)
#3: 7-30-2015
Summary: The costumes from the Blade & Soul Costume Contest were announced, and one winner from the both NA and EU regions will now have their costumes implemented into the game. The chatbox was also filled with mentions of the Bamboo costume, which was shown as a final contender in the livestream. Omeed promised that he'd show the costume to the Dev team if someone cosplayed in it at Gamescon the following weekend. (Hint: Someone did. -Editor)
#2: 6-25-2015
Summary: The team talks their business model, meaning: the amount of character slots, how the character customization system works, and the precautions that they're taking to make this game as non-pay-to-win as possible. (The model is okay, and I won't impose much since there's still a lot to be seen like the Founder's Packs, the NCcoin shop, etc. There's room for improvement, and they have the time to do so. -Editor)
#1: 5-21-2015
Summary:Blade & Soul has been announced that it is coming to the West very soon. Here are some of the main points that were made here:
- Free-to-play,
- Not pay-to-Win,
- No segregation of players based on contents (Patron Status),
- Kun Race will be changed to Yun Race,
- No westernization of character customization,
- In-game cutscenes have English voice overs,
- English, French & German languages are available,
- Korean & Chinese VO will be available (optional),
- Most updated version,
- No censorship,
- There will be 2 servers (NA & EU),
- No plans for an Oceanic Server (yet),
- Planned eSports for BnS in future,
- More communication/interaction with the community,
- No IP Block / No Region Block (May change),
- No Vigor System / No Fatigue System,
- Server Locations: NA (Dallas Texas) and EU (Frankfurt Germany),
- Tournaments, Events available,
- NO Server Transfer if you're from KR/CH/TW Server,
- Fansite Kits will be available,
- Founder Packs not yet determined,
- Cut Scene Voice Overs has 3 languages (English, German & French).
(Seems legit. -Editor)