Vortex Gaming

Nexon held 'Fantasy Party', an offline event for Mabinogi users, at KINTEX in Ilsan today (17th). Fantasy Party is an event prepared to share the same time with users and celebrate the 19th anniversary together under the theme of 'Again, Now, Here' to celebrate the 19th anniversary of Mabinogi, which has been in service since 2004.

At the event, various programs such as illustration exhibitions, experience events, photo zones, and OST performances were prepared, but the 'Summer Update Showcase' conducted directly by Nexon Director Min Kyung-hoon and Content Leader Choi Dong-min received the most attention. All announcements in the showcase were broadcast live through the official YouTube homepage so that visitors who visited the KINTEX exhibition hall in person, as well as all users who enjoy Mabinogi, could easily check them.

For users who were unable to visit the site in person or who were unable to check the live broadcast, we have summarized the new news revealed at the Mabinogi 19th Anniversary Summer Update Showcase and Q&A.

Mabinogi '2023 Summer Showcase'
Revamping Part-time Jobs, Growth Paths, and Mainstream Play Experiences

Nexon Director Min Kyung-hoon and Content Leader Choi Dong-min, who took the stage at the showcase, announced various improvements that will begin in July. They also introduced the new Arcana that will lead to the expansion of combat content experience, the improvement of the Enchant system, and the September update content that will be added after the summer update.

Prior to the full-scale presentation of the showcase, DevCat CEO Kim Dong-geon also delivered a congratulatory message through a video. CEO Kim Dong-geon said that it has already been about 20 years since he created Mabinogi, and that he is putting all his efforts into the new Mabinogi Mobile and will introduce it as soon as he finishes the final touches.

◆ Supporting Beginner Milletians' Settlement in Fantasy Life - Revamping 'Part-time Jobs', the Core of Life Content

The first order of the summer update is a complete revamp of part-time jobs, which can be said to be the core of life content. Part-time jobs are a representative farming method for beginner users and an 'identity' that shows what kind of game Mabinogi is. As it is such an important content, improvements will be made in various aspects, from rewards to convenience and new functions.

In the future, part-time job rewards will allow you to choose what you want from a fixed reward list, new reward items that will be more helpful will be added, and reward experience points will also be increased to the point where you can grow with part-time jobs alone. This strengthens the purpose of part-time jobs. In addition, a job posting board will be added to make it easier to receive part-time jobs, the number of part-time job performances will be reduced, and the number of people will be expanded so that more users can participate in part-time jobs.

Along with this, a new function, the 'Fae's Bounty' system, will be introduced. Fae's Bounty is a type of buff effect that is activated for the entire server when the number of part-time job performances in the server reaches a certain level, allowing you to experience the effect of increased part-time job rewards.

◆ Supporting Beginner Milletians' Settlement in Fantasy Life - Improving Paths to Help Natural Growth

Next, growth element reorganization was introduced. The first is the reorganization of Volo's Growth Support. In 'Blowny's Growth Support', quests are reorganized with only essential settlement information, and the difficulty of additional quests that need to be progressed in the story flow is adjusted. In addition, 'Blowny's' voice is supported in full voice to help immerse you in settling into fantasy life.

Spirit tutorials are also newly added. This is to allow users to encounter spirit content at an earlier point and grow with spirits. The tutorial will be handled by 'Iri', who has returned. Iri, who will become the first spirit of all Milletians, is characterized by not being picky, growing quickly including communion, and being able to use the materialization skill. Of course, the spirit UI has also been expanded for Iri, and Iri can be additionally contracted regardless of the spirit slot, so anyone can make her their first spirit.

The mainstream play experience that you will encounter after Volo's Growth Support will also be improved. First, the quest UI has been greatly improved, making it easier to check the contents. A new step-by-step quest progress explanation has been added, allowing you to check the details of what actions you need to take in the future.

In RP missions, the length of the dungeon you enter is shortened and the character's movement speed is increased so that you can enjoy the story easily and quickly. The difficulty of difficult combat missions (G3 Final Battle, G8 Red Dragon, G9 Battle Towards the End, etc.) and mini-games (Drama Season 2 Do You Know the Sea Chart, G25 Reverse Wheel, etc.) encountered during the growth process is greatly adjusted to support smooth growth.

In addition, a full investigation was conducted on hundreds of cutscenes encountered during the mainstream play process, including the giant's camera cutscenes that hindered story immersion, and guidelines are provided so that users who are confused about what to do first because the game has changed too much can refer to them. Players can follow each route through the 'Growth Guide', and the rewards required for this can also be easily obtained.

◆ Combat Changes for More Milletians - Addition of New Arcana 'Alchemic Stinger' and 'Dark Mage'

If the theme of the July update was 'growth', the central content of the August update is the addition of new Arcana. The key figure in the August new Arcana is the mountain keeper 'Rosine', who has kept secrets, and the new Arcana has been revealed as 'Alchemic Stinger', born from the combination of alchemy and archery.

The Alchemic Stinger can apply the four elements of alchemy to arrows or bolts, and a mechanism is applied that exerts different effects depending on which attributes are combined. The 'Frame Burst' skill, which helps with range attacks that were lacking in archery, and the 'Tri Assault' skill, which can inflict powerful damage on enemies gathered together by inflicting three powerful straight-line range attacks, were introduced.

The key figure in the second Arcana is a new character, 'Rowan'. Rowan is an apprentice magician who endures trials and has the setting that he has gained new power through the manifestation of 'Isis'. The second Arcana introduced with Rowan is 'Dark Mage', which can be said to be an Arcana characterized by the combination of magic and chain slash, attacks with Dorcha loaded with magic, and breaking through the high-end limits of magic talent. As a black magician who attacks by loading Dorcha with magic, he uses skills such as 'Snow Storm', which can trap enemies within a certain range and repeatedly inflict damage, and 'Lightning Chain', which continuously stuns and damages one enemy.

Content Leader Choi Dong-min said that following 'Elemental Knight', which was first introduced last summer, the addition of Alchemic Stinger and Dark Mage has completed all three Arcana based on the three initial talents of 'Mabinogi' that started with the Three Heroes. He said that the Arcana update is just the beginning, and asked for a lot of expectations as he will introduce more Arcana with various concepts in the future.

In the August update, changes to the enhancement system and improvements to the Enchant system will also be made. If the Enchant system is reorganized, you will be able to enchant more safely and with a lighter heart in the future. If the scroll durability was reduced by 5 with each enchant failure in the past, the new method reduces the scroll durability by 100, but no penalties are applied to the equipment even if you do not use an enchant protection potion. The new method is added, and the existing method is also maintained.

Special remodeling improvements are also applied. A type conversion function is added, and repeat remodeling convenience is also updated to allow for easy repetition. The effect of the blue remodeling stone adds a 'bonus damage effect' to the existing effect. This means that both the red remodeling stone and the blue remodeling stone have meaning.

◆ What is Mabinogi in September? After Growth Support, Addition of 'Chronicle Mission' and Weapon Group Supplementation

At the showcase, the September update content applied after the pre-season was also introduced. The first is the 'Chronicle Mission' that can be used for growth after growth support, and here you will be able to replace the Memorial equipment given by Volo with the next equipment.

The Chronicle Mission 'Battle of Mag Tuireadh 1st' added through the update is a dungeon that can be naturally encountered through mainstream play, and as a reward, '1 type of Celtic weapon' and a tradable protection remodeling stone will be given. The Celtic weapon will be provided with rank 1 gem upgrade applied, which will help you decide on the main talent you will use in the future or match your sub-weapon.

The news of the addition of 3 types of Celtic weapons, bows, two-handed swords, and lances, was also revealed, and the weapon group supplementation that could not be selected in the meantime has been applied, allowing you to grow in the direction you want to grow. The 'Parashius weapon group', which had the fewest weapon types, will also be reinforced. 14 new types of Parashius weapons will be added, and one-handed blunt weapons will be added along with an upgrade update so that the influence of the higher-level Nightbringer weapon group can be maintained. The developers introduced that they will balance the game to the extent that they can differentiate it from the Parashius weapon group.

As the last update, the news of 'Increased Drop Rate of Effective Rewards in Major Dungeons' was introduced. They said that they will continue to strive to increase positive experiences in combat content and provide more fun experiences by greatly increasing the reward drop rate of major dungeons.

◆ Summer Pre-Season Pre-Registration Event Starts at 3 PM on the 17th

Finally, event news and summer pre-season information were revealed. In the summer pre-season, 'Celtic' series weapons are provided as rental equipment, and weekly rewards for 'Glen Berna', 'Crom Bas', and 'Avalon Purification Mission' are increased. Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, you can also enjoy special buff effects that help with strengthening and growth, and you can acquire bookstore part-time job concept costumes as pre-season quest rewards.

The summer pre-season pre-registration event starts at 3 PM today and can be participated in on the 'Mabinogi' official website until July 11th. When participating in the event, a pre-registration box containing various items such as 'Extra Totem', 'Frozen Fireball', and 'Spirit Growth Package' is provided.

Mabinogi Reborn, 'Eternity'
Replacing with Unreal Engine, "We will create a fantasy life that lasts for more than 30 years"

After the update announcement, Director Min Kyung-hoon took the stage and announced 'Mabinogi Eternity', a long-term project to replace Mabinogi's game engine from the existing Playone engine to the Unreal Engine.

Director Min Kyung-hoon said that there were many moments when he showed disappointing aspects, but he wanted to show his sincerity by preparing for improvements with the Unreal Engine, and introduced the purpose of the project, saying that he chose the necessary path even if it was difficult so that the game could continue to grow. The engine replacement update started in March, and it contains the will to draw the future of Mabinogi together with Milletians from the initial stage.

The first goal of the project is to create accessibility and visuals with Mabinogi's unique charm. Rather than creating new realistic high-quality textures, they will maximize the emotional graphics and visual charm unique to Mabinogi, and add various attempts to improve the overall meta of the game along with convenience improvements and content reorganization. Currently, the development team is continuing research to realize these goals.

The second goal is 'Expansion of True Fantasy Life'. The development team plans to support Milletians' play styles and provide an immersive environment by expanding and strengthening fantasy life. Director Min Kyung-hoon introduced that Mabinogi's vision is to expand the experience in Erin, such as creating diving for gamers who wanted to jump into the sea while mining at the beach, allowing them to take great character screenshots without correction, enjoying naval battles, and fishing on self-made sailboats.

Director Min Kyung-hoon said that research is being conducted to express Mabinogi's resources in a new environment, starting with Nao, who can be said to be the symbol of Mabinogi, and asked for continued support for the journey ahead, although there is not much content to show yet as it is still in the early stages.

Nexon plans to open a page on the official Mabinogi website in the second half of the year to share all the processes of the 'Mabinogi Eternity' project. Director Min Kyung-hoon said that he will continue to communicate with Milletians and share continuous update status in order to become a perpetual service that continues for up to 30 years in the future.

Mabinogi 19th Anniversary '2023 Summer Showcase' Q&A

Q. Can Giants choose the bow Arcana?

= This is a part that Milletians may feel disappointed about. Giants cannot choose the bow Arcana. Of course, there was a lot of discussion about this. The development team is finding ways to maximize the characteristics of each race. If care for the Giant race is included in the bow Arcana, we thought that the fun might be reduced when the lance Arcana comes out later. We are focusing on realizing the basic talents of warriors, mages, and archers that existed from the very beginning in Mabinogi, and we are preparing to show you a more wonderful lance Arcana later.

The current lance uses a play style of fighting on horseback, and we will rework it once so that it can be used without getting on and off the horse, and then add the Arcana update.

Q. Are there any plans to add the highest-level weapon group?

= Of course there is. In the near future, after performing the work of adding and supplementing weapon groups of other groups, the highest-level weapon group will be added sequentially. We will create this cycle in the future so that the item cycle will continue periodically.

Q. Are there any plans to release the maximum bank limit?

= The bank limit is actually in the plan and is being worked on. We will show it to you as soon as possible. I would like to say that increasing the bank limit is not an easy task that can be done simply by changing the numbers.

Q. I'm curious about how the main stream development is progressing.

= The main stream will be added this winter. We are in a situation where we have to start a new story, and we are working on a scenario to create a new story and satisfy the contents that users are curious about and expect as much as possible. We ask for a lot of expectations for the new contents that will be introduced along with this.

Q. Please introduce the enchant reorganization in more detail.

= You can choose the existing method as it is, and it is added on top of that. When using enchants that are cheap but have decent performance, an additional option is added, which is a way to protect equipment when consuming 'cheap enchants'. This means that you can choose whether to protect the enchant scroll or protect the equipment.

Q. Including the part-time job reorganization, existing users receive penalties every time an update is made. Are you preparing any compensation for this?

= The success rate and reward selection system, which were inconvenient when doing part-time jobs, have been supplemented and are helpful to everyone. You can easily understand why the contents are being improved overall by looking at the update page later.

Q. Can the Unreal Engine replacement be seen as 'Mabinogi 2'?

= Do you want Mabinogi 2, or do you want Mabinogi to be eternal? The users' wish is that Mabinogi will continue forever, so we chose to replace the engine.

Q. I'm worried that the engine replacement update will affect the live service.

= Currently, we are separating the live service and the track to proceed with the development process because it is in the early stages. If there is an impact while proceeding, we plan to proceed while reporting and communicating. For now, it can be said that there is no particular impact.

Q. There are cases where marriages break down depending on gender, are there any improvement plans?

= We are checking a lot of inquiries about similar contents. We are constantly preparing for improvements related to marriage in relation to convenience, but I would like to say that there are clearly parts that are difficult to improve systemically.

Q. There is a difference in the quality of costumes that can be worn depending on the character's gender, I'm curious if there are any plans to remove gender restrictions on costumes and expand bizarre equipment.

= Developers are working really hard on developing men's and women's clothing without distinction, but many designs that can be tried have already been tried, and recently we are focusing on details. We will try to add several new attempts, and we will try to increase the number of bizarre costumes more than before.

Q. Arrows have dedicated arrows, but bolts do not have any other options. Are there any plans to add new bolts or Arcana-specific bolts?

= The possibility is open. However, since bolts tend to be concentrated on the production side, it is necessary to develop while broadly examining the economic aspects. We are fully aware of this content, and we will try to fully reflect these users' needs.

Q. What is the expected time for the Unreal Engine replacement project to be officially applied?

= It started in March, so it is still cautious to say when it will be completed. We will continue to develop after revealing the expected time when there is a little more progress.

Q. I'm applying additional equipment slots, but I have to keep changing the title manually depending on the equipment. This is inconvenient every time, can I automatically change it together when using additional equipment slots?

= It's a part that we're preparing. However, several processes are required to calculate the effect when changing the title or changing equipment. There are performance problems in these parts, and if you make a mistake, it can lead to errors where stats keep going up or down every time you change equipment. Please think of it as a process to prevent these problems from occurring.

Q. Do you have any plans to add a skill window?

= When we actually placed an additional skill window in the development stage, it felt like a cockpit of an airplane rather than a game. We are looking for a better solution.

After the final Q&A, a special gift prepared for users to commemorate the 19th anniversary of Mabinogi's service was revealed. It is a showcase gift box coupon containing various rewards. The coupon number is19THFANTASYPARTYand includes various products such as a set of 3 aroma bears and a coupon to acquire the Summer Fanfare 2nd title. You can register on the website's game registration until December 31st.

After finishing all the presentations, Director Min Kyung-hoon said, "I want to create these opportunities a little more often, but my heart hurts every time there is bad news," and expressed his ambition to "bring only good news to Mabinogi in the future."

Content Leader Choi Dong-min said, "It may feel a little slow now, but when you look back, a lot has changed, it has become a good game, and we will continue to work hard so that you can feel 'This is our game'."

Webzine InvenPark Gwang-seok Reporter
2023-06-17