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Before "Plants vs. Zombies Crossover" became popular, no one would have thought that this fan-made game would bring such high popularity to this IP.

When the same story happened to another second-generation game author, Zhuang Buchun, things developed in an even more unexpected direction. To put it simply, while his fan game Plants vs. Zombies became very popular, he was also overwhelmed by the overwhelming private messages from netizens saying that they "didn't know how to decompress files", so he decided to make a series of videos to popularize the relevant usage knowledge to everyone for free.

But after the second video, he found that in the face of structural knowledge gaps, the power of an individual is really insignificant. In human terms, for many players who are accustomed to the convenience of mobile Internet, operating a computer itself has become a huge threshold...

High threshold = newbies not worthy of playing?

While making people laugh and cry, this incident also shows the current state of the Internet to players: it is no longer the era of more than ten or twenty years ago when people were used to being self-reliant due to information blockage and other reasons. The rapid development of the Internet has not only facilitated everyone, but also increased the threshold for players to learn new things. In other words, only when the threshold is low enough and the experience is smooth enough, will players have enough interest in it, and then arouse the motivation or desire to learn and understand it in depth. As for this point, I think MMORPGs with a longer history, higher thresholds, and deep integration with social interaction also have a say.

First of all, you need to reach the maximum level and obtain a set of equipment that can cross the minimum threshold of the dungeon, so that someone will pull you into the group; secondly, before actually entering the dungeon, you have to do various homework in advance: the output cycle of your own character, the mechanism and response methods of each BOSS, and basic knowledge such as "jumping monsters", "focusing fire", "interruptions", etc., which are not taught in the game but are very important.

Finally, if the server you choose is not in China, then congratulations, you still have to cross the threshold of the community, which not only refers to the language barrier, but also reflects the difference in thinking and habits. Whether it is a Japanese MMO like "FF14" or an orthodox Western MMO like "The Elder Scrolls OL", their overseas community culture is very different from that in China. Various plug-ins that are necessary for playing in China may be taboos in foreign servers, and skills such as "jumping monsters" that were born for quick clearance will be regarded by players in foreign communities as the number one "criminal" that destroys the gaming experience...

In short, in such a threshold and community environment, novice players need to reach a certain threshold in equipment and experience before they can participate in certain activities, and these accumulations often need to be achieved by completing the activities themselves. Combined with classic novice memes such as "play Karazhan before graduating from Karazhan", the stereotype that MMO is difficult to get into has been formed.

If we want to explore this phenomenon from the perspective of operation, there are two fundamental reasons. On the one hand, there is a lack of guidance. Without any preparation, a large number of systems are directly thrown to new players, which will definitely make people feel confused and overwhelmed. On the other hand, in the continuous operation, the official has not paid enough attention and guidance to the game community. It is difficult for novice players to integrate into the game community and lack the necessary social channels to exchange experiences, ask for help or form a team. This undoubtedly increases the difficulty for them to feel the core fun of the game.

However, as the times and player habits change, many new-generation MMORPGs have recognized this problem and have begun to improve the social experience of new players. The Ark of Destiny, which is celebrating its anniversary today, is one of them.

How does Destiny Ark lower the threshold?

In order to explain the changes in the social experience of "Ark of Destiny", we have to understand the changes in the underlying design of the anniversary version in terms of gameplay, content, etc., and how they affect the social level of newbies.

First of all, in terms of gameplay, "Ark of Destiny" chooses to start with "copy", which is the core channel for testing combat power and also for obtaining profits, and adjusts the experience of novices step by step.

For example, in terms of upgrade and equipment threshold, the game allows new players to quickly reach the level of being able to play dungeons by reducing the cost of equipment refining and strengthening, issuing growth express tickets, etc. New systems such as "Hand of Arcturus" and "Protivin's Shelter" can bring new players benefits such as increased damage, reduced injuries, and increased drops, so as to improve the fault tolerance and benefits of the new player experience.

When the newbie reaches the item threshold of 1490 through this series of gains, the game will use the highlighted "Rise Mission" system to lead players to complete daily gameplay such as Chaos Dungeon and Star Guardian, directly in one step, allowing newbies to quickly experience the game content of the first-tier players.

Of course, as a system for guiding novices, the content of the "Rise Mission" is not mandatory, and players can choose and skip it by themselves. While ensuring balance and not destroying the experience of old players, it provides a certain degree of freedom for new players to explore.

Another thoughtful change is the "Single-player Dungeon" that has sparked widespread discussion among players in the preview live broadcast. As a Chinese server exclusive mode, players can use the additional bonus effect to challenge the "League Commander Dungeon" of normal difficulty that usually requires teamwork to complete, and can obtain the same material rewards as when forming a team.

For new players who lack experience and need to practice, the addition of single-player mode provides an excellent opportunity for them to become familiar with the dungeon mechanism and utilize the dungeon CD at a lower cost. In addition, for the new generation of players who are already accustomed to fast-paced games, the emergence of single-player mode also accurately hits the pain point of "fragmented time", making their gaming experience smoother.

While improving the "hardware", "Destiny Ark" has not forgotten to add guidance at the "software" level. In addition to guiding novices through in-game systems such as "Rise Mission" and "Journey to Akrasia", the official also specially organized an event called "Dungeon Teaching Plan", which actively guides old players to play the dungeon together by connecting community KOLs with players.

It can be said that this action of the official to actively lower the social threshold for players not only solves the problem of no one leading the high-level dungeons for newbies, but also shows the deep understanding of the element of "strong social interaction" in "Ark of Destiny". Only by lowering the threshold and quickly allowing novices to get in touch with the core fun of the game can people have a good impression of the game and be willing to "stay".

Of course, it is not enough to have the will without the content that can keep new players playing. This is another direction that Destiny Ark is working on this new version. Here, we are going to talk about the highlight of the new version, which is also the new career branch "Soul Eater" that players have been looking forward to for a long time.

First of all, as a profession with extremely high burst damage, Soul Eater's skills are divided into three different types, corresponding to obtaining core resources, stacking buffs, and burst output. When Soul Eater has accumulated resources and buffs through the first two skills, he can turn on the burst mode and quickly use all high-damage skills in a few seconds. On top of this, this profession can be further divided into the "full moon" flow that enhances burst damage skills and the "waning moon" flow that puts damage in the loop skills and has a smoother output curve, further enriching the output method.

In addition to her strength, as a character in a Korean online game, Soul Eater is absolutely guaranteed to be good-looking in all aspects. Her three types of skills have their own special effects, and their styles are also completely different. The effects of her sickle slash, ghost assault, ghost-like "stand-in attack" and other skills are not only distinctive, but also gorgeous. The special effects are also very addictive.

In terms of character appearance, in addition to the profession-exclusive suits, the game's built-in face-shaping features, such as swimsuits, "sky suits", and other appearances that are widely acclaimed among players, can also show good effects on the Soul Eater. It can be said that both strength and appearance are online.

From Soul Eater, we can see the logic of "Ark of Destiny" when producing content: reasonable skill design, coupled with gorgeous performances and artistic expression that accurately hits the pain points of players, has formed a new content that is very popular among players and can be repeatedly discussed in the community.

This reasonable and accurate production logic is also the commonality of the previous changes. Whether it is lowering the threshold, actively guiding old players to bring in new players, or adding cool new professions, their appearance not only does not destroy the balance between new and old players, but makes it easier for new players to get into the game, while also solving many pain points of old players in the content experience.

If "Ark of Destiny" is compared to a building, then the actions mentioned above are to repair the superstructure, and what supports all of this is the solid foundation of "Ark of Destiny" in terms of gameplay, content, and art. This is precisely the essential reason why this game can once again welcome a wave of new players joining the game on its first anniversary.

Conclusion

It can be said that the anniversary version of "Ark of Destiny" not only lowers the entry threshold, but also focuses on player needs, starting from multiple directions such as reducing liver workload and providing high-quality content, reducing the negative feedback brought by social elements, and providing new and old players with a safe and harmonious community environment. Whether they are old players or newbies, they can find their own fun and value in this version.

For this anniversary version of Destiny Ark, I would like to summarize it with the consensus formed by players in the comment section:

"The version most suitable for newbies is coming."