We’re days away from the general F2P (“free to play”) availability of the Xbox One exclusive action MMORPG, Bless Unleashed. While the game is finishing Head Start for Founders Pack buyers, Community Manager Shaun (A.K.A .Stormshade) for Bless Unleashed hosted a Reddit AmA (“Ask Me Anything”). Gamespace took part by asking a few of our own questions and we’ve rounded up a few of the better ones below. To see the full list of questions, and answers, head on over to the Bless Unleashed Reddit page. Also, stay tuned to Gamespace as we’ll have some ongoing coverage of the game itself, including our head start impressions, now onto the questions!
Will classes always be race locked?
CM_Stormshade Community Manager: The Classes in Bless Unleashed are race locked for story purposes. However, we are always listening to user feedback, and no that there are people who would like this removed. We’ll consider it for a future update, but not likely one that will come any time soon.
Is there a patch/update planned for the official launch? If so, what can we expect to change?
CM_Stormshade Community Manager: We have a small server-side update planned. We’ll be posting the release notes in the next day or so.
Any plans to change the forced PVP aspect of the game? Why not let people choose to PVP or not. Maybe an incentive like loot and XP bonus if you turn on PVP and longer you have it on, better the bonus gets?
CM_Stormshade Community Manager: In regards to open-world PvP, we’re taking a few different steps:
- We will be increasing the penalties for players who actively player kill. This will increase the rate at which players receive bad karma, and increase the amount of time it takes for PKers to return to a non-outlaw status. Players will also now be attacked by guards after reaching their first Outlaw level. The devs have already sent us this update and we’re testing it now.
- We’ll be further increasing safe zones to include Field Boss locations, and are looking at creating safe posts around all teleports as well.
- We will also be implementing a system to encourage players to hunt down PKers in the very near future. They will be rewarded with Honor Points and other items.
In PvE Crusader seems to have an identity crisis. We can be a meh tank or a meh dps. We don’t excel at anything in PvE. Priests completely overwrite Furious War Cry, so even our buffing capability is meh. Any plans for improvement?
CM_Stormshade Community Manager: Bless Unleashed is built around the idea of a “role-less” system, so we built Bless to avoid the confines of stereotypical MMO roles. As part of this, there is no dedicated tank, healer, or DPS class.
From the dev teams POV, Crusaders have a lot to bring the table for any group, and are in a fairly good spot right now. We know that players have different feelings however, and are looking at your feedback to see what changes we might be able to bring to the table.
Raiding – what are your plans? We have seen your dungeon capability. Raiding would be an experience.
CM_Stormshade Community Manager: Currently, we’re focusing on bringing more difficult and different dungeon types to Bless Unleashed. We’ll be adding in a new dungeon with almost every major update for the foreseeable future.
We would like to focus more on this specific type of content for a time before adding in more traditional multi-group raids. In part so that we can better plan the Bless Unleashed Raid experience out for you, in order to provide the best possible experience we can.
When will Bless Pass go live and what will be some of the things in it, etc.?
CM_Stormshade Community Manager: Bless Pass Season One begins on March 13th. We actually have a full list of rewards available already on our Bless Pass Page blessunleashed.com/blesspass
Will the Bless Pass costume(s) now or in the future be account wide like the founder’s pack costumes, or will they be character bound, like those purchased in the cash shop?
CM_Stormshade Community Manager: The Bunnisher costume will be bound to one character on your account. However, each character should be able to earn the costume for themselves, so you will be able to unlock it on multiple characters should you choose.
Given the gear score displayed for dungeons is the minimum required in order to queue for it, and the reality that joining an instance when you’ve barely crossed that threshold is doing so at a significant disadvantage, are there plans to allow for players to collectively abort a dungeon without penalty? Say after a minimum required amount of time to try the content? Or could a recommended gear score also be shown for average players to know what they need to succeed?
CM_Stormshade Community Manager: We’re looking into the GS requirements for the dungeons right now. We intend for the GS requirement to be a blocker to prevent people from being unable to complete the content from entering, and thus preventing the need to earn a penalty from leaving the dungeon. Stay tuned!
Is there any changes to allow Players to Trade with one another to prevent the whole listing on Marketplace amount and the chance of the Friend or Person not being able to get the item?
CM_Stormshade Community Manager: In regards to player trading, the Marketplace is currently the only way to trade with other players. We are considering adding a way to trade between guild members in a future update, however, likely through a guild bank type function. This is still early on and subject to change, however.
Any plans to fix the Ranger? Reloading is super annoying and everything can interrupt it. Also, the Ranger lacks range and it seems like we always get aggro in boss fights. Make the combos faster, give us range and remove reloading, please!
CM_Stormshade Community Manager: Rangers probably have the best single target burst DPS in the game. Reloading is an important part of resource management for this class, and increasing the range would disrupt the balance of the game, especially in PvP.
You are supposed to get aggro in all fights. Bless Unleashed is not a typical MMO where you sit back and do your DPS rotation while the guy in heavy armor mashes the taunt button. You’re meant to need to watch your enemy and dodge to avoid attacks.
Why do you lose health while switching channels, teleporting to certain arenas and leaving dungeons. You can be full health and then all of a sudden lose 15% health just from loading
CM_Stormshade Community Manager: This is a bug, and we’re looking into it.
When are we going to be able to update guild info and announcements?
CM_Stormshade Community Manager: We’re aware of this issue and will push a fix out as soon as we can.
