If you’ve been following the Slayer’s Path in Dauntless, particularly at the higher end of the scale, you know how important aethersparks are. For those who aren’t familiar, they’re a currency that lets players create an aetherheart and reforge their weapon to make their character stronger.
Up to this point, players could either earn aethersparks by playing the game or buy them from the in-game store. As of the upcoming 1.5.3 update, however, that will no longer be the case, with the devs at Phoenix Labs citing player feedback for the change.
Not only will aethersparks be earned purely from in-game means, but the devs promise that aetherspark drop rates will increase “substantially.” In addition, there’s also the potential for a system that lets players use aethersparks to purchase aetherhearts without having to reforge, but this adjustment will take some additional development time and internal discussion.
The announcement further goes on to discuss a reexamination of Dauntless’ commerce philosophy, while outlining the pillars of what drives additions to the game store and promising to keep things as transparent as possible.
“We’re in this to bring players together through awesome multiplayer experiences, and generating revenue is how we make sure that can continue to happen. When it comes down to it, this is how we keep the lights on in our studio and our employees (and their families) happy, but it doesn’t mean it should come at the cost of your experience.”
