Does climbing up to a maximum of 50 levels in Embers Adrift fill you with a sense of dread? Would climbing up to 30 levels be better? That’s effectively what’s happening in the latest QA test build of the sandbox MMORPG, as Stormhaven Studios is working on a “content compression” update that hopes to get more people playing together.
The current QA build explains that this compression will tamp down the leveling climb by about 3/5ths, which will expand the number of players who can join groups, increase per-level impact, and address gaps in terms of finding on-level content for combat, gathering, and crafting progression.
The notes also provide a brief FAQ that confirms that this will not involve a stats squish, that skills will not be affected, and that the maximum required XP has not been reduced; this incidentally means that it will take a bit longer to hit each level, but the studio promises it will keep an eye on player feedback and adjust accordingly.
The content compression update was a main focus for Embers’ latest weekly livestream, as community manager Elloa brought game designer Jonathan “Adric” Zink to discuss the adjustments. He first opens by saying that these tweaks are not set in stone yet and arrived to the test realm early in order to get the most feedback possible. He also talks about the benefits and drawbacks of the compression, but ultimately believes this change will solve a lot of Embers’ wider problems. What isn’t provided is a timeline for this update’s release, but fans may still get some useful details out of the video below.
