Is KurtzPel Finally Receiving the Revamp it Needs?

Playing KurtzPel is like being in an abusive relationship. You know it’s bad, but you keep playing it because you have this belief that it can change. That it can be better. That it can DO better.
And it constantly disappoints you. Repeatedly lets you down. Huh, now that I think about it.. that kinda sounds like the entire MMORPG genre.
Hah.. ahhh. I can’t even laugh at that.

Now at its core, KurtzPel is a very flawed game. It’s beautiful, it has some incredible action combat, but the game at its core is flawed.
KOG, the team behind it are money-hungry and completely out of touch with their community. Removing all story content from the game. Cutting PvE out entirely in favor of making it a competitive PvP game.
The number of positive changes made to KurtzPel are… well, I daresay the only positive thing KOG has done for the game was reintroducing content they removed. Which was superfluous.

BUT! Just because they’ve done a terrible job with it up until this point, doesn’t mean they’re incapable of making adequate alterations to the game to improve it for the better, right?
So, KOG made a post over on Steam earlier this month noting a very large update they had planned for the game.
This would introduce a brand new progression system for the game, new game modes that allow you to fight various scaling levels of AI enemies, an entire PvE revamp including new Invasion Dungeons, a collection system, changes pertaining to Karma acquisition, the removal of the Awakening system, a revamp of the questing system, and more.
And today, that’s what we’re going to take the time to cover. Because I enjoy KurtzPel. I’ve always enjoyed KurtzPel. And honestly? I hope this is enough to turn things around for the game and make it a more worthwhile experience for players.

Now let’s start with the PvE revamp first.
Character levels are being removed from PvE. All equipment that players acquired prior to this revamp along with the stats, enhancements and sockets will remain the same. Level restrictions from dungeons are going to be removed.
Players will no longer be required to repeat dungeons repetitiously to progress through the game, and instead can tackle them at your own leisure. They also have plans on removing character levels from the game, however you can continue to level up your Karmas via PvE activities.
A new system is being introduced into the game called “Invasion Dungeons,” where Abyss monsters will spawn within dungeons as part of an invasion.
These invasions – these Abyss monsters are going to be significantly more difficult than normal dungeons and will likely require players to work together to challenge the more difficult content. At least, that’s the claim they’re making.

Next up the questing system is getting revamped. Where once you had the option of selecting between Daily and Weekly challenges, moving forward it’s going to be an all-encompassing “Quest” system, merging everything together and under a universal “Quest log,” something that realistically should’ve existed from the game’s inception.
All quests that players had that were incomplete were slated to be deleted. So they noted players should finish them accordingly if they didn’t want to lose access to them permanently. After the update, quests will now also be account-wide as opposed to character-specific.
Meaning that all quests and subsequently quest rewards will be delivered to the character that does them, and will not be repeatable if you have alts. Which is a very weird route to take this and seems highly alt-unfriendly. Unless you farm on a specific character, and reap the benefits on another.

Then we have the brand new Progression system. This is going to be account-wide, and will allow players to earn rewards as they continue to level up from various different in-game activities.
Progression levels are gained by leveling up your individual Karma’s, and reflect the grand total of your Karma levels. Prior to this update, every character had its own unique Karma level. After the update, all characters now share the same Karma level.
This makes it significantly easier for players to level alternate characters, as every new character will have total and complete access to everything your main character has. The total Karma level is supposedly uncapped, allowing for infinite levels.

They’re introducing a brand new Tutorial Mode into the game for both new and returning KurtzPel players to provide a sort of.. ease-in period. To allow you to obtain a better grasp, a deeper understanding of your Karma. Your character. The game overall.
This will put you up against AI controlled enemies that will resemble players, allowing for you to practice and obtain the experience you need before jumping into either the dungeon-PvE content or the PvP content against other players.

They’ve confirmed the brand new Road to Grand Chase 1v1 Deathmatch game mode, with players being capable of versing AI-controlled enemies much like in the tutorial mode.
The mode in question features varying difficulty levels, with opponents and maps being entirely randomized. You’ll be capable of progressing to increasingly more difficult levels as you continue to level and conquer existing difficulties.

The new Collection system was introduced into the game, which allows players to collect various different “sets.” Successfully completing a set will reward you with new items, titles and accessory slots.
They haven’t elaborated on specifically what those rewards are, but they made a few notes in their Steam community post. They have plans on expanding this system as time goes on so I guess this is more of a trial system than anything.

They’re changing how you go about Karma acquisition. Now, to obtain an individual Karma, you’ll be required to have met a certain amount of gameplay. So the longer you play the game, the more Karma’s you’ll be able to successfully unlock.
Upon unlocking a new Karma, you’ll start at Karma level 0. However, obtaining a new Karma will also give you access to all skills (both active and passive,) from the beginning.
They’re also removing the skill tree system in an attempt to, in their words, “eliminate the impact it may give to match results based on whether someone had certain skills or not.”
Furthermore, “all players will have access to the same active and passive skills acquired from unlocking their respective Karmas. Any skills that gave bonus stats will be removed completely.”
So in summary, this limits individual class identity, and instead promotes a cookie cutter build where every player is exactly the same.

They’ve decided to completely remove the Awakening system from the game, as “balancing the game around the fact that players may or may not have awakening skills proved to be very problematic.” But while the Awakening system is removed, normal awakening skills will instead be provided to players by merely unlocking the specific Karma.

Then they went on to note that they were revamping the Magic Stone system, removing Magic Stone stats from Karma’s. They’re removing DP and CP due to the new Karma progression system, but introducing a new GP currency, with things that would once cost CP now costing GP instead.

So to summarize:
They’re making more difficult, varied dungeons and monsters found within them.
They’re overhauling and streamlining the questing system.
They’re establishing a new form of player progression.
They’re allowing for players to engage AI-controlled enemies in a new tutorial mode.
They’re adding in a new 1v1 deathmatch game mode.
They’re introducing a new collection system.
And finally, they’re altering how you go about acquiring Karma’s.

Is this enough to alter the course of the game, though? Honestly, probably not. Is it a step in the right direction, though? Potentially.
At the very least it isn’t a step in the WRONG direction.. right?