Blue Protocol June 2020 Update: New Customization Options, Combat Alterations, Features and Improvements

This is something I know a lot of you have been waiting for. It seems like it’s been forever since we last heard anything of Blue Protocol, but here we are. A large update as of their most recent stream a few days ago.

Now I’m going to tackle this in the order that they did on their official website, so I apologize in advance if this is a little jumbled.

Do note that all of this is taken directly from the Blue Protocol website. To start things off, they begun with general feedback.
It seems as though 60% of the playerbase played the game on the highest graphical setting.
72% of the playerbase had completed the story – or what of the story was available and present at the time of the Beta.
Dungeons could be tackled either solo, with one other player, or in a full group of 6. 45% of players opted to participate in the dungeons by themselves, with only 30% opting for a full group. This is concerning, considering the game is a large-scale MMORPG that should be encouraging co-operative activities.
48% of players thought that there were a little too many monsters out in the field.
61% of players only leveled and played a single class over the course of the Beta test, with 25% leveling an additional class.
Only 22% of players attained max level before the Beta had concluded.
Interestingly, the Aegis Fighter was the most played class at 27.7%, with the Twin Striker having 25.1% of players having played it and 23.6% for both Spell Caster and Blast Archer respectively.

Then, they went on to address character customization.
Players thought that the crafting process was far too slow and unrewarding.
New character customization options are going to be available. Increase variation per part. Increased categories. Increased selection of voice options, and content that will be found at the “Aesthetic Salon” in-game. There will also be additional costumes, and, funny enough, the option to not only select, but also customize underwear.

Next, they asked about the combat, and it seems as though players who weren’t very familiar with action combat struggled quite a bit with the combat system, whereas players who have played other action titles acclimated to the gameplay without much issue.
They’re working on adjusting the camera angles while in combat as some players complained it felt as though they were playing drunk. Options to have more control over what skill effects are shown in your game. Some of the combat animations are being overhauled.
They’re adjusting knockbacks. They’re considering adding timers on buffs and debuffs, and providing specific colors to each to accurately differentiate between the two.

Following this they went on to address player-related feedback.
Players were finding difficulty understanding what each parameter was effectively attributed to, so they’re adding descriptions to each. They’re also re-working explaining how the Adventure Rank functions.
They’re providing additional options to your Profile screen. They’re also adding in titles, achievements and trophies to better show off your prowess.

Next they went on to address enemies.
Apparently, and I can confirm this, enemies aggro from quite a large distance. Irregardless of level, which is more irritating than anything as you could be a level 30 player aggroing level 2 monsters from the same distance as someone of equal level to the monster.
They’re working on remedying this by not only reducing the aggression range, but also making them less likely to aggro if the level discrepancy is larger. They’re also making it easier to discern whether enemies are lower or higher level.
Attempts are being made to not only increase certain area’s density of monsters, but also reduce it in certain other areas.
They also want to make it easier for players to more easily see and target enemies in larger groups, and as someone that had Field Bosses zerged by 30 people at once every time they’d spawn, I can see how this is a bit of a necessity.
Finally, it seems as though a lot of players wanted monsters to drop weapons and armor. Now, let me preface this by stating that monsters don’t drop gear in Blue Protocol.
In fact, you can’t obtain weapons or armor from anywhere outside of crafting. So I can understand players wanting this feature added in-game – it’s crucial to the roleplaying experience, and it’s unusual they’d remove it.
However, Bandai Namco have expressed that if they provided stronger gear from bosses, people would no longer craft. If they provided weaker gear, the gear would be pointless.
The only way to remedy this is to have players work on obtaining materials from bosses and other means, and instead using those materials to craft your ideal gear.

Next they covered boss fights. Apparently, players were unhappy with how little strategy was involved in boss fights. You kind of just zerg the boss without much forethought and try to down them before you die yourself. They understand this and they plan on adding additional strategic elements.

Then they went on to cover classes. Players were unhappy with how little freedom they have over their class. They were also upset that most of the classes share similar skills which hinders class identity.
Bandai Namco are working to provide more individuality over your class. They’re working on enhancing your sense of identity in terms of the role you play. Encounters often felt very monotonous, and as such they’re reworking enemy attack patterns and increasing the individuality of each dungeon.
They’re currently working on new classes, as many players have expressed that the 4 currently available are no way near being enough. While they’re under development, it is undecided when they will be implemented in-game.
Like Final Fantasy XIV that allows you to set gear-sets per class, players have expressed a want to see the feature adopted in Blue Protocol and it has been confirmed a function that does exactly that will be added.
Certain skills are difficult to grasp and master, so they’re working on overhauling them to make them easier to use. Leveling additional classes is difficult considering there are very few missions to do to level. They’re working on remedying this by providing alternate leveling methods.

Next they addressed the Battle Imajinn. They have plans on adding more personality, more individuality to each of the Imajinn, especially considering the Imajinn used the same animations and skills as the enemy and that confused some players.
Then they discussed the Mount Imajinn. Players felt there was too little stamina for your mount – and I agree. I could ride for what, 30 seconds and that was it? I was done? That’s crazy.
They did express that this was a basic iteration of the mount system though and that stamina will regen providing little issue so long as you aren’t riding it around everywhere.

Next they discussed the sound and music. They plan on adding additional soundtracks for the background music, and they want to increase the number of sound effects actively used currently.

Then they touched on Towns. Players will only be allowed to change class in towns. The NPCs are scattered around the town to make it so certain areas don’t get overcrowded.
They want to add player housing to the game, and are working to add it in a future update after the game actually goes live. They would also love to include Fishing, Cooking and other life-skill related activities, but are currently finding it difficult to implement.
You’ll finally be able to hide weapons in the city. You’ll be able to reduce the number of players you can see in cities.

Next they touched on Quests. Apparently players had difficulty understanding where they were required to go for quests. I can concur with this as I found it very difficult questing within the game.
Apparently they’re working on fixing this issue, which is a very welcomed change.

Then they addressed the Field map. Players wanted to not die if they fall off a cliff.
Personally I find it hilarious and wouldn’t change it, and thankfully Bandai Namco stated they have no intentions of doing so. Players wanted more XP gained from killing monsters, and that was rejected. Players want easier access to various areas, and they’re working on that.
They’re working on adjusting how the minimap works. They expressed they had no intention of ever allowing maps within dungeons, but after many complaints, they’re working on adding in minimaps for players to make it easier to explore and complete.

They then touched on several issues players were having regarding channels, zones and partying with other players. Mainly that players couldn’t navigate to the same instance of the zone due to whatever reason during the Closed Beta and they’re going to work heavily on making alterations to make playing with other players much easier.

Then they touched on the UI, HUD and Menu. From what I could tell, players wanted to be able to filter messages within the log menu as they found it difficult differentiating between what was what.
Players also want to be able to display additional quests, since the quest display selection is quite limiting, to which they’ve agreed to expand. They’re working, or re-working various items’ descriptions to better explain what each does. They’re working on altering fonts and font colors for convenience.

Next they went on to discuss chatting, emotes and other social features. They plan on overhauling the friend system to make it easier to engage one another and add friends. They’re working on making it easier to interact with other players.
There will be additional emotes, additional gestures added over the course of the game. They also want to add cooperative gestures that can be done with other players such as dancing.

Then they touched on collection, crafting, scouring and fusion a little bit. Essentially, they’re making it easier to sort items, and are providing a more convenient way of crafting that doesn’t require as many steps to complete, and is a lot easier to use.
I didn’t find much issue with the crafting aspect of the game, really, and it was pretty straight-forward, but apparently some people had issue with it.

Next they addressed the camera. Players want more draw distance, but Bandai Namco have stated that will create more problems than benefit. They are reworking how the lock-on system functions at least pertaining to the camera though during combat.

Then there was some more general feedback. They’re working on increasing the duration of the day so players can enjoy it for longer periods of time as they thought the night came far too quickly. They want to support ultra wide monitors and 4K resolution. They’re attempting to fix full-screen issues. And.. that covers everything.

Whew. That’s quite a few updates.
Bandai Namco haven’t expressed when the next Closed Beta test will take place, of heck, even if another Closed Beta test is even scheduled.
They also made no mention of when the next live stream will take place, or if one is planned for the future.

But this is everything we know right now, and everything we have to look forward to. Honestly I wouldn’t expect the next live stream to be too far off considering they’re been very good about the flow of information over the development cycle thus far.
What do you guys think though? Are you more or less excited based off of the direction you see the game moving?