Pinned Frequently Asked Questions

    • Frequently Asked Questions

      As we receive more questions and eventually obtain an official Western FAQ, we'll be updating this thread.

      Updates:

      August 15, 2013: Added Pmang's Classes page.

      May 19, 2013: Added IP blocking question.
      February 1, 2013: Added fansite kit question.

      **************************************************************************************************
      Questions We Have Answers To


      General Gameplay

      1. How many factions will be available?
      Jacob Han, Lead Producer: BLESS has two factions: Heiron and Union.

      2. How many races will be available?
      There will be 10 total races, five per faction. Heiron races are Fedayin, Habichts, Lupus, Mascu, and Sylvan Elf. The Union races are Amistad, Aqua Elf, Pnatera, Iblis, and Siren.

      3. How many classes will be available? (bless.pmang.com/?mKey=2&sKey=2)
      There will be eight total classes: Assassin, Berserker, Guardian, Mage, Mystic, Paladin, Ranger, Warlock.

      4. Will race matter?
      Jacob Han, Lead Producer: BLESS has two factions and 10 races, each with its own starting hometown and its own storyline. For example, members of one race may end up needing to kill their only true friend, a friend who helped them escape to safety. Another race may choose not to buy an expensive dress for an innocent girl who is dreaming of going to a fancy ball, thereby crushing her dreams and turning her into a dangerous outlaw whom you will then have to kill in a quest to protect the city. Additional customization will be attainable through the race that you choose to play as well as through the completion of royal quests.

      5. Does each class have a party role (a.k.a. "Holy Trinity" of tank, dps, and heals)?
      Jacob Han, Lead Producer: The basic structure is indeed the trinity, but classes will not be tied to specific roles within party play. The classes that we did not showcase in our game demo at G-Star 2012 have a more liberal style of combat.

      Despite the retention of this familiar style of gameplay, BLESS has a wide portfolio of character classes (eight, to be exact). Depending on the situation, players will experience dynamic roles. Once we reveal more about our upcoming RvR features, we will be able to disclose these customization elements in greater detail. Additional customization will be attainable through the race that you choose to play as well as through the completion of royal quests.

      6. What type of mounts will BLESS include? Will there be flying mounts?
      Thus far, we have seen different types of horses as well as the Wyverns/dragons.

      Jacob Han, Lead Producer: As your character progresses, you will encounter these dragon mounts, or Wyverns, in a very dramatic and very specific story-driven way. Once you reach a certain level, you will be able to freely control and explore the vast and beautiful world of BLESS on top of this epic mount. There will also be plenty of other mounts in the game, many of which we will reveal in the near future.

      Mounts have passive abilities (horses fastest on land, camels travel far across the desert, turtles fast across water) and can be used in combat (wyverns can dive bomb in RVR and AOE stun). We also know there will be elephants and probably several other mount types.

      7. What is there to do in BLESS after reaching max level?
      Jacob Han, Lead Producer: When players reach max level, there will be tons of fun activities to take part in, such as PvP, RvR, castle sieges, and epic raiding, much of which we cannot wait to tell you guys more about in the near future. But in addition to this, we wanted to go a step further to making endgame content truly fun and engaging. For example, after reaching max level, we have what we call Royal Quests, which raise your profile in the world. After you reach the highest level of knighthood, the guards around you will talk to you differently, and instead of running small errands around the city, you may be asked to visit an opposing faction to assassinate a high-ranking officer in a stealth mission, or help low-level players complete quests in order to go higher up the political chain. They're designed to create a virtuous cycle of community and a more personalized experience.

      8. Are there weather effects and/or a day and night cycle?
      Yes. We've seen sunshine, rain, clouds, and a day/night cycle. Apparently time of day will also affect NPCs as they'll closed up shop at night. We don't know if that will make it into launch though.

      9. How does RVR work?
      There will be two types of RVR: casual and hardcore. Casual has limited penalties if you lose, hardcore has stricter penalties. Hardcore also takes place in a separate part of the map, while casual can happen in more locations.

      10. How large will the raids be?
      Raiding will reach at least 40 players.


      Distribution and Launch

      1. Will this game be launched for the US/Western audience?
      EDIT by Zazaaji:
      AeriaGames announced in 2016 they will release the game in NA and EU regions officially.

      Jacob Han, Lead Producer: Succeeding in the West with BLESS is obviously going to be very important step for us to succeed overall. We are currently looking at all available options for publishing the game in the U.S., which also includes the possibility of a separate publisher if we feel that it will be a great partner. The game itself will have to be properly localized for Western audiences, of course, but the core game content will not fundamentally change.


      Technical Details

      1. What game engine does BLESS use?
      Jacob Han, Lead Producer: We chose the powerful Unreal Engine 3 to create BLESS’s immersive and seamless world, and even pushed the boundaries of the engine’s capabilities to showcase a top-quality online environment. Our studio has an extensive roster of talented engineers and programmers that have had prior experience with Unreal Engine and we are investing heavily in our own R&D to create the most realistic world possible. We are proud of our achievements with Unreal Engine 3 and are working closely with Epic Games to accomplish our goals. To cite one example, the Unreal Engine 3’s landscape tool was created upon our request to create a highly sophisticated game environment, and BLESS is the first game to utilize the tool.

      2. What are the PC requirements to run BLESS?
      We know BLESS is using the Unreal Engine 3, though with heavy modifications. As UE3 is an older tech, the assumption is that any game that runs TERA well (also on UE3) should run BLESS well. So, Nvidia 9800GT graphics card and dual core CPU at the very least.
      http://ruliweb.daum.net/news/view/46741.daum
      A. PC online games because holding a wide range of PC specifications. Think about 9800GT graphics card and dual-core CPU in the minimum specifications. High-end, depending on the options you will be able to see good graphics.

      The post was edited 19 times, last by Zazaaji ().

    • Questions Partially Answered/Still Unanswered


      General Gameplay

      1. How will the combat system work? Is it tab targeting or free targeting like in TERA?
      Apparently the current G-Star 2012 system involves primarily using tab targeting, however several skills shown are AOE or directional AOE. It has been stated the combat system will be receiving a major overhaul and be primary an "action combat" system where aiming and direction are important.

      2. How many players are in a full party?
      We have seen five in a party thus far. However, there will be "epic raids", so we don't know what size a full party/raid would include.


      3. What is the max level?

      Unknown at this time.

      4. What sort of character customization can we expect beyond the classes? Do characters have talent points, skill points, or another system for refining their skills?
      Jacob Han, Lead Producer: We are unfortunately not quite ready to talk about combat, skills, and character customization in detail, but just as BLESS is pushing the boundaries of how realistic an MMORPG can look, we are also pushing the boundaries of how much players can customize their characters and how important their roles will be in battle.
      Ten races and eight classes offer a ton of diversity, and that’s just the beginning. You will be able to delve into an extremely in-depth level of customization where almost anything you can imagine is possible. We have some amazing customization features that no other MMORPG is capable of and will be showcasing them in the near future.

      5. Will BLESS be playable with a gamepad controller (like TERA) or only keyboard+mouse?
      We don't yet have an answer for this.


      Distribution and Launch

      1. When is the US/Western/Korean/etc. launch date?
      Jacob Han, Lead Producer: We plan to have a closed beta test in the first half of 2013 in Korea. We will not be able to show BLESS in its entirety, but will need close and constructive feedback for our studio’s development direction. In the closed beta, players will be able to experience three of Union’s races and their individual background stories. We will then take feedback from that beta and assess when we can make BLESS available in Western markets.

      2. Will the game be Free to Play or Pay to Play?
      Jacob Han, Lead Producer: The simple answer is, yes, it will be different based on the territory it's in. We have not yet finalized the details of monetization for every region.

      3. What languages will be offered for BLESS?
      Currently, we only know of Korean and English. A final list has not yet been provided.

      4. Where can I download the game?
      As the game is still in alpha (pre-closed beta stage), there is no download for the game. The Korean Closed Beta Testing should begin the first half of 2013, but you will need to be a Korean player and selected for that testing to participate.

      5. When can we expect a fansite kit to be available?
      Unknown at this time.

      6. Will there be IP blocking?
      Unknown at this time. However, given the game will be Westernized, the likelihood is limited - or at least shouldn't impact the Western audience.


      Technical Details

      The post was edited 5 times, last by Organic ().

    • RE: F2P or P2P ?

      2. Will the game be Free to Play or Pay to Play?



      Jacob Han, Lead Producer: The simple
      answer is, yes, it will be different based on the territory it's in. We
      have not yet finalized the details of monetization for every region.




      Important
      :!:
    • Adalbercht wrote:

      2. Will the game be Free to Play or Pay to Play?



      Jacob Han, Lead Producer: The simple
      answer is, yes, it will be different based on the territory it's in. We
      have not yet finalized the details of monetization for every region.




      Important
      :!:

      I read that as: "Western launch will be subscription". Best to keep hopes limited. Heh. :)

      I would be SHOCKED if the Western launch is true F2P. No recent triple-A (AAA) rated MMO launched for a Western audience starts as straight F2P. (Yes, GW2 started without a subscription, but you still had to buy the box which isn't a true "F2P".) US MMORPGs launch as subscription services and then move to F2P after a year or two depending on how much of a subscriber base is left. That said, I'd assume the Asian releases will all be some form of pay as you go (AION and TERA both followed this plan in the East and changed for the West to be full subscription games at launch).

      It seems like all the senior team had former employment with NCSoft (AION, Lineage) or TERA. For better or worse.
    • The dev panel in a recent interview mentioned the specs for playing the game.

      2. What are the PC requirements to run BLESS?
      We know BLESS is using the Unreal Engine 3, though with heavy modifications. As UE3 is an older tech, the assumption is that any game that runs TERA well (also on UE3) should run BLESS well. So, Nvidia 9800GT graphics card and dual core CPU at the very least.

      ruliweb.daum.net/news/view/46741.daum
      A. PC online games because holding a wide range of PC specifications. Think about 9800GT graphics card and dual-core CPU in the minimum specifications. High-end, depending on the options you will be able to see good graphics.
    • WTF ?? will be or not target based ?? I play TERA and im looking foward for this to be my next mmo.. but only if i can still play nice on gamepad..

      So i do hope they make combat TERA style (no target)... i wont go for anything worst than that.. Oo
    • kenshimx wrote:

      WTF ?? will be or not target based ?? I play TERA and im looking foward for this to be my next mmo.. but only if i can still play nice on gamepad..

      So i do hope they make combat TERA style (no target)... i wont go for anything worst than that.. Oo
      Short answer: We don't know.

      Longer answer: We have not seen the final combat mechanics. They started with a system that mimicked TERA's combat system. Jacob wasn't happy with the system and they developed a new combat system from the ground up. They've said it will focus on action, but that some classes will require more "finesse". Hopefully we'll see examples of their new combat mechanics by April 2013 or so.

      As for controllers or only keyboard+mouse, they haven't mentioned that yet. I'm assuming it will be keyboard+mouse, but that's just a guess.
    • I hope the game will be or Buy2Play like GW2 or F2P... today not so much MMO will have a P2P formula for long time... the ones that survived at this formula are WoW or EVE, but most of the others fail and change in f2p formula.... a B2P type with microtransitions is a good hybrid imho
    • Hello everyone I registered because finally I found an official forum of this great game, I just would like to say that if the game is being created with the UE3 hopefully not make the same mistake of Blue Hole studio, which was the mistake of the UI because that mistake you removed more than 60 fps.


      thanks
    • Well we can't or won't know how bad the UI will be until people get their hands on to test it before hitting NA shores. But I hope the UI is indeed better ..
      Never trust a Game Master with a big smile.
      truly wise man never plays leapfrog with a unicorn- Nethack
      Skype: blpartist (Astri) | Steam: Ashai |
      :love:
    • Ashai wrote:

      Well we can't or won't know how bad the UI will be until people get their hands on to test it before hitting NA shores. But I hope the UI is indeed better ..
      Definitely. It's unfortunate we can't know if the UI we've seen thus far has anything to do with what we're looking at for launch since they dumbed down combat and basically created a "quick demo" of the game for the last G-Star.
    • Equipment Loadout and Weapon/combat strategy switching

      Jacob Han, you and your massive team are definitely creating something special with this new game BLESS.

      I want to ask you if there is a mechanic in the game which allows players to change weapons and effectively combat strategies? This game looks highly realistic but if a ranger type class can not use a sword (or other melee weapon) when an enemy gets to close, or a sword and shield fighter is in a tree or behind cover at a distance can not switch to a bow (or other ranged weapon) the game becomes not realistic. TERA falls into this trap because characters are defined by the weapon they hold in their hands (not good).

      Will you be able to include this weapon/combat strategy switching feature into your game?

      Games like Dragon Age and Dragon Knight in the fantasy genre, and almost all of the science fiction games allow players to change weapons on the fly and it would be a very very good feature to add to your game.

      Thank you.(I don't expect Mr. Han to answer my question, but it's worth asking is it not?)


      Luca
    • Septimus7 wrote:

      Jacob Han, you and your massive team are definitely creating something special with this new game BLESS.

      I want to ask you if there is a mechanic in the game which allows players to change weapons and effectively combat strategies? This game looks highly realistic but if a ranger type class can not use a sword (or other melee weapon) when an enemy gets to close, or a sword and shield fighter is in a tree or behind cover at a distance can not switch to a bow (or other ranged weapon) the game becomes not realistic. TERA falls into this trap because characters are defined by the weapon they hold in their hands (not good).

      Will you be able to include this weapon/combat strategy switching feature into your game?

      Games like Dragon Age and Dragon Knight in the fantasy genre, and almost all of the science fiction games allow players to change weapons on the fly and it would be a very very good feature to add to your game.

      Thank you.(I don't expect Mr. Han to answer my question, but it's worth asking is it not?)


      Luca
      Hey there, Luca!

      Thanks for your great questions. :)

      Unfortunately, we don't know what the real combat will look like. The combat we've seen in footage thus far was a demo version of the game designed for G*Star. All we know is it's action combat. However, looking at the weapons seen in the gameplay (and how closely the classes resembled TERA and AION), I'd assume we'll be stuck with one weapon type per class. Hopefully there are hundreds of weapon skins available. :) If we are stuck with just one weapon type, I highly doubt we'll see any weapon swapping.

      That said, they are promising a lot of classes, so maybe there will be some cross-over? Maybe we'll know more by the end of the year. :(
    • I'm going crazy for this game.I hope its action combat is better and more fast paced than tera which got a little boring for me after a while.Also I spotted screenshots of battling ships like ArcheAge and they say there's flying mounts,mounted combats,looks awesome.No talk about guilds or guild wars though and level cap is still unknown and more importantly we don't know if it's f2p or not or it's release date.I live in egypt and I can only play tera europe version so I don't know which version of bless will I be able to play,that is,if the game is f2p in the first place.I wonder if there will be instanced dungeons or such and if the quests will give enough amount of variety instead of just killing mobs.No political or economic or justice system announced.Will the economy be player based? Will there be taxes?What about the justice system?.Weapon system anyone? I noticed shiny and non shiny weaps? How many tiers/levels/quality of weaponry available? +5 +9 +12? sockets/crystals/glyphs/gems? upgrading method? What about races,will each race has its own attributes as well? I'm rushing things I know.All in all,I'm even more excited about this game than I was excited for tera.I quit Tera though coz,believe it or not,I felt like I was playing a single player game.Just doing quests,no social interaction what so ever except in instanced dungeons or BAMs.Even direct trading and marketing is rare and guild wars are pretty much pointless in the game.No one talks except when looking for group to help you do sth.I sure hope bless will provide a more social experience or I'll get bored from it too.

      The post was edited 3 times, last by UnluckyPlayer ().

    • @Unlucky Player -

      Unfortunately, my requests on the official Pmang and BLESS Facebook pages went without replies. We can only hope the game is still in development. They were supposed to have a closed beta "first half of 2013", but we're passed that now and I haven't heard anything about it. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
    • This thread have probably almost a year and half by now, I admire your patience and knowledge at those early stages of information being released about Bless keeping up with whatever their media released and answering to most of these people who didn't even tried to search it as well. Seriously well done! (o_o)7 *Salute*
    Peria Chronicles