An Announcement from Smilegate
A recent announcement made by Smilegate on behalf of the CEO stated that radical changes will be taking place with regards to Moonlight Summons:
Hero Summon System Improvements
- Improvements have been made so that Moonlight summons will be placed in the regular summoning pool.
- Improvements will be made to the summoning system so that a ceiling will be implemented.
Hero Balance Improvements
- Moonlight Heroes will be balanced.
- Heroes that have been balanced will have all materials returned to players and players will be given a moonlight hero selector.
The post is a summary of the full Apology Letter released in Korean on the KR channel. Player u/T3nha sparked discussion on the Epic Seven subreddit with an edited machine translation soon after, which was later followed by a manual translation from u/marykrys:
The extreme rarity of Moonlight Summons-- Light and Dark elemental Heroes with kits specialized around PvP content-- has been a source of contention among the Epic Seven playerbase. As demonstrated by any Tier List (including ours) and the Arena rankings viewable in-game, 4★ and 5★ Moonlight Summons are dominant in successful team compositions.
Controversy was also sparked by the recent Developer Conference, in which Korean players voiced concerns about fairness with relation to PvP and Summoning. Youtuber K Gaming translates the stream below:
The main issues brought up include:
- Hacking of the Automation Tower (players have since been compensated with 5★ Summon tickets)
- Difficulty of obtaining Moonlight Heroes, pity system, guaranteed pulls, implementation of a "ceiling" or other fixes common in other Gacha games
- Overpowered nature of Moonlight Heroes
- Issues with Mystic Summoning
- Artifacts and Heroes being in the same pool
- MolaGoras and their limited availability
Implications
Effect on whales
The translated wording is vague, but strikes two hits against big spenders: not only will Moonlight Heroes become more accessible, but any previously acquired Moonlight Heroes will be nerfed to even the playing field. The net effect is that previously built Heroes decrease dramatically in value. Refunds will be given out in the form of a Moonlight 5★ pick ticket, but this may amount to a consolation prize if the entire cast is being adjusted.
Effect on free players
On the other hand, these changes are favorable to light spenders and free-to-play users, who previously had slim chances of ever summoning a good portion of the roster. Those who want to pull their favorite character will also have better luck now.
This isn't without consequences, as oversaturation of powerful characters (which arguably has been an issue since the introduction of Mystic Packs) could easily make the Arena and Guild Wars more monotonous. If the balancing is done right, the increased accessibility of Moonlight Heroes should lead to better options and variety in PvP.
The uncertainty of what's to come has caused the English-speaking Epic Seven community to explode with memes and thoughts on the issue. Endless speculation is taking place over the effects of this announcement, but until further details are released, it's hard to tell how these revisions will affect specific Heroes.
Overall, this is a healthy change for the longevity of the game and a promising sign of long-term investment from Smilegate. Still, the design oversight of such unbalanced PvP should not be ignored, nor should the previously high cost of Moonlight and Mystic summons.
