[Dev Notes] Part-7: GTT Feedback - Chapter 2. Shooting Balance Improvements
[h5][ Intro ] [/h5]
Hello, Masters. I'm Kwon Dae Ho, the Executive Producer of Black Stigma.
In this developer's note, we want to talk about one of the most talked about VOC from the Global Testing Tour, the balance of the combat, or more precisely, the 'balance of shooting'.
As this is a PVP game, the balance of the combat is the most important and sensitive issue for our testers. We had to carefully consider the improvements before sharing our thoughts about this topic, because of this, we're only now tackling the topic of balance, despite it being the topic with the most complaints, to more carefully organize our improvements.
[h5][ Issues on Shooting Balance found in Global Testing Tour ] [/h5]
At Black Stigma, we've tried to do various things to provide in our shooter games, and we'll continue to do so, but we wanted to make sure that the shooter at the center of the game was perfect for this test. However, in retrospect, we feel that we could not fulfill the needs of our testers during this test.
We have located the three following reasons for our shortcomings.
a. Headshots felt relatively anemic compared to other games.
b. Each master had little variations of characteristics on handling firearms.
c. Bullets felt less powerful and provided little tension in gunfights.
To address each of these issues, we're introducing the following four improvements.
[h5][ Key Changes in Shooting Balance ] [/h5]
1) Headshot damage will be improved.
Most shooter games will deal the most damage for headshots. Black Stigma also has the highest damage set to the head, but not as much as other games our users had experienced.
< Weakest handgun shot of game A, Body(4 shots) while Head (2 Shots) so it had 2 times the damage >
< Weakest handgun shot of game B, Body(8 shots) while Head (2 Shots) so it had 4 times the damage > 
< Weakest handgun shot of Black Stigma, Body(6 shots) while Head (4 Shots) so the shots feel different > 
In response, we're going to dramatically increase the damage of headshots to match the experience of headshots in other games. We're currently tuning our test builds with headshots that do about 3 times the damage of torso shots. We won't know the final number until we're done tuning, but it's likely to be around 300%, which is what we've seen in other games.
< Shooting screenshot in the latest build of Black Stigma, You can observe the differences of headshot efficiency(before/after 300%) the weakest handgun(left)and the strongest handgun(right)> It will differ depending on the firepower of your firearms and the presence of head armor, we expect it to deliver more of the exhilarating headshot you've experienced in other games.
2) You won't be able to use guns that have a higher Control Power number than you.
In this testing, we gave each Master a different value of Control Power to differentiate their shooting style. We wanted to showcase the individual characteristics of each Master's fighting style, whether it be in a suppression/infiltration role or an all-out assault/protection role, depending on their Control Power.
However, we've seen masters with low control power equip heavy firearms and play in one shooting style at the expense of accuracy penalties.
< Except for 'Twin' that doesn't have the right-click aiming system, high Control Power guns such as LW Eagel L6 or Hollow Ten was included in the high preference weapons top 3 for all Masters. > We felt that this didn't fully capitalize on Black Stigma's identity as a 'hero shooter' genre, and we wanted to strengthen the Control Power constraints.
You'll no longer be able to choose a gun with a higher Control Power than your Master. We believe this adjustment will allow players to maintain their shooting style, but instead of having a similar shooting experience with different characters, players will experience a distinctly different style of shooting action based on their Control Power.
This decision will also be reflected in the gun customization we'll be introducing in the future, giving players the freedom to customize their guns to fit their style of play.
3) The bigger the character, the higher the Control Power.
As the title suggests, we want to give larger characters higher Control Power and smaller characters lower Control Power.
These measures were added as part of our efforts to increase the rate of gunfights. Because larger characters have relatively large hit boxes, so they have a disadvantage in a regular gunfight. We implemented this as a balancing measure to compensate for that.
4) The damage absorption rate of armor will be decreased.
From a 'familiarity' standpoint with other games, there was something else we missed in this test besides headshots. The armor effects on hits. We did some comparative analysis with other games to see if Black Stigma's armor effects were too strong.
In conclusion, we decided that the armor effectiveness in the test version was a bit high compared to other games, and we decided to reduce it. The reduction is generally 2/3 of what it used to be, so that it feels more in line with armor effectiveness in other games.
[h5][ Expected results of Improved Shooting Balance ] [/h5]
We prepared these improvements to the shooting system to make gunfights feel more intense, but also to make Black Stigma feel more friendly to a wider audience.
In our next test version, we'll showcase Black Stigma as a shooter that's easier for you to get into.
Also, as part of the shooting rebalance, Active Skills will be impacted. We will be introducing specific changes to Active Skills in our next developer note, and we look forward to your continued interest and support. Thank you.
Sincerely, Producer Kwon Dae Ho
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2067830/view/3989692805106669017
<< We received feedback that players found the movement animation to be inflexible during the Global Testing Tour. >> 
<< We aim to showcase action-packed, dynamic movement animation in the current version we are developing. >>
<< Adjusted the base movement speed of Black Stigma from 5 m/s to 6 m/s >>
<< Other shooting games have a variety of movement speeds based on the weapon type, but the fastest base movement speed was 5.73 m/s >>
<< Placed multiple openings for players to cancel the skill animation, allowing a fast-paced attack sequence >>