Official Turf Battles News and Updates

Recently, both of the new Game Sages, riein and SaintGabriel both took some time out of their game time to answer some questions for me and for the Turf Battles community.  Posted below are my questions and their responses.

jeirhart: Introductions
riein:
Tribe: Defiant
In-Game Name: Riein
Class: Blade
Server: Mystic

gabriel:
Tribe: Digitally_Imported
In-Game Name: Gabrieljoker
Class: Blade Warrior(For Ever)
Server: Mystic

jeirhart: First off, why did you apply for this position?
riein: I applied for GS because I wanted to help the Turf Battles community and help with any ideas for the development of this game
gabriel: I applied because some of my TB friends suggest that I do it. so might as well make Gabriel Sage a new term

jeirhart: Fair enough, what do you bring to the Game Sage team?
riein: I bring a creative mind and ideas to help bring new players to turf battles
gabriel: Well as far as the team goes, I feel I can bring a lot more of how more casual and hardcore players feel, as if I can better express the voice of what noobs and pros want.

jeirhart: Is that something you feel is lacking?
riein: I feel like there arent enough incentives for new players to stay playing who might get bored of grinding
gabriel: Not necessarily, it’s just that I understand that several players don’t feel connected to the GS’s, which is a great attribute my fellow new GS partner riein, brings to the table. I just feel I will cover more ground when it comes to some people voicing their opinion honestly.

jeirhart: Have you ever had a leadership role or a position of management?
riein: I have been an activities director at a camp before and been in two leadership programs for school.
gabriel: Well i’ve only maintained leadership roles in tribes, I was the co-leader of EliteGodz, who’s existence lies in the hands of the leaders, and I am currently a co-leader of Digitally_Imported, since I wanted EG and DI to merge. Whether or not I am respected as a leader or if I lead well is another issue.

jeirhart: Is there an achievement of which you are particularly proud? What is it? Why is it significant?
riein: I am proud of getting the Most Encouraging award in Cross Country because I felt like I contributed to my team as a whole and was and encouragement
gabriel: I suppose there’s nothing in particular that I am proud of, but I do cherish all of the great friends I’ve made of Turf Battles. But just to note something else i’m proud of is being part of the tribe EliteGodz, because when I came into this version of Turf Battles I was very lost, I mean everything looked familiar, but nothing was the same, and this tribe helped me and gave me a new home, which I will never forget. I took pride in joining them and rising through the ranks and being able to compete with the leaders, and gaining recognition from other players.

jeirhart: As a GS, you will be required to use several programs/apps, such as Word, Excel and Google docs, how well do you know these and similar programs/apps?
riein: I use these programs daily and enjoy using them and will continue to enjoy using the programs
gabriel: I use word and excel all the time for school, Google docs I am none too familiar with, but I am willing to learn and assist in a project to fulfill my duties.

jeirhart: What are your expectations of this position?
riein: I expect to communicate with the Turf Battles community and also with the developers of the game to help relay the ideas for the game. And I expect to contribute my own ideas to the game.
gabriel: Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be chosen as a GameSage, but since i’ve been chose, I expect to eventually have put as much into this as you have, and contributed to the game until it prospers.

jeirhart: Do you have any issues with the existing Game Sages?
riein: None, I respect current and new GS equally
gabriel: Yes, none of them like me, as I am the most hated player in Turf Battles, but it’s nothing we can’t move past, lol

jeirhart: How do you feel about Aeria Games and the developer Smile Gate?
riein: I feel like Aeria Games is doing a fantastic job hosting Turf Battles and is trying hard to find similar ground with SmileGate on how to further the development of Turf Battles. Even though to me it seems like SmileGate is reluctant on some issues, Aeria tries to iron out the problems and continue on.
gabriel: I’m very appreciative of Aeria Games taking up Turf Battles, and I feel that SmileGate is definitely and improvement over Imazic, if only there wasn’t so much of an issue over the language barrier, there must be someone out of the 6 billion people in the world who can speak fluent Aeria Games and SmileGate.

jeirhart: What is your favorite aspect of Turf Battles?
riein: The pvp system and the community make me love the game
gabriel: Definitely has to be the community, hands down and maybe also when you are upgrading and you broke a ton of items and finally make a Psa 6 mdef 4 band or something really nice.

jeirhart: What part of Turf Battles would you like to work on/improve next?
riein: I would like to improve some of the ways that pvp and pve is done. For example: add more places to pk and more pvp oriented games such as soccer wars for bracketed levels and adding bosses in areas such as tiaz and wasteland to emphasize the use of parties.
gabriel: I’m still heavily set on bringing back boss monster, because I feel that’s how party experience would truly flourish. I also feel it would be a great additon, because nothing brings players together like a common enemy and goal, it’s what makes the game fun, just like dungeons and huge monsters that intimidate you, but with you and your friend taking down this big guy, then it just makes it all the more fun.

jeirhart: One final question, if you were asked to move to the Triumphus server or any new server to fill empty spot, would you?
riein: If my position as a GS required me to, I would
gabriel: If it was a must, I realize I have to fulfill my GS duties, but you know I love me some Mystic Server and love all the competition too. It’s great Motivation!

jeirhart: Thank you both for your time.
riein: Thank you, I hope I will be a great asset to Turf Battles
gabriel: lolz no problem

Most players know about the changes suggested by players, seen in threads such as this thread by Alialime or on this suggested changes page on the Turf Battles Wiki.

What many my not realize it that there are a number of future updates planned for Turf Battles that already exist in the Korean version, known as Sephiroth. For those of you who either have not seen this game or have not spent the time digging through the Korean site, here’s a sneak peak of what we can expect to see. Here below, in no particular order:

Extended Eastern South Daria (East Ladianes)
As most players know, the Eastern map of Ladianes is only partially finished at this time. However that will change.

The extended area is divided into two areas dominated by 2 monsters tribes; the decayed ghost town of Vehellion and the polluted area in the North East. Both of these areas have unique monsters.

It will still be impossible to save the teleport locations and teleport in the extended area. However, there are 5 Crystal Shifters in the extended East area. Once a Crystal Shifter NPC has been spoken to, players can use move to that shifter by speaking to any other shifter in the area.

In these areas you will see a bunch of new monsters, approximately 35 new species. While killing these monsters, players will find new drops similar to the “Bloody Elements” which can be turned in for great rewards.

Finally, a grand total of 30 new quests will be added, 25 of which will be one time only per character, while the other 5 will be daily quests.

Apprentice Skills (Low Level Skills)
Each class will be gaining 3 new abilities similar to style of the Master and Transformation Skills specifically for lower level players. They will be able to learn these skills by reaching certain levels and trading in special items in exchange for the skill. All these abilities are Active skills, meaning they need to be used in order for them to take affect.

Blade Warriors will be gaining:
Lightening Blast: similar to Soul Blade.
Guardian Shield: temporarily increases block rate at cost of magic defense.
Sword Crash: increases attack success rate while lowering opponents block rate.

Fist Warriors can expect to find:
Chaotic Blast: similar to Soul Fist.
Thrust: close range attack with bleeding damage.
Dynamic Finish: temporary extra damage triggered by using any Finish SKill.

Red Mages will enjoy:
Phantom Fire: creates burning area that causes burn damage.
Mana Rejuvenation: increases mana recovery speed.
Fortification: increases stamina and maximum mana temporarily.

Archers shall love:
Piercing Arrow: similar to Deadly Count but with bleed damage.
Exploding Arrow: arrow explodes for AOE damage similar to Rainbow Arrow.
Devastate: increases attack power against all monster types.

Blue Mages should be quick to learn:
Frozen Ground: similar to Winter Restriction, slows opponent speed in area.
Mana Rejuvenation: increase mana recovery time.
Fortification: increases stamina and maximum mana temporarily.

Awakened Skills
In addition to the lower level skills above, new skills for players above 203 will be available after completing a quest similar to the Master and Transformation quests. This will also allow players to hold additional potions. All these abilities are Active skills, meaning they need to be used in order for them to take affect.

Blade Warriors will be gaining:
Assault: decreases distance to the target and attacks in a flash.
Blade Storm: uses energy to attack target and cause bleeding damage.
Nightmare: causes insane damage and destroys opponents speed and defense.

Fist Warriors can expect to find:
Death Time: similar to a “Doom” effect, explosive damage is dealt after 5 seconds.
Untouchable: increases avoidance rate to mythic proportions.
Riot: boosts attack power but drops avoidance rate to zero for 15 seconds.

Red Mages will enjoy:
Explosion: massive fire bomb that consumes some of the user’s hp to fuel the fire.
Acheron Flame: drops enemy magic defense and deals additional AOE damage.
Silent: prohibits enemy ability to use Master, Trans and Awakened Skills.

Archers shall love:
Restraint Shot: deals damage, drops enemy stamina and monster speed by half.
Eradication: removes any negative effects and increases magic defense.
Demolition: increases attack power by absorbing mana and stamina.

Blue Mages should be quick to learn:
Cancelation: removes all buffs from opponents except for Item Mall buffs.
Cold Reflection: damage dealt to user is reflected and reduces opponent speed.
Hail Storm: creates damage over a wide area, slowing all effected opponents.

That’s all for now Folks! Stay tuned for new information and sneak peaks as Turf Battles progresses!