New Character Release

"I want to see it too—the era of peace and unity."
"But if breaking this chain of hatred is possible, I will accept my fate."

The Demon King who embraced all the world's sins and hatred to break the chain of hatred:
[Demon King Perlerina] Released!

With the conclusion of Act II, a new limited-edition character was unveiled.

This was none other than Lina, the Demon King, whom players had nurtured throughout the entire episode.

Although Act II’s story ended somewhat abruptly due to a sudden shift in its direction, players had been there for the entire journey.

• "Lina-chan! We’re together again!"
• "ㅠㅠ This is so sad… If we pull her, does that mean Lina will come back to life?"
• "Demon King… May you finally rest in peace."
• "Ohohoho!"

Players erupted in cheers at the announcement of this new character.

• "I’m going straight to the lobby to hug her and pamper her!"
• "I’ll show Lina the peaceful world she deserves."
• "Come here, right now!"

Most players were captivated by the character’s story, personality, and everything she represented in the narrative, making them eager to pull for her.

• "If she’s a Demon King, she has to be stronger than the Knight or the Saint, right?"
• "A Demon King powerful enough to destroy half the continent? She’s obviously a performance character!"

However, there were players with different priorities. As is inevitable in character gacha games, performance mattered.

• "Guys, I’m currently maining Saint Ostinato. Should I drop her and save for the Demon King?"
  └ "Nah, pull the Saint first and use mine resources to save for the Demon King."
  └ "She destroyed half the continent. No way she isn’t a performance character."
  └ "Welcome to the club, mate. I’m also maining Saint Ostinato. Grind the mines hard if you want enough for the Demon King."

• "Has anyone managed to pull both the Knight and the Saint without spending money?"
  └ "Yeah, quite a few, thanks to Ostinato."
  └ "Starting without pulling both Knight and Saint is illegal takeoff, lol."

• "When’s the Knight rerun? I just started with only the Saint, and I cried out of frustration."
  └ "Just save. If you have the Demon King, you won’t need the Knight anymore."
  └ "Why not use both? Stop acting like sour grapes."

As the number of limited-edition characters grew to three, the number of players who didn’t own all of them also increased.

Some missed pulling [Knight Ren] or [Saint Kate] due to bad luck or a lack of resources.
Others started late and never got the chance to pull.
And some players simply didn’t like one of the limited characters and chose not to pull for them.

Everyone had their reasons for not owning all the characters.

The characters they couldn’t have—the ones others did.

Players, unable to obtain certain characters, would console themselves by downplaying their value, like a fox muttering about "sour grapes."

To survive the brutal community discussions, players had to prove the superiority of the characters they owned.
And naturally, the metric for superiority was performance.

• "Look at the damage output of [Knight Ren]. It’s on a different level compared to the regular characters. He even shines in Abyssal Assassin speed runs."
  └ "Still, it’s just single-target damage, right?"
  └ "Single-target is fine. You’re not farming trash mobs, are you? Besides, [Knight Ren] has a passive that boosts attack and movement speed after killing enemies, so he’s great for mobs too."

The discussions revolved around damage output…

• "Obviously, [Saint Kate] is the best character. Healers are a noble class. You can’t tank enemies forever without a healer."
  └ "But isn’t the healer useless alone? She doesn’t deal any damage either."
  └ "Clearly, you’ve never experienced the overwhelming power of the Saint’s giant mace."

…or the unique support abilities that made characters indispensable.

Even though there were no competitive modes, players ranked characters to justify their pools or expenditures.

The newly introduced weekly boss, [Abyssal Assassin], provided just the right challenge—a mix of tricky patterns and a hefty health pool—offering players a stage to evaluate performance.

And now, with a powerful new character whose story had deeply moved players, the community descended into chaos as they waited for the character pickup banner to begin.

***

"How Strong Should [Demon King Perlerina] Be?"

I was deep in thought as the release of the new Demon King character approached.

From a lore perspective, Lina wields the power of the [Ring of the Underworld].
She is, in every sense, "a woman with the power to destroy the world!"

Releasing a character with such immense power but making her weak in gameplay? That wouldn’t make sense.

But on the flip side, if I released her as strong as her lore dictates, another problem would arise.

Her strength would immediately threaten the positions of existing characters.

Take [Knight Ren], for example—the very first pickup character and a pure damage dealer.

It’s one thing if standard 4- or 5-star characters are weaker than a new release.
But what happens when a character a player worked hard to pull is quickly outclassed by a new one?

Let’s consider a hypothetical example.

Imagine there’s a character called [Ricardo].
This character deals 10 damage over 1 second through a straightforward attack method.

Now, a new character, [Locker Room King], is released.
This character deals 20 damage over 1 second using the same attack method.

Suddenly, the community explodes:
"What’s the point of pulling Ricardo if he’s immediately obsolete?"
"Why should I bother pulling new characters when the power creep is this blatant?"

But if, on the other hand, [Locker Room King] also dealt only 10 damage over 1 second, players would dismiss him as bland and unworthy of pulling.

As developers, it’s our job to make players feel a sense of novelty and attraction toward new characters, enticing them to pull.

And the most effective way to do that?
Outclass previous characters with generational shifts in power.

But this approach has its drawbacks. If we outright replace older characters with new ones, players will push back fiercely, and the game’s lifespan will suffer.

There is, however, a way to introduce power shifts while minimizing player backlash.

Let’s take [Locker Room King] again.

Instead of simply dealing 20 damage over 1 second, imagine if the character had to consume half their HP to enter a [Excit♂ement] state, which allowed them to deal 20 damage over 1 second.

By doing this, the new character would feel more powerful at a glance, but upon closer inspection, there would be risks and trade-offs.

The mechanics could involve higher complexity, greater difficulty, or additional risk, ensuring that the new character doesn’t completely replace older ones.

This approach—a "sidegrade" or an "upgrade that doesn’t feel like one"—is a strategy many gaming companies have used when introducing new characters.

As someone who’s studied countless Earth game developers’ strategies, I decided to borrow from my senpai in the industry.

"[Knight Ren] is a single-target damage dealer."

So, for the next damage dealer, why not focus on AoE?

Since the character uses lava, it felt like the perfect fit.

***

The Private Server for the Demon God

The release of her beloved teacher’s character had arrived.

“Do you think I can do it?”

The Demon God trembled as she awaited the start of the pickup banner.

“I will pull her no matter what.”

The Demon King Lina draped a blanket over her.

Though the warmth of Lina’s hands thawed the Demon God’s frozen fingers, it wasn’t enough to stop her trembling.

“You’re doing it again. What exactly are you trying to pull?”

“That is…”

The Demon God stammered, unable to give a proper answer.

After all, she couldn’t admit she was nervous about not pulling her teacher’s character.

Of course, Lina—who had heard all about the situation from the Demon God herself—could barely suppress her laughter.

“It’s here!”

As the pickup banner began, the Demon God rushed to open the gacha screen.

The dimensional tear revealed the glowing [Archive] book.

As the book opened, a radiant rainbow light poured out.

“Please! Come to me, Master!”

And then, from within the glowing book…

“I ask you—are you my master?”

…emerged a bald, muscular man.

“…”

The Demon God stared at the results screen in silence, then screamed in despair.

For a long time, she was too stunned to process reality.

“Noooooooooooo!”

Her desperate cries continued as she futilely willed the result to change.

“Why?! Why wasn’t it Linaaaaa?!”

Even the real Lina, witnessing this from reality, was dumbfounded by the Demon God’s sorrowful wailing.

“Demon God.”

“…What.”

The Demon God turned, sniffling and wiping away her tears.

“They say… if you pay a sufficient price, you can get more [Wisdom Stones].”

“…What?”

With a blank expression, the Demon God pressed the ( ) button next to the Wisdom Stones.

A shop popped up, offering to exchange real-world currency for more [Wisdom Stones].

The Demon God’s face lit up instantly.

“Just wait a little longer, Lina! I’ll save you no matter what!”

She took off, determined to demand sacrificial offerings from the current Demon King.

Only the real Lina remained behind, chuckling in disbelief.

“…What an idiot.”

But the true trial had yet to come.

• "Guys, isn’t the Demon King trash? Her damage output is terrible."
• "But she’s AoE."
• "So what? She takes longer to clear [Abyssal Assassin] than even standard characters."
• "This is garbage."
• "[Knight Ren] is better than [Demon King], honestly."