The White Beast Problem Reloaded

As stated in this post over on the official forums, a significant update appears to be coming with the end of MAG 2 this Friday.

We would run the official announcement today but our web developer is working remotely from the UK SEGA office and will most likely put it up early tomorrow morning.

I can confirm:

Fireworks Lobby
Neudaiz GBR
New Story Mission
New Free Mission
New Rare Mission
5 S2 Missions
Post MAG Missions
New Weapon Boards in Shops

-Chill

Obviously, given Sega's track record over the past few months I would take this with a grain of salt at this point. As with all unofficial announcements, this information is certainly subject to change.

The one unfortunate aspect of this update is that everyone will be running back to White Beast the instant the server comes up. The Neudaiz GBR runs through that mission, and since the GBR has historically (on the Japanese edition of the game) been released with related S2 missions, it's an undeniable fact that we will have White Beast S2 come Friday.

Here's the point: in terms of drops, White Beast S2 is far and away one of the best missions the online game has to offer thus far. The 12* bow (Nasuyoteri) and 11* whip (Vish Feara) make their appearances for the first time on the US/EU servers, as do the 12* and 15* Yohmei armors (Asura-senba, El-senba).

There are some other notable drops there, too -- check the link above for details. But putting all this good stuff in one place only further ensures that nobody will ever want to leave White Beast. The other planets have playable missions, too. If Sega really wants players to explore and play them, a massive tweaking of the drop charts is necessary. Spread all of White Beast's great drops out to the other missions and see what happens!

A drop chart rebalance is the only permanent solution to the White Beast problem. Events like the Mission Spotlight ultimately fail to draw people away from White Beast: most players only show up to the Spotlight mission when GMs are there, and these same players often leave once the GMs are gone.

Unfortunately, it's unlikely that Sega will ever do anything to break players' fascinations with White Beast. Looks like we'll all be heading there to find parties for the forseeable future.