This week, Pixels received the Chapter 2.5 update in its entirety. As such, the AMA on January 29 focused on answering questions and feedback from players, as well as clarifying the current focus of the game and the work of the development team.

This time, topics ranging from the number of pets available in the Lunar New Year event to changes to the moderation team on Discord were addressed. All relevant details can be found here.

Game Balance and Evolution

The recent update represents a significant step forward. Adjustments were made to the game's economy and balance, which entailed a complete rewrite of Chapter 2. While the update was generally well-received, it has generated mixed opinions due to the changes implemented.

However, the team feels that these adjustments were necessary to fix item inflation and improve the overall player experience.

Changes to the game economy

One of the main goals of the update was to fix the game economy, which previously felt unbalanced and unrewarding. With the new structure, more sustainable growth is expected.

The difficulty of reaching high levels has increased, which is considered a positive. A new smart task system will be implemented that will allow players to earn $PIXEL in a variety of ways beyond leveling up, one of the most frequent complaints from casual players.

New Features and Improvements

For the first quarter of 2025, Pixels will focus on introducing new features such as Merchant Ships, improvements to the user experience, and adjustments to the game's quality of life. The goal is to make the initial experience for players more engaging and encourage retention during the first 30 days.

Heidi and Luke stressed that they intend to bring back the social side of the game and that with this update they are on the right track. Therefore, patience is requested while the game and the community assimilate the changes, as well as the economy, which is already beginning to show signs of recovery. There is still a long way to go before we are profitable.

Featured Questions and Answers

As always, in the questions section there are some that stand out and allow a clear vision of what is happening and what is coming for the game. Here are the main ones:

• Pet Availability: There are currently 25 available in Lunar New Year Event Packs. 5 pets are released daily to prevent them from selling out in a single day. So far, there is only one Pet winner.

• Limits on New Timers: The update is recent, so the team will monitor its impact before making adjustments. The goal is to make reaching high levels not too easy or too fast. Additionally, systems like the Smart Task Board will be implemented to diversify how players can earn $PIXEL beyond having high skill levels.

• Reaction to the Update: Most players understand that the changes are intended to improve long-term balance. Additional adjustments are planned as the community adjusts and the effects of the update settle in.

• New Player Experience: We will work on improving the initial experience and encouraging retention within the first 30 days, ensuring that users have a good understanding of the game and have reasons to continue, as well as being able to access benefits like the market more easily.

• Land Mechanics Changes: We are looking to redesign the way players access multiple lands, improving systems like markers and teleports to make exploration more efficient.

• Economy and Balance: We are taking an aggressive approach to balance the game's economy. In the future, improvements such as reducing crafting times through accelerators and introducing new mechanics such as $PIXEL staking to increase building limits could be implemented.

• Moderation and Community Environment: We will be tightening moderation to encourage a healthier discussion environment. Negative feedback will be accepted as long as it is expressed in a respectful manner.

• Next steps: The team plans to maintain a steady pace of weekly updates for the next three months. UGC should be shining again soon. There may be tweaks to systems like soils, to be released once the crop matures.

• On staking functionality: A rewrite of the staking-related whitepaper is planned, with an ideal release in March. We don't want to rely on fixed yield rates, but rather implement a system with a more sustainable purpose within the game's ecosystem.

With all of these tweaks, Heidi and Luke hope the game experience will feel more social and, in turn, casual, given that break times will allow players to better plan their sessions. Also, with the arrival of Pixels Dungeons quests, you can diversify between the different game modes that Pixels currently offers, such as the pet mode, which is coming soon.

See you in Terra Villa!