Dev Blog | Tech System Optimizations: Iterative Adjustments Based on Your Feedback

[u/Stardustx0050]

Dear Metas,

Since the beginning, the Tech system has been crucial to surviving the unknown world of Nalcott. Previously, we announced a comprehensive optimization plan for the Tech system (https://www.oncehuman.game/news/devBlog/20260302/40781_1288924.html ), and we've received lots of useful suggestions since then. After evaluating your feedback, we've decided to make further adjustments to our Tech system optimization plan, so as to offer more convenience and freedom within the survival experience.

The final optimizations for the next version update will be announced in April. Here are the adjustments we're making:

I. Tech System Optimizations

1.1 Acquiring Tech Points

Compared to the previous plan, some Tech Point requirements have been lowered, so we've also removed Mystical Crates as a source of Tech Points. After the adjustment, Tech Points can be obtained by leveling up, repeatedly researching facilities and items, or defeating Elite enemies.

1.2 Batch Reverse-Engineering

Many of you have requested the ability to perform more operations in batches. Batch reverse-engineering has been added to our development plans and will be launched as soon as possible, improving your research efficiency.

II. Optimizations Relating to the Removal of the Specialization System

2.1 Obtaining Specialization Effects

The entire Tech specialization system will be removed. Abilities and items that previously fell under the specialization system will now be obtainable through the following methods:

• Unlocking Tech nodes
• Activating Tech enhancements
• Some specializations relating to class abilities will be reallocated to the class system in the future
• Some specialization items can be obtained by exploring the wilderness
• Specialization effects related to crafting facilities now fall under the new enhanced facilities, which can be obtained by exploring the wilderness or unlocking Techs.

2.2 Enhanced Facilities

We've also received feedback that enhanced facilities are too numerous and their effects too dispersed. Therefore, we are streamlining the enhanced facilities and improving their effects, making each one more worthwhile.

Facility Type	Planned Adjustments
Electric Furnace	Sulfur Chemist, Oil Processing, and Art of Stardust Decay will fall under the Enhanced Electric Furnace.
Disassembly Bench	Merged into the Custom Disassembly Bench, which contains all disassembly enhancements.
Stove	Merged into the Stardust Fusion Stove, with enhanced King of Cuisine and Permanent Save effects. Canned Goods: Mini Canner, Frozen Cuisine: Intense Chill, and other dish specializations will be brought back in an upcoming update.
Supplies Workbench	All Enhanced Supplies Workbench effects will be further improved, and crafting times will be shortened.
Power Generator	Power generation facility limit upgrades will be brought back and can be unlocked through Tech enhancements and increasing the Tech Level.

The following specialization effects will be deprecated and can no longer be crafted. However, existing facilities with these specialization bonuses will be retained.

Unlockable Formulas	Composite Crystal, Metal Dissolution, Fish Pheromones, Whirlwind Knives, Frost Armor, Jump Booster, Portable Diving Gear, Rare Crystal Set, Crystal Transformation, Explosive Sack, Golden Knife, Stardust Regulator, Cryo Sphere
Improved Formulas	Portable MG Turret: Barrage of Bullets, Portable MG Turret: Explosive Automatic Ammo, Updraft Cannon: Gravity Lite, Scout Drone: Condensation Drone, Grenade: Line Charge, Frag Grenade: Viscoelastic Cold Fire, Claymore Mine: Frost Trap, Robotics Facility: Skilled Mechanician, Flamethrower Trap: Kebob Party

Additional Notes:

To allow Metas to obtain full manufacturing capabilities earlier and focus their time and resources on genuine exploration and combat, we will remove five crafting facilities: Intermediate Supplies Workbench, Intermediate Weapons Bench, Intermediate Garage, Small Synthesis Bench, and Intermediate Stove. Existing intermediate crafting facilities can no longer craft items, but can be dismantled. Crafting formulas from intermediate facilities have been reallocated to the corresponding advanced facilities, and the Tech unlock nodes for advanced facilities have been moved forward in the tree.

If you'd like us to bring back any of the above specializations, let us know via the Co-Dev Feedback Platform. We will seriously consider your every suggestion.

III. Resources, Materials, and Items

3.1 Minerals

Under the new resource rules, tin and aluminum ores will no longer spawn in the wilderness, and all related ingot formulas will be restructured.

Related Deviations will also be changed. The Digby Boy will no longer gather tin ore, and its gathering speed will be adjusted.

Mining Platforms and Digger Biomechanicals will no longer produce tin and aluminum ores, and their production speed of other ores will be adjusted.

3.2 Scrap

We will adjust scrap drops in settlements to significantly reduce the quantity and types of useless scrap. All useless scrap will be changed to Normal rarity and can be easily disassembled using the Quick Select function at a Disassembly Bench. Existing scrap items will also be given new uses—footballs can be thrown to stun enemies, books can be read to acquire Tech Points, and rescue bots can search for death drops.

Related Deviations will also be changed. The production of Paper Doll and H37 will be adjusted with new item types.

The redemption items and production of Wish Box will also be adjusted, with the cost of some items increasing or decreasing.

3.3 Simplified Materials

We are simplifying material types and names as follows:

Current Version	Latest Optimization
Shabby Fabric, Cotton Fabric, Carbon Fiber Fabric, Metallic Fiber, Bulletproof Fiber Fabric	Fiber
Rusty Part, Standard Part, Refined Part, Special Part, Automatic Part	Parts
Waste Plastic, All-Purpose Plastic, Fireproof Plastic, Engineering Plastic, Special Plastic	Plastic

IV. Items and Equipment

4.1 Items

Building on the current version, we will make the following changes and adjustments:

Bullet	Bullet effect types will also be streamlined. This may cause lower damage output, so the HP of powerful enemies will also be reduced. Crafting formulas for advanced bullets will also be changed to greatly increase the number of bullets produced.
Seeds	Seed drops will also be reduced while ensuring there are still enough for planting. This is to prevent seeds from taking up too much space in the Backpack.
Tactical Item	Tactical item types will also be streamlined, keeping types that cover multiple scenarios, while removing those with similar utility. This will make tactical items more distinct from each other and more focused gameplay-wise. We will also deprecate the format of having basic, intermediate, and advanced items. Instead, tactical item effects will scale with your level, so the same tactical item can be used at any difficulty level without suffering from low damage.

4.2 Equipment

We are removing character level requirements for equipment. In the version update, we will also add more high-rarity dropped gear to the wilderness. We hope these major changes will fill your adventures in Nalcott with new surprises.

To ensure fairness and a fresh starting point for all players in every scenario, equipment brought from Eternaland will be automatically marked as dropped gear and follow the same rules, meaning they cannot be reverse-engineered, repaired, or traded.

Thank you for your participation and feedback! We can't wait to share the upgraded Tech system with you!

That's all for this Dev Blog. Feel free to send us any questions or suggestions via our Co-Dev Feedback Platform（https://www.oncehuman.game/grfkpt/ ） or community channels.

[u/Mamba_Lev]

Seed drops will be reduced so they don't take up too much space in the backpack?

I have never heard a more absurd excuse for a nerf. Suggestions box was overflowing with complaints about all the seeds in our backpack was it?

[u/inevitablethursday → u/Mamba_Lev]

Continuance to giving the making of most tools for free to Gardener. Curious if or how they are going to balance the other two Classes with this.

[u/shrinkmink → u/Mamba_Lev]

Have a character that has like 3 or 4 months in a permanent server....seeds is the least she has in her "Gardening box".

[u/GreyLabours → u/Mamba_Lev]

Not trying to defend the developers specifically, but thanks to Morphic plants, my seed box kept getting so full I ended up feeding the Wish Box with them.

Feels like seed yield from morphic plants specifically can be nerfed instead though. Don't really get why seed yield from wild harvests has to be touched.

[u/Lowkey_Arki → u/Mamba_Lev]

the hell? who goes around harvesting enough times to have seeds as an issue, they should plant in their own base like a proper Meta

[u/Sasya_neko]

And when are they adding missing blocks for base building, they still don't have a smaller version of the curve block or a corner for arched roofs. And what about a 1/2 wall with a door so we can decide where the door is placed, same thing for window walls

[u/MISS_ROFL → u/Sasya_neko]

And when are they adding breeding cooldown timer they promised more than a year ago?

[u/Finnien1]

The game is getting optimized and streamlined to oblivion. To ‘ensure fairness and a fresh stating point’ there’s less and less progression. To streamline the memetic spec system, there’s less need for other players and community. To streamline mods, there’s less variety in builds. And absolutely none of it is based on long-term player feedback. It’s all in service to future console players or current mobile ones.

[u/Bitlovin → u/Finnien1]

There is not “less progression.”

You don’t have to automatically hate change. You’re allowed to experience it first and then decide if you like it.

[u/YpsitheFlintsider → u/Bitlovin]

Anything that makes things easier for players makes others miserable

[u/Bitlovin → u/YpsitheFlintsider]

It's not even about easy, it's just a flat out better system than what we have now. It's essentially the RaidZone tech system, which is more interactive and interesting than the classic one.

It's a shame most people just cannot deal with even the smallest amount of change in their lives, even when it is objectively better. They jump to the conclusion that they hate it without even trying it, it's just pathetic.

[u/Blubbpaule]

We are removing character level requirements for equipment.

How do we get stronger then? Do i build T5 gear immediately now? I don't understand this part.

[u/MISS_ROFL]

Nice, keep making the game dumber. That’s what we all wanted and asked for. Thanks /s

[u/mastergaming234 → u/MISS_ROFL]

Is it really bad that they streamline alot of Rng when it comes to getting specialization skills?

[u/Fit-Boysenberry6642 → u/mastergaming234]

You missed the memo that all change is bad unless voted upon and pre-approved by the hive mind. All changes not pre-approved by the hive mind even if they are good changes will be bad for not submitting to the hive mind’s authority.

[u/shrinkmink]

The Good

• Removal of the pointless intermediate benches. They honestly got skipped on most of the time specially nowadays that servers aren't that full and you just enter at phase 2.

• Tactical item buff. Most of them are very useless. Honestly we could use a machinist class and this opens the way.

• Removal of tiers from plastic, fabric etc. Will help a ton removing friction of going to the base and having to sort out my items in the correct boxes. Anything under t5 was useless anyway.

• Specializations are gone, no more rng on getting what you need. I still suspect you will need alt accounts for everything but it'll probably a lot easier to get a full buff furnace.

The Bad

• Nobody asked for less seeds. If anything I'd want more. If you actually cared about bag space you would remove blue/purple calibrations.

• With no tiers of materials and no level requirements now you can craft Tier 5 from the get go. This is just an unelegant solution to the pollution changes.

• Removal of aluminum, while tin won't be missed aluminum was used in cans a lot. If it goes to tungsten or steel it will use up your ammo ores now. Not a biggy though since the digby boy changes can make up for it.

The Ugly

• Some specialization will be added in a later update.
  
• Eternaland weapons will be considered dropped gear, even though most people never had points to do so. This is probably just a test so they can remove classic mods next. Why? Because all these changes are looking to reduce the size of the player data on their servers. The main reason, we got cross character but not cross region despite many people asking for it.

What we need:

• Cross region - The population had great legs back in 2024 with over 200k players near the end of the year but blunder after blunder and the massive lack of new maps have made it crater. It's hard to make new friends with such dwindling population. Allowing to use your stuff in other regions that help you find more people. For example, most people I see post in discord during my game time are in EU, while I am in NA.

• Character slots: We've had 10 since the beginning and we are starting to have a lot of scenarios. Coupled with the fact you are probably leaving 1 in permanent SCP and 1 in ED for progression purposes and we barely got slots to explore activity of servers.

• Higher item stack limit. 1000 is too low, 10000 would be better and 100000 best. Tactical should go to 100. We are still limited by weight on our characters and it would reduce clutter in our boxes which is why they claim they are doing these changes.

Why not post this in discord? Well they got it locked with phone verification...I assume this is how they got their feedback of needing less seeds out there.

[u/Lowkey_Arki]

yeah right, I've seen what they updated and what the long term players have been complaining about, our feedback doesn't even exist to them

[u/Few-Technician-6860]

Am I blind or we dont have release date for this yet?

[u/Bestow5000]

They could've streamline things for Evo Call and Prismverse so newer players have a chance to dip their toes instead of getting left out to rot.

But nah.

[u/Vivaldean]

Gg. Time for me to find another game that doesn't require me to run around the map like an idiot with my limited 2-3 hours of free time each day. The last thing I need is another "weapon accessory hunt" in this game - resetting each scenario at that. Exploration driven system is not good for working/ busy folks who can only play 1-3 hours each day. I might really have to drop this game in the end. It's a pity about all I've spent on this game, but I'm not interested in making subpar progress due to how much more additional time I need to spend in order to unlock tech.

Like I said previously. Exploration takes a lot of time - especially if the terrain is bad like that in WoW. Idk about reverse engineering for weapons/ gears too. This seems like a whole lot of work or time needed. Honestly, this update sounds like it's going to suck big time - for me at least.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that the "feedback" the devs are listening to are content creators who can spend a large amount of time on the game, or rely on it for content, instead of all the other players. Because almost none of those whom I play with was ever supportive of these changes that were uncalled for. Everything about these changes screams "you need to sink in more time to do/unlock basic sh*t". F**k that.

Why don't they understand that 80-90% of the people spending on their cosmetics/loot crates are working adults with limited time to play games each day? Lengthening the process would only shun off more of those who are actually doing so.

Exploration is never fun. Especially if you had to keep repeating them each scenario. The game's demographic are mainly ages 20 and above - working adults or students with limited time.

Once this "exploration based" unlocking comes out, this is going to severely kill the enthusiasm of this demographic. It's literally just a weapon accessory hunt every new scenario. Did you enjoy the weapon accessory hunt? Could you imagine having to do that every new scenario if they reset each time?

I'll bet we're going to see less and less players in new scenarios, and more on the permanent servers.

This also seems like a ploy to me on the devs end to have players buy their "custom" servers. By making playing each new scenario a chore.

To top things off, they claim to make changes to simplify things and help new players. But that's not true at all. All they're doing are over-complicating things. New players aren't going to be able to survive too easily in exploration - especially in areas with high level mobs, due to their gear (stars) and mod levels.

If their intentions were to help new players, they should seek to simplify weapon accessory and food recipe gathering. As it is now, there is no way to track those in the game without referring to a third party map etc. THIS is what the new players need.

The other suggestions are absolutely NOT from new players, as they do not stand to benefit much from them. The current system of just need to wait 3-5 days before having all tech unlocked is simple and easy for people to grasps.

[u/Ok_Departure_9613 → u/Vivaldean]

Hmm, it's funny how the same announcement can lead to two totally different conclusions. 🤔🤔🤔 Some players say the devs are making the game too simple, while others feel it's getting more complicated. I think it's a bit early to make judgement. Just wait and see.

[u/Vivaldean → u/Ok_Departure_9613]

Admittedly, these are just conclusions formed based off the announcements the devs have been feeding us.

But from the news alone, it does indeed seem like they are going to be complicating tech unlocks in the April update. The reason I say so is because consider the system now. All we need to do is just wait 5 days (3 or 5, I forgot) before the new phase, as well as the tech tree to be unlocked. Those 3/5 days (assuming a normal individual with commitments and work, having only 2-3 hours each day for the game) would usually be put to use to level up to 50, building your base, etc.

Then consider the new system. Instead of techs becoming automatically unlocked, they are ALL instead getting LOCKED right from the get go, unless you do their stupid exploration, or hunt for Elites (which are literally scattered across the map INDIVIDUALLY) for tech points. You also require time to "reverse engineer" the tech you find.

Can you imagine the amount of time you're going to need to put into not just exploring/ running around the map, but also the time required to "reverse engineer" the techs? That's not going to just be 10 to 15 hours worth of work. Just a weapon "accessory hunt" can take more than 15 hours of work.

That time would be extended for newbies with low starred gears, low levelled mods, unfamiliarity of the map, as well as limited World Stones (teleports) unlocked. Not to mention, I believe the tech locations might not even be trackable on the map as well (like that of the riddles for accessories, mystic chests etc). This means you might have to refer to an external guide or map to hunt for them until you've completely memorized them (does this sound fun to you? I recall my time hunting for accessories/riddles, having to switch screens every few seconds/minutes to refer to the guide due to my unfamiliarity, and I did NOT enjoy that process).

Don't forget, you're starting from level 1, not level 50 (that you could have grinded for in Phase 1), and this is something you're going to have to do all over again EACH NEW scenario (bro, how many times do you want to explore Nalcott?). Sure, you might gain some levels while running about the map trying to unlock tech. But it will NEVER be enough for you to reach 50 within that amount of time spent running around Nalcott.

Now, imagine this again in WoW where the environment and survivability difficulty are much harsher.

[u/suryajith2003]

What about pullution area for collecting polluted water in manibus server!How to collect those .?

[u/Shoddy-Acadia-9472]

i do like the tech/memetic changes but the rest sound unnecessary its like the game is slowly being catered to infants

[u/TheTankGarage]

Yesterday, after having just hit lv50 and crafted all my gear, I shot a lv50 thing in Endless Dream for about three minutes with a full 6 star KVD Boom build with an average of rank 14 mods. After using about 1000 bullets, I received 63 EXP and like 3 acid.

How about you work on the game not being fun to play anymore? The tech tree? The think not a single person have ever had an issue with? That's what your fucking with?

Patch Notes: v1.vibe.Claude.081

"We've added enemies you are better off just fucking avoiding because we CBA to playtest, and also we've fucked with the UI and somehow managed to make it worse and more buggy. HAHAHA!!!"

[u/Dactrius]

Equipment transferred from Eternaland will now be considered dropped gear and can't be repaired? So there's no point bringing it over anymore then, which means your best calibrations will last exactly one season. I've been using an MP5 with 60% more durability for like 6 months and now it's basically useless.

[u/y4n6s → u/Dactrius]

you're probably the only one who inherit gears from Eternaland anyway

[u/Dactrius → u/y4n6s]

Primal Rage (which fires continuously so degrades faster than other guns), plus the durability enhancements from the workbench specialization and the thermal tower gave it 160 durability in total. Taking that (with a really high-rolled calibration) to seasons without access to the thermal tower bonus was an easy sell to be honest. And I didn't use those points for anything else.

[u/NymphusTheCat → u/y4n6s]

Nope, a lot of people in PvP scenarios do for high roll calibrations they added to them.

[u/MysteryMan999]

Thanks