[Updated 4/25] Regarding the Current XB Rank Matches

[Updated 4/25]

Following the data update conducted around 2025-04-25T07:30:00Z, the Auto Mode for Rank and Casual Match has been adjusted to prioritize selections that favor the ally team during at-bats more than previously.

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Thank you for playing TRIBE NINE.

We have received a significant amount of feedback regarding the balance adjustments implemented for Rank Matches with the Ver. 1.1.0 Update.

One particular issue that has been noted is that even if players have their characters enhanced to a stage where they should have an advantage over their opponent, the game may still be substantially unfavorable to these players, resulting in decisive losses. The frequent occurrence of unsatisfying outcomes as well as the steps we are taking to handle this issue will be addressed in the following notice.

▶ Regarding the Content of Balance Adjustments

In Ver. 1.0.0 XB Rank Match Season 1, adjustments were made that resulted in opponents regularly "performing more poorly than expected", particularly when at-bats were skipped during the process. This resulted in situations in which extreme match developments regularly occurred regardless of players' decisions — an experience that was difficult for players to feel the results of the character enhancements.

To address this issue, in Rank Match Season 2, which launched after the Ver. 1.1.0 Update, changes were implemented to the AI's decision-making criteria. It would select an average at-bat result that was slightly higher than the median of the team's ability when using Auto Mode or when at-bats were skipped.

Due to this change, however, players' selected commands greatly impacted the subsequent course of the game. Even against comparable opponents or those that are slightly disadvantageous compared to the players, the players were often losing due to selected commands.

In addition, the beginning of Season 2 meant that many players' ranks were reset, and a gap between opposing characters' enhancement status regularly occurred. Thus, regardless of the characters' performances, unsatisfying game outcomes occurred even more easily.

Additionally, we recognize that, compared to Story XB, it is now extremely difficult to determine which choice is the correct one, making for stressful experiences during current Rank Matches.

Based on the issues noted above, adjustments will be made to XB in two phases.

▶ Improvements to Auto Function for Rank and Casual Matches

The Auto button, newly introduced in Ver. 1.1.0, selects options slightly higher than the median, much like the opposing player's AI, to ensure that the state of the match is manageable after reverting to manual input.

However, considering the current state of the game, we will adjust the function of the AI so that favorable selections of the current at-bat are prioritized regardless of the abovementioned median values when using Auto mode.

These adjustments will be delivered to players via a data update that will be done in the near future.

▶︎ Measures to Allow Selected Commands to be Identified as Correct or Incorrect Outcomes

For XB as it is currently, the radar on the upper-left shows "events that will definitely occur in that at-bat" during command selection. This does not indicate whether the results of that at-bat will be advantageous for the course of the game or not.

For example, during a player's turn on defense, when there are no runners on the opponent's side and the radar predicts that the "ally 3rd baseman will activate Super Play", this means that the "character assigned to the 3rd base will definitely trigger Super Play".

When the player selects this command for the "3rd baseman to activate Super Play" with the expectation that the outcome of this at-bat will be favorable, the actual development of the game would be driven in the course in which the opposing character would advance through the 1st and 2nd bases and engage in a bout on 3rd base with the ally 3rd baseman.

However, whether the advance can be stopped at 3rd base through a bout is not displayed on the radar. Hence, it is possible for the opponent to win the bout and get on 3rd base successfully. In this case, what seems to be an advantageous command could turn out to be more favorable for the opponent.

We believe that the accumulation of such instances has led to unfavorable game developments, resulting in dissatisfying experiences where players may frequently lose despite selecting commands they expected to be advantageous.

In a future update, we will adjust relevant displays when selecting commands to make it more clear, similar to Story XB. This change will show the players whether the selection will intuitively affect the development of the game.

We are currently working to deliver the improvements as soon as possible in an update after Ver. 1.1.20.

Aside from this, we have also received feedback regarding the game being able to progress as expected when played on manual but becoming disadvantageous when the animation for skipping an at-bat played.

We are also working on this situation and further evaluating an option for players to manually control all at-bats. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused by the adjustments pertaining to the transition of the XB Season in this update.

We hope you can continue to enjoy playing TRIBE NINE.