Well today was the day we were expecting to receive the end of the month bonuses that include 4.5 star staffs and mythril and major growth eggs the JP version has enjoyed every month since reaching this point in the cycle. Instead we got orb conversion and ability shattering. My guess is DeNA tried to cover up not getting the extra bonus card with the orb feature.
I guess it is another feature us second class global citizens will go without along with rolling gatcha and collab events.
I really would have liked those 4.5 star items.