This week marks my 4th year of playing as 100% FTP - $0 spent, no Google Play credit, not even friendly invites. (Here is a thread for 2-year progress: Progress from Two Years as FTP, and I have previously shared my progress and accomplishments here:
The Diary of the FTP who finished 53rd in legendary)
I haven’t made a push in challenge events ever since. These are the ranks I usually achieve/have achieved:
- Challenge events: top 10k in rare/top 5k in epic/top 1k in legendary
- Mythic Titans: top 1% in both individual categories, top 1000 alliance
- Ninja tower: top 2500 in October, 990th in December, skip in February, 460th in April, 1208th in June (I skipped one NT because of the insane amount of time it takes)
- Tournaments: high variations, top 1% to top 50% (I never spend gems to continue, it’s not worth it for most FTP players since we usually have the mats but lack the heroes. By spending 75 gems, I could only hope for ehts and emblems, which is just not enough for me)
Profile:
Highest titan hit:
My inventory:
My troops:
My roster:
Summary
Maxed 5*(32):
B: Isarnia, Miki, Magni, Vela, Thorne, Richard
R: Azlar, cElena, Anzogh, Marjana, Khagan, Santa
G: MN(x2), Lianna(x2), cKadilen, Bertila, cHorghall, Margaret
P: Hel(x2), Alfrike, Domitia, Zulag, Sartana, Quintus
Y: Malosi, Joon, Norns, Leonidas, Vivica
Maxed 4*(56):
B: Frank, Grimm, Kiril, Jott, Sonya, Triton, Boril, Agwe, Mireweave, Valeria
R: Boldtusk(x2), Wilbur, Falcon, Scarlett, Colen, Carol, Gormek, Kelile, Shadereave, Sumitomo
G: Almur, Brynhild, Buddy, Melendor, Kashhrek, Jack, Caedmon, LJ, Skittleskull
P: Rigard(x4), Sabina(x2), Proteus(x3), Merlin, Tiburtus, Gafar, Cyprian, Stonecleave, Jabbar, Fura
Y: Jackal(x2), Wu, D’Andre, Mist, Li, Woolerton, Chao, Hu, Danzaburo
Maxed 3*(54):
B: Nordri, Gato(x2), Chick, Ulmer, Valen, Gunnar, Karil
R: Hawkmoon, Namahage(x3), Wabbit(x2) Rudolph(x2), Sudri(x2), Nashgar, Azar, Ei-Dunn, Jahangir
G: Brienne, Grevle, Hisan(x2), By-Ulf, Belith, Gramps, Mnesseus, Muggy, Berden, Carver, Isshtak, Friar
P: Tyrum, Bjorn(x2), Balthazar, Gill-Ra, Chochin, An-Windr, Bat, Renfeld, Vlad, Oberon
Y: Melia(x2), Bane, Kvasir, Arman, Agnes, Gan, Kailani
Timeline of 5* heroes (14 non-S1 heroes + 3 costumes):
June 2017: started playing
March 2018: Elkanen from TC20 (first 5* hero)
March 2019: Hel from AR (first non-S1 5* hero)
April 2019: Anzogh (first bonus draw)
May 2019: Margaret
August 2019: Miki
November 2019: cElena (first 5* costume)
December 2019: MN (first 5* seasonal event hero)
January 2020: second MN
January 2020: Santa
April 2020: Malosi
May 2020: Norns (first 5* S3 hero)
September 2020: Elena from TC20 (last missing S1 hero)
October 2020: Zulag
January 2021: Bertila
January 2021: cHorghall
March 2021: second Hel (first HA10 non-S1 hero)
May 2021: Alfrike
June 2021: cKadilen
June 2021: Vela (HA10)
Some silly conclusions based on the timeline:
- Apparently, I get 0 non-S1 heroes in February, July and September. I get a Hel every second March, a 5* S3 hero every May and two 5* heroes every January.
- Also, I only get heroes whose design is a bit weird/creepy (exceptions: Bertila, Vela, cElena, cKadilen). SG, please release more ugly heroes so that I can get them!
All the heroes I’m missing:
Summary
3* (21)
B: Gunnar(c), Jarvur, Helo, Vodnik, Frosty, Greymane(n/c)
R: Bauchan, Nashgar(c), Vollermork, Shrekok
G: Shrubbear, Whacker
P: Morris, Oberon(c), Prisca(n/c), Jack’o’Lantern, Edd
Y: Candy, Poppy, Kailani(c), Pixie, Dawa(n/c)
4* (36)
B: Kiril(c), Zila Lei, Sanngrior, Sapphire, Captain
R: Lance, Colen(c), Scarlett(c), Eichbelborg, Sumle, Mack, Rokkamush, Shale
G: Hansel, Marcel, Kashhrek(c), Caed(c), Peters, Tettukh, LJ(c), Skittle(c), Gad, Gobbler
P: Cat, Tib(c), Ametrine, Cyprian(c), Ameonna, Boomer, Ingolf
Y: Gillinbursti, Griffin, Gretel, Wu(c), Hu(c), Chao(c)
5*
Blue (29)
- Ariel, Frida, Bobo, Athena, Finley, Isarnia(c), Lepus, Magni(c), Arthur, Cobalt, Krampus, Alasie, LordLoki, Skadi, Crystalis, SnowWhite, Alice, Fenrir, Theobald, Glenda, Russula, Misandra, Rumpel, Thorne(c), Raff, Richard(c), Frosth, Aegir, Perseus
Red (29)
- Marjana(c), Azlar(c), Zim, BK, GM, Garnet, Vanda, Gefjon, Grazul, Elizabeth, Emilio, Tyr, Mitsuko, Khagan(c), Kong, LadyLoki, Kestrel, JF, PinB, Baldur, YangMai, Asterius, Isrod, Ares, Reuben, Natalya, RedHood, QoH, Noor
Green (27)
- Alby, Frigg, Toxicandra, PhileasFogg,
Ratatoskr, Evelyn, Francine, Zeline, Lianna(c), LotL, Heimdall, Tarlak, Garjammal, Eiora&Fluffy, Kingston, Hatter, LadyLocke, Elradir, Morgan, Chameleon, Yunan, Atomos, Telluria, Greg, Elk(c), Zocc, Jade
Purple (30)
- Panther, Jabberwock, Killhare, Ursena, Onyx, Domi(c), DrMoreau, Karnov, Seshat, Sartana(c), DarkLord, Bera, Quintus(c), Kunchen, Khiona, Lepiota, Kage, Clarissa, Freya, BossWolf, MT, Mok-Arr, Myztero, Sargasso, Malicna, Grimble, Victor, Thoth-Amun, Obakan(c), Aeron
Yellow (29)
- Leonidas(c), Viv(c), Odin, Gazelle, WhiteRabbit, ProfLidenbrock, Sif, Joon(c), Onatel, Roostley, Drake, Poseidon, Faline, DirectorZuri, Akkorog, Uraeus, Mica, Thor, Owl, Justice(c), Neith, Rana, Bai, Delilah, Roc, Guinevere, Musashi, Ranvir, Inari
Now getting serious: Perseverance
- Looking back, I’m quite impressed with my younger self - 31 months of playing with only S1 5* heroes! To be fair, back then, there were fewer portals, fewer free pulls so the chances of getting a new hero were much lower. But it’s a fact that I was extremely unlucky to never pull a special hero in all that time. I can’t believe how I could continue to play a game WITHOUT having A SINGLE special hero for 1 year and 9 months!!! Patience/perseverance is key in the life of the FTP.
Something non-FTP players often do not realise:
- Many players do a 10x pull in pretty much every event. However, the average number of gems an FTP player gets per week is ≈170 (I’m probably being a bit generous with this number). This means that it takes ≈15 weeks (4 months) to gather gems for a 10x pull. So the FTP player can collect gems for ONLY 3 10x pulls per year! Much less than many players do in a single event. Also, 170 gems per week are ≈8800 gems per year! For reference, a 30x pull in Atlantis/Valhalla/S4 costs 8400 gems. So if an FTP wants to do a 30x pull (again, something many spenders do multiple times a month), the FTP would have to save gems for a whole year!!! And we know that getting a 5* hero on a 30x pull is not guaranteed…
My biggest mistakes:
- 75 gems on a challenge event continue: while replaying stages in a challenge event, my heroes suddenly got killed by the bosses, but I was still clicking quickly trying to make a match and accidentally clicked on the “continue” button. I lost 75 gems and I still can’t forgive myself for that…
- 200 gems on food: I made a similar mistake recently. When I got Alfrike in May I was very excited, power leveled her in ≈40 minutes and started giving her emblems. However, it turns out that I ran out of food. I joined Beta last November and we do a lot of re-embleming there so it’s a practice to use gems for food/iron (it costs 1 gem in Beta). Therefore, I instinctively clicked on the “buy hams” option, not thinking that it is the live game, and the next thing I know was that I had 200 gems less… It hurts a bit since I have enough stored food, but I got Alfrike from Valhalla coins (aka for free), so I’d just pretend that I spent 200 gems to get her. This thought helps me not to feel so bad.
Being FTP in Beta
- As I mentioned previously, I joined Beta last November. Initially, I didn’t want to be a Beta tester because I was worried that having the opportunity to play with so many heroes I don’t have, would make me start hating the live game where I have a limited number of heroes. Luckily, I don’t have such feelings.
- However, I have noticed that I have a very different perspective from most Beta testers. I personally believe that new heroes should not make old heroes obsolete, but others do not share my view - quite a few Beta testers support the power creep since they believe that new heroes need to make players want to chase them (which often means OP heroes). I do not think that this is healthy for the game - if every hero starts getting a better version within a few months of their release, the game would have a shorter life - why should players pull for X, if the Devs will release a better hero a few months later. And when 10 people give feedback and 7 of them say that the hero is ready for release, the Devs would not listen to the 3 people saying that a hero is too powerful. Therefore, I would strongly encourage more FTP and CTP players to join Beta so that there are more different perspectives. (Not like the Devs always listen to testers, as we saw this week, though).
The moment I was the closest to stop being FTP:
- the first “Share the Gems” offer - as an alliance leader I really wanted to give something to my teammates, but buying the offer meant going against my principles - it’s quite manipulative. If I had bought it, I would have bought the subsequent share the gems offers, a cheap deal, then another one, and another one and another one… The next moment I’d realise I’ve started spending quite a bit on a mobile game. Just to put things in perspective, if I were spending $50 every month for these 4 years of playing (a monthly amount that is considered low by many), I would have spent $2400 in total on a mobile game…
Why am I sharing this?
- I just want to show that this game can be played without spending. I feel like spending in this game is so normalised that it has turned into something toxic. Let’s be honest, there is a huge potential for a gambling addiction here. I have seen people on the forum asking SG to change the timing of the deal because they haven’t received their monthly paycheck yet and they can’t afford to buy the offer at this moment in time! I have also seen people who have spent $20k+ on the game and want to quit because this has had big negative implications on their real life. Games are not supposed to ruin your life…
Just to summarise, despite many difficulties, I’m still playing happily (at least for now). I know that I can’t have high expectations so the moments when I actually get a hero I want are absolutely priceless!
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