Are players that have been around for a while quitting at an increased pace? There are many complaints about game getting too difficult to stay competitive without spending too much. Concerns of C2P and F2P not really being options any more with so many new heroes coming out at such an increased rate. Any other alliances going thru similar situation?
18 Likes
It’s a problem for any player who likes to be competitive but who also intends to stick to some budgeted amount (be that zero or otherwise) — either you have to give up the way you play the game, or give up the game entirely 
Even in my current alliance, where folks are, broadly speaking, “casual competitive” (wanting to do as well as possible with what’s on hand, even while feeling some sense of progression in gameplay), there is the strain of the accelerating for-the-biggest-spenders pace. Folks openly talk about the possibility of retirement and have been, ironically, trimming budget.
When keeping apace with the game is out of budget, it can become an active disincentive to keep spending at the current pace, or at all.
20 Likes
People trying to be competitive by spending obscene amounts of money for the newest and shiniest heroes are the ones to blame for the game current state in the first place. Their willingness to spend that much, thus aquiring every hero that worts something, forces developers to unleash new once to keep things fresh.
8 Likes
Agree! We’ve lost 4 players above level 70 cause they felt they couldn’t keep up and the game stopped being fun for them. I’m afraid this will continue…
6 Likes
We’ll that’s good for Zynga if they can keep it up. Maybe there’ll be a turning point when they fall below critical mass due to the high cost of staying competitive.
1 Like
Those whales would give up out of boredom if there were no that many new heroes
I think this kind of thing will happen to just about any game. Some of those players leaving now may well have been playing the game for 5-6 years. That’s a decent amount of time to be playing one game. I’m sure everyone has their reasons to quit and I’m sure they are not all the same. With that being said, the main complaint I have heard is too many heroes coming out too quickly and, the real sucker punch, the lower chance of getting those shiny new heroes.
I, personally, do not try to stay “competitive” within the game as such. I like to stick around the diamond arena (which is pretty straightforward), I like doing wars, I like hitting titans, I like playing the game really. Overall. I put more focus on enjoyment. If or when the fun and enjoyment stops, so will I and I would encourage anyone to take the same stance regardless of how much you do or do not spend.
Just one gamer’s opinion
Game Well 
19 Likes
Possibly… but even if that’s the case, driving away large numbers of smaller spenders has gotta start hurting as much as losing a few big spenders, plus, at some point actions which shrink the overall playerbase will drive off big spenders too (when being a big spender doesn’t get you a high ranking anymore because so many of the smallfolk have pulled up and left).
Well look at it this way. Not every single hero needs to be ascended. Competitive rosters play with competitive rosters. Casual rosters play with casual rosters. Bigger players are just going to bigger alliances. 500 Alliances are probably having a hard time as the bigger players are leaving to top alliances. Happy gaming!
Maybe we can make a poll on this, so we also have a quantitative outlook. Now there is a number a player that says that “it happens much more than before”, but aside from this, it’s not very clear. I can make the poll (or if anyone else wants the honour, be my guest 
), as long as we agree on the choices of answers.
1 Like
So far we’ve mainly focused on how game ‘balance’ (there’s no such thing as balance in this game as a certain Q&A session confirmed to me) is effectively responsible for players leaving the game. And I’d agree there will be those who are fed up with some of the ‘balancing’ shenanigans they’ve pulled (especially since Telluria).
Then there are also life circumstances which affect the times in which players can play. We’ve lost a few to life responsibilities creeping up on them.
However, this isn’t really all that surprising. Games like this follow the live service model of gaming which demand regular play. Also very punishing for those who like to be competitive (whatever that means to the individual).
1 Like
Some people play this game for a sense of advancement. They like to see their base getting strong. They like to see their heros getting stronger. They like to see their player level go up.
At some point, that progress stops… or at least becomes too slow to measure.
And they find something else to do. Absolutely normal.
3 Likes
I dont see so many people of my alliance left but some are less active than before. They are not participating to WoA every times ( just 1 or 2 here and there ) and are hitting titans in the same way, when they got some times to play.
We clearly see this when comes alliance events, we see some players doing just 3/4/5 levels from each difficulties and not trying to do much more.
As a leader, I understand them very well as I am also asking myself why I keep playing anymore if I see less and less fun in E&P since w3k release mostly.
We also shared the feeling that the game as become much more “harder” recently with events mostly dedicated to big whales and less for the large base of F2P & C2P.
Yep, lots of old timers leaving left and right.
I assume it’s a form of planned obsolescence. Push out new overpowered heroes, then either nerf them or make the next batch of new heroes even more powerful, so the previous batch no longer matches up. The whales already spent oodles of money, so they will likely do it again. And again. Until eventually even they get fed up and the game dies - which is the plan. It’s a sinking ship and I think the devs know it, they are just bleeding the last vestiges of players as dry as possible before the ship is fully underwater.
Then they start a new similar game and begin the cycle all over (they probably already have multiple other titles).
They have no interest in expanding the player base and making it fun for people of all ranges to play (as it once was). They are only interested in squeezing the last few super whales who still cling to a sinking ship.
I know that’s a cynical view but I find it hard to see evidence of the contrary.
8 Likes
It takes a lot of skill to max a hero just minutes after its release.
For everyone else:
get a good hero and before maxing it:
- It gets nerfed
- It’s costume gets released
- A superior creep with the same type of skill gets released
- A counter to your hard work gets released that shuts your hero down with its passive!
It takes too long to develop rosters to not feel insulted by the pace and complete abandonment of balance.
Shrugging all that off, to revel in mediocrity is neat and all. But…
For a connect-3, it’s awful time consuming…
6 Likes
I’ve had my alliance for 4 years & id say 95% have been with me from the start. The newer members are spending upwards of $300+ per month. They are a low level but one of our stronger members.
That said, due to the amount of newer hero’s & the rate they’re being released has discouraged many members If I may, I’ll also say that for some time now the boards have been ridiculous as many wars, raids, etc you can’t get colors needed & the algorithms need fixing!! Overall, I haven’t had members leave (Yet!) but I do see the lack of participation to the point that reminders are constantly sent to use all energies in wars & Titan yet I can tell, sadly, their hearts aren’t in the game like they once were. With everything inflated in society it’s sad that gaming can’t be F2P & enjoyable as it use to be. I’ve even considered letting my alliance go but the loyalty, for most, makes me continue.
2 Likes
I don’t know how it was to be properly F2P “back in the day” (although I did start off as FTP some 4 years ago and it was probably a year into the game before I spent any money I didn’t really play competitively or seriously in that first year) I can say that being FTP now is very enjoyable, more enjoyable than playing my P2P account. This is based on my own experiences with a 4.5 month old FTP account.
Why is it not fun for players of all ranges to play? By and large you get matched up with other players of similar level and it is only if you try to punch above your weight that things get more challenging - as they rightly should.
What are the events that cannot be completed by F2P/C2P?
With my 4.5 month old FTP account I can now complete approx 90% of PVE content. Monster island I am not sure about (wasn’t able to play the beta) and last TOL had one level I couldn’t complete and covenent quest had some left over levels (although I think I could come pretty close to completing the next one). The elemental quests I totally agree with - I think they are difficult and require a super deep roster. I am nowhere near being able to finish those.
In regards to being “competitive” in PVE? There is really only the challenge events and to place highly you do need a more developed roster/access to large amount of mats - but that is completely possible for a FTP with a good amount of time in the game.
I almost always stop playing games out of boredom or lack of challenge or lack of content. I came to a point with my P2P account where I was pretty close to that. I ended up parking that account because of lack of time (couldn’t maintain 2 accounts). At no point did I think that I couldn’t “keep up” even now with no new heroes from the last 6 months or so.
What does keep up mean exactly, for you and your alliance members? There are so many good older heroes which I believe allow you to totally keep up and be competitive (as per my definitions of those) even though the power creep of new heroes is accelerated. And many of those heroes are relatively accessible, e.g. Lord Loki, Director Zuri, Ludwig, and now (probably) Arco all available from SE.
4 Likes
Er… the challenge events, and the (harder, and less rewarding) alliance quests, and the (longer and grindier) tower events, and the mythic titans, and the monster island…
not including “no leaderboard but still harder for many newer/F2P players as calibrated for bigger player” events like elemental and covenant quests (the latter of which can be nasty enough for players tired of being kicked around in high-end raids, never mind players who would prefer to avoid higher-end combos) and even the costume chamber is of increased length and difficulty now…
and not including PvP raids, wars, tourneys, W3K
There is a lot of competitive content, and even the “non-competitive” content is increasingly calibrated toward the more competitive end of the playerbase.
To the extent that there is a casual end of the playerbase spectrum, I can only imagine they are increasingly feeling like nearly the entire game is accelerating away from them like a cosmological redshift (never mind the more moderate-but-frequent F2P/VC2P part of the playerbase).
Yeah, the pity counter and SE are somewhat mitigating factors, but even those are only somewhat accessible to many F2P/VC2P players (who may only get one or a few pity heroes at most and who certainly can’t count on being able to pick one hero from each SE). It is better that those features are there than when they weren’t, but that’s still a fair way from “keeping up with the Joneses,” as all the competitive-minded content constantly reminds us.
3 Likes
Everything in your comment (which is a rinse and repeat) boils down to “I’m FTP and I’m sick of not being able to keep up with the Joneses at my own pace” mentality. If you choose to not adapt, you’re not going to have a good time.
As an FTP there are plenty of place in the game where being competitive (yes, vying for the top spot) is possible (people do it all the time) and places where it’s not because logic dictates that you shouldn’t be there unless you’re willing to spend money but can still be competitive in a sense of completion goals.
I have FTPs in my alliance that have been FTP since day 1 years ago and are very competitive where they can be and are able to complete other events to at least get the rewards they can get…including CoE, towers, Costume Quest, etc. Not to mention that they’re constantly nerfing these events and making them easier to complete. If you choose to not “waste” battle items, grind to make the said battle items, replay levels, or whatever else is necessary to be “competitive” (whatever that means to you) then I really don’t understand what the problem is. You should never expect to be keep up with someone who not only spends a ton in the game, but also spends a ton of time in the game improving, unless you’re willing to do whatever you can to keep up in areas that you can reasonably expect to keep up with them in.
1 Like
Perhaps I was unclear.
Homaclese asserted that “competitive” PvE content was “really only the challenge events.”
I pointed out that there is actually quite a bit of PvE content which is leaderboard-based—thus arguably competitive in nature—in addition to a variety of PvP content.
I further pointed out that there is also PvE content that, while not leaderboard-based, is still arguably competitive-in-nature in that it pushes roster depth (e.g. elemental quest) or emulates competitive PvP content (e.g. covenant).
My points were primarily intended to be about many events being competitive in nature.
How competitive a given player wants to be, or what they consider “competitive” (e.g. what ranking is considered desirable) is, of course, a matter of individual taste and desire/enjoyment concerning how many hours and/or units of currency feel “worth it.”
——
However, given that topics like this discussion thread are not uncommon both here in the forums and within at least some alliances, there is presumably some case to be made that the balance between
-
“increasing pace and/or challenge enough for the most competitive or biggest-spending players, in order to retain them,” and
-
“keeping pace and content also accessible for more casual and lower-spending players, in order to retain or even attract general playerbase”
is possibly increasingly out of balance in favor of the former.
(And I do acknowledge that the game has included some gestures toward the latter, but I also note the limitations.)
2 Likes