Thank you for your honesty. I always thought it was a bunch of crap that Merc’s do it for the good of the community. And you are right, if you are always crying for a merc to help you should never complain about them taking loot. It’s just silly.
I don’t merc and never have used one for my alliance. I just dont understand why there are alliances that depend on them so much. The loot for mercs should have been left alone. If they came in to your alliance and saved your ■■■ they deserve it. Shame on you for having to depend on them. My alliance has reached 110k strength without ever having to use a merc. Did we have to let titans pass? Yep. Did we have occasions where we were undermanned? Many. But we got through it on our own. If folks want to merc because there are alliances that depend on them then leave them be and let them enjoy the spoils.
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I don’t see that it is unfair Alliances only get one Titan a day and have to normally go crazy on it. And they do not get the greatest rewards. So why should a merc? Only reason I am not in an alliance at the moment is I do not have the proper amount of levelled up heroes in which is kind of unfair to the other alliance members that do. And once in a while I help with a Titan then leave so they can get a player worth having.
Something of a non-sequitor, even for the brand new Bane / Layla / et al. account you can still do useful damage to lowbie titans, ergo there’s an alliance for everyone somewhere.
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Hi again. And sorry again for the looooong time before responding.
Well, you make some good points.
But one last thing though… you said If I might presume to offer one piece of unsolicited advice: It’s possible to find an insult in anything, if you look hard enough, but usually they’re not really there. You might feel better if you stop looking so hard. I’d just say, hust because you don’t want to be insulting, doesn’t mean that you aren’t. That’s the point I was trying to make, really.
As for being insulted 
, don’t really care much, like I think you mostly don’t care. But it was a good discussion.
Have a good one!
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I do not understand. They are killing da community of their own game?
I don’t care and i am trying to help alliances if I have free flags …
There is nothing stopping you from still helping other alliances with your free flags.
After 1 week of this change i find myself switching from competitive to casual mode due lack of items, gems, and fun.
Already downloaded another game, and sadly i spend more time there that not in this game anymore.
Well, thank you.
It was fun.
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Sorry to be late to the party, but I wanted to answer you:
I always thought there was such a large group of non-homogenous players in Merc-dom, it didn’t surprise me they would have multiple motives for helping people.
Some cite altruism, and others cite profit as their reasons for Mercing. Seems perfectly rational; I’ve met Mercs who do both.
I think Mercs grew spontaneously in the system and I hope SG can find some way to naturally balance them in the game.
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Helping people shouldnt mean that you get rewards from titan, it should mean that your arw nice enough to help someone in need. Just because you give a homeless man food and water it doesn’t mean that the goverment is gonna give you free healthcare or not pay taxes anymore. You are " helping" not " help to help my self by getting rewards from titans"
I beg to differ.
In my last game, I was a slayer.
Slayers were those players who would help smaller players beat their monster battles at the last moment. Several of us - bigger players - would come over the hills like the cavalry, killing the monster and thus providing the loot to all the smaller players in the battle. And yes, we got loot as well.
Actually, the best way to grow big and strong in that game was by helping others. Which I personally consider a very nice concept.
Then the devs there got greedy, priced slaying out of the reach of ordinary people, most high level players left (so did I), and the game is now dead.
I personally appreciate the concept of growing through helping others.
No, I am not a merc.
The first time I ever “played outside” was a little while ago, when we had a rest titan and several of us went to help our little sister alliance kill their “blunicorn”. That was fun. But reduced loot means that you do that merely so your titan flags do not go to waste. Hm …
Spending items on such a titan is most definitely negative ROI.
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The only place in the world where heroes save for free is in the comic books. In the real world, every hero has to eat; someone is paying the bill.
I don’t think the original issue was Mercs getting to eat, merely the perception of them eating too much or too often. I think the pendulum has swung far far in the other direction now. 
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Rook, I thought it was more that too much loot was dropping. Anja-V said it was good to provide loot to the smaller alliance members which means up to 29 players beside the merc.
As I write, there is a thread asking for help with a 10*. If the dragon is slain, how much loot is that? It is the same sort of nerf we saw to “fix” cup dropping.
A solution might be to credit everyone with a titan for their chest. Or, max the loot tier. Whatever, no one will be happy.
There was a time when the Merc could get multiple Titan chest “credits” I’ll call them in one day.
Then it was changed to effectively 1-2.
Now your chest credit for Mercing is reduced thus:
1.12 Release Notes
Some are fine with this change. Some less so. 
Maybe the use of words “punish” and “punishment” are why I find much of this disingenuous. The devs were/are acting to protect the game as they designed it.
I didn’t title the thread. I’m responding, as you are.
(If you haven’t already, go back and read the first 17 posts for perspective.)
The problem is the Mercs don’t ask if the can help. They just come in grab the loot and leave. They never chat with the team. Just hit and go. Glad to see there gone. PS. If your using a Mercedes to beat a Titan then you didn’t really take it down and your not ready for the next higher one without the Mercs again. I prefer to have my team lose a Titan until they are strong enough to actually take it down. My team gets really stoked when they take an 8* down. I love them
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We recruit mercs for rare titans only. In all our recent occasions, they’ve turned up, said hi, nuked the titan, including using flasks, and politely excused themselves.
I agree that if they were uninvited it would be an imposition…but when the beacons are lit, I continue to be impressed by the E&P community 
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I’ve been lucky to meet some nice mercs. Even asked them come back to collect loot because they left right after hitting titan. Not only do they get less loot but they also get a wait time on titan chest 
I found this out when i was in a hurry and accidentally pressed the wrong buttons and had to rejoin the Alliance . Cue the walk of shame.
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I think there are several strata of Mercs. Some who do indeed do the smash and grab without asking. This is rude. My alliance door is set to Invite Only to keep out gatecrashers, so I don’t experience these. Then some who come when asked, capes flapping, flying in to save the day, but do not stay. Then there is the version I’m most familiar with and who I champion, who kill titans and stay to answer questions. Maybe they are a rare breed. But when I say Merc, this is who I am referring to. (Yes, Boh, I’m looking at you!) 
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