Honestly, itās something thatās been on my mind a lot lately tooā¦ Thereās just been too many changes lately, and most not for the better, that I worry the devs are losing their grip over their player-base. It feels as if theyāre no longer focused on improving our experience, but more about seeing how much $$ they can pull out of us, and itās really disheartening to watch and experience. & I get it, theyāre a business and they need to generate revenue, but not at the expense of overall customer satisfactionā¦ As for any business, thatās crucial.
Iāve been experiencing growing apathy [for the game] for quite a while now, and with every new release, it just grows even more. Whatās so disappointing about that though, is how much I used to love it that first yearā¦ But things havenāt improved. If anything, this game just continued to get more and more expensive, with very little added content that made that price worthwhile (tourneys, trials and ToL QUESTS being the only truly amazing additions) & I know Iām not the only one, as most in my alliance share the same sentiment, even if it is due to differing reasons. Then you come here and read the same, or similar things/feelings, you start to see a pattern formulatingā¦ So rather than ignoring it any longer, Iāll share my beefs:
Whatās Broken?
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Lack of communication/direction: whether in beta, or just important game changes, they really lack a relationship [with the players] and rarely keep us informed where they want this game to be heading. & Constantly avoiding [dealing with] this only breeds more distrust between the two parties, helping no one. & The lack of direction, and feedback, in beta leaves you questioning whether or not youāre wasting your time - as so many times, you feel ignored; whatās the point in leaving quality feedback if itās not going to be considered? & If certain things will never be considered, why not be upfront about it?
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Lack of QoL improvements: Thereās always tons of ideas being shared here about small fixes, that really wouldnāt take too much, while doing wonders for improving game-play. Things like a loyalty program, an alliance attack log, online notifiers, personalized hero sortings, saved progress if closed/knocked out of the game, options to speed up auto-play, maybe even creating a token that drops in the same amount as Atlantis/Valhalla coins - but that works on any portal, and more. Thereās actually so much that could be improved, that I might be here forever if I start listing em all lol
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Constant removal/nerf of things, or over-nerf of things, that arenāt even asked for/necessary: Iām talking loot ticket drops, Atlantis coins, tourney loot, etcā¦ (But I spose for some, Telluria and co may apply here, too)
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Lack of consistent, frequent buffs for clearly underpowered heroes: Every so often, I take the time and go thru as many heroes as I can, jotting down the changes that I would make to these heroes if I was in charge of balancing. & Honestly, itās not that hard lol. Even upping numbers up a smidge every so often, and continuing to do so til itās enough, could do wonders for some heroes. Others may need a skill adjustment, or additional skill, but the fact that these things donāt happen very often is extremely disappointing (to say the least). Thereās potential there for making the crappiest of heroes great [in their own right], but instead, weāre left with the same heroes always being the best, and others always being the worst, instead of trying to freshen things up every so often - by allowing these clearly inferior heroes a chance to shine (at least somewhere)
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Portal Odds: I mean, really, we all told them how Tavern of Legends was gonna be a flop. But did they listen? No. & Those may be the worst odds in the game, but honestly, most of the portals arenāt anything to write home about, eitherā¦ I mean Iām glad they finally upped the seasonal odds, after adding more heroes in, but what about the event portal, huh? That portal had the same thing done to it, yet weāre stuck with 1.0% odds with absolutely no featured heroes, either. & Even though some seem to like the costume portal, Iām not a fan. As itās just a glorified p2w portal, that we all had hoped would actually help out the f2p community with their S1 heroes. I mean, Iām sorry, but I donāt see the appeal in spending as much there as I would in Valhalla just to get the same ole S1 heroes + stat boosts for em that shouldāve just happened without cost. I mean, I still prefer it to ToL, but it really leaves a bad taste in my mouthā¦ As it removes all incentive for SG to buff any of their vanilla heroes; why not balance the p2w version instead? (Ugh)
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Season One heroes in EVERY portal: This one should speak for itself, but Iāll add the fact that most other games, as they grow, switch things up for their players so game-play doesnāt get so stale. In this case, we are pulling the same damn heroes, 99% of the time, in every single portal. & Chances are, thatās all weāll ever have; I donāt think itās far-fetched to say that if this game ever made it to Season 10, weād see the exact same setup thereā¦ And that is just not okay (to me). So how about quit focusing on continuously creating more pay-wall heroes, but instead, focus on creating a new replacement for S1 in these freaking portals. Now that would be appreciated
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Drop rates for mats w/ emblems: Weāve barely been given other sources for 4* mats since emblems got introduced. With emblems being the new bottleneck, I guess I just donāt understand why 4* mats are still so exceedingly rare? Iām okay with them still being hard to get, but stillā¦ Whatās even the point of summoning for new heroes, if you already have a backlog thatāll take you years to clear, huh? + Itās not like 4/80 5* actually mean what they did two years ago. Now, theyāre akin to a 4/70 +20 (possibly even less so) - meaning youāll still need em emblemed in order to use/compete with em in any meaningful way. & 3/70 5*? For most, theyāre utterly useless. Why do you think Iāve never maxed any of my 5*, nor used any emblems on my 4*? Because as soon as I do, I will no longer be able to make use out of all of my heroes, but only those selected few
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Alchemy Lab: This might not have been their first mistake, but itās was their biggest one. There was unanimous feedback [in beta] regarding how much it sucked, and rather than going back to the drawing board to get it right the first time, they rushed it out and left their players feeling robbed of what was originally a great idea. Especially as itās something we [all] desperately need in this game, itās pretty crucial now that itās back in testing, that they get this right. As we all want ways of making use out of our otherwise useless items, by transmuting them into items that we actually have a purpose for without a stupid pay-wall behind it (I mean really, we worked so hard to get to SH23 just to pay you more money?!). So imo, itās bad enough that the prices are outlandish, but if weāre trading you in one of our rare 4* mats to get another, completely random one, we shouldnāt have to pay a steep gem price, or another 4* mat, to do it; trading the one 4* for another RNG one should be enough - why isnāt that enough?!
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Hero Academy: Now, this one really irks me, as itās supposed to be there to reward and incentivize all players to stay active and continue playing - so that once youāve been around for at least two years in order to make it all of the way to SH25, you can reap your reward [for being so loyal to this game]: a realistic option for training non-S1 5* (ie heroes that were previously behind a pay-wall, and as most have been outdated, seeing as theyāre all a year+ old, leads me to believe thatās reasonable ask, as thatās still leaves plenty advantage for p2w and doesnāt lessen their need to chase). So what do we get instead? Nothing more than a glorified TC20, but at a higher cost, and lower reward, that eats up way more resources, work, and time than itās counterpart. That is just not right to me.
āSo for all of you loyal, avid players [out there] who have been with us for two+ years now, guess what? Weāre gonna make all of that grinding [finally] worth it. Firstly, weāre gonna tease this carrot for a year and a half without any additional information. (But wait, thereās more!) Then, once it finally hits, Itās going to take you at least a few months to build, and research, this long-awaited building (assuming youāve already made it to SH24), but at least when you finally get thereā¦ (Hear this) youāll realize that the majority of the levels do exactly what your current TCs, or even farming, can do for you much cheaper. (But thatās not allā¦) Once you make it to level 10, you will spend your entire food and recruit supply, a weekās time and that dupe Kunchen for (wait for it)ā¦ a 99% chance at another S1 hero (thatās in every other portal and currently in your TCs), yippee!! Donāt you love it?! Act now and weāll throw in a years supply of all you can eat 3!!!* Yes, youāre so very welcome; thanks for sticking with us E&P fans, enjoy ā
Ugh. & Iām sure thereās more, but honestly, thatās just what comes to mind. Now, if SG would actually address even one of these, it would be a step in the right direction and show promise. But honestly, Iāve been holding onto that hope for way too long now - assuming they would actually release something that would benefit all of us players without any purse strings attached - that even if they actually did some of this, I worry that even that might not be enough, or that it might be too lateā¦
Sigh Who knowsā¦ (but wow, I really needed to get that out)