Its less about difficulty (PoV is stupidly easy) and more about monotony and obligation. If I donāt open a monster chest on a particular day, all I lose is one chest. If I sit out a tournament because my life is busy, I risk throwing away a 50-day effort.
Also PoV adds absolutely nothing to the game other than a more refined skinner box. There is no new content of any kind, just more loot and higher stakes for playing more daily.
If skinner boxes arenāt your jam, it starts to feel like a chore.
E&P does allow every single thing in your list, just perhaps not exactly in the fashion you desire.
E&P does this. When you open the game daily, there is a mystic vision waiting for you to get free rewards. There is an ad to view before your rewards can be accessed, but they are there. Did not cost any real money nor any in game currency to get at your rewards for opening the game.
HOTM can be earned by playing Tavern of Legends. Play well, and you earn two free summons each event. No guarantee you will be lucky, but the opportunity to earn HOTM is now there.
5* can be earned through Training Camps. 5* that are not accessible through training camps can be earned by gameplay through earning Epic Hero Tokens which can be used to summon any possible 5* hero. The more you play (and the better you play), the more you earn.
E&P definitely has this. Canāt believe you even listed this, Rigs! (Big Lol)
Yes, I realize that the preceding quote to this one was just a fragment of this larger point. However, E&P has this too. Just summon more. All you have to do is ask one of the statistical math wizards that frequently post in these forums: if you just keep on summoning, the probability that you will eventually get a 5* out of pity becomes nearly 100%. You want a pity summons, just keep summoning. The magic of math will eventually deliver to you. So this is a proven feature. Math is never wrong (or misinterpreted/misrepresented).
E&P does this. Play more, you unlock the ability to play more and more events by leveling up. Need to level up to be allowed to join an alliance, need to level up to be allowed to participate in wars, play challenges, play events, earn emblems, etc, etc, etc.
Leveling up also expands your hero inventory storage, and gives you expanded world energy capacity.
āāāāāāā
So, you see, all these things are provided in E&P.
In all seriousness, I know you are talking about doing all these things better and differently. I am only starting to read this thread (yours was the second post, I believe), so perhaps you elaborate as the thread progresses, but my point is, all these things are possible in E&P.
So perhaps the real concern is not that they donāt do these things at all, but they are far too stingy in how they go about their business of rewarding frequent play and skilled play. On that, I certainly agree.
Not to split hairs but the part that said was changed due to player feedback was the start day (Thursday vs Friday), not the duration. That part was due to new content.
I kinda expect myself to stop playing this game at some point because nothing really lasts forever. For how long do I play this game depends primarily on quality of content provided.
Summons are expensive and frustrating
When I started playing this game, one of the most alluring aspects of the game was RPG nature and how it kinda required to learn a bit of strategy eg: which heroes to level, what type of teams to form, how to manage your time and resources etc. It was fun and if I made a mistake it only affected me for hour to maximum few days before I can correct course.
Now that Iām further ahead in game mistakes can cost you a lot so you end up playing this game with a nagging fear and analysis paralysis. And this is very deep rooted in community because every day you see discussions like these -
I have 8 rings and two options to pick viz Khagan and Elena, which do I pick? What if I summon Tyr next Thursday? I just gave rings to Khagan and I summoned Marjana 2 days after from tc20ā¦I wish I could go back in time
I summoned 100 times but all I got was dupes. What do I do with $300 worth of dupe heroes? Was getting feeder heroes for $300 really worth it?
I leveled this hero few months ago and was really nice but newer kids have newer/better toys. Do I keep buying new toys or continue playing with old ones?
If transferring mats from one hero to another was an option, I'd be more fluid with my choices and find new and different ways to enjoy the game.
All of these seem common and minor things but they aren't. Why do people want all new HotMs to be A+? Why do people chase heroes? Why are people disappointed with odds? The common reason being that they don't want to spend money on a hero that isn't good or loses value too quickly.
If I have enough mats and a hero to go with, Iām not going to level it unless I have validation from community that itās a good choice. Because you learn the hard way that choosing a bad 5* can set you back by 6 months (maybe more depending on activity).
Resetting skills and trying variety of skill paths are such a core element of RPG games that this game doesnāt have and it just feels very inflexible and unforgiving.
Build & research times are too long and I'm not sure how advanced buildings improve my gameplay.
When I started out the game and it said build time is x hrs and it increased as the level went up, I liked that because it seemed realistic. In the beginning the only end goal was TC20 & Forge lvl 20 researched, which took me 3-4 months to get there. It was a long and patient wait but it wasn't unimaginable. Benefits to that were clear viz free access to 5* and helpful/daily use battle items. I eventually got barracks up to lvl 5 and started working on troops. I would level troops with as many feeders I had and during idle time, I would try to upgrade it.
In contrast advanced buildings havenāt been as helpful -
Advanced mines & farms - what do I need this for? They increase throughput of food and iron so you can upgrade new buildings as well as craft new itemsā¦okā¦
Advanced iron & food storage - what do I need this for? They increase amount of iron and food you can hold for new building upgrades and researchā¦kkā¦
Hunters Lodge - what can this building do? You can craft better version of battle items using special parts you harvest from titans. However the catch is that these battle items are only 10-20% better but they are 2x more expensive to craft and insanely hard to harvest ingredients for. You probably donāt need these unless you are fighting 12* or higher titans
Alchemy Lab - what can this building do? It can change stuff into more stuff. If you have surplus in one category, this building can help you even out that surplus. Well that sounds like something thatās useful but wait a minute cost is so prohibitive I will stick to RNG thx
After playing for 1.5+ years only buildings I use regularly are TC20, Forge20, and Barracks. This made me question what was the point of all the upgrades I have been chasing for past 6 months. I couldnāt find any value and couldnāt justify use for 2nd builder so I stopped purchasing VIP for a while.
Power creep & gap, overwhelming grind, new heroes are leading to game fatigue
It used to be enough to field a team of 5* for raid and war defense. But that goal has now been moved to +18 or +20 nodes on each defense hero. Now itās hard to miss an trial, challenge event, or any other calendar event without beating yourself up for missing it. I sometimes excuse myself from conversations to check on game and make sure I donāt miss anything. Great for game but not great for relationships, but since I donāt live within the game itās not a nice thing.
There are new heroes releasing every day you have to learn about new game mechanics and counter so frequently that this game has basically become school. At first game just had family bonuses but now you have runic effects to think about, novel special effects etc. Game just used to have dispelers and certain effects that couldnāt be dispelled but suddenly now thereās a possibility they can be removedā¦itās just too hard to keep up.
TL;DR - With newer changes to the game, more I play the less fun it becomes.
SG created newish game that seems remarkably like this one.
SG E&P made 3 year anniversary and had been bought out by Zynga.
Everything in this game seems oriented around making the most money in the shortest period of time.
First quarter HOTM summons likely exceeded expectations.
So perhaps the lifespan was gauged at 3 -5 years; make as much as possible, then let the game die off. Judging by the gameās current state, and the feedback from the first quarter HOTM sequence, SG/Zynga may simply be coasting along now. Clearly running a third quarter of super HOTM likely will not make the same profit as the first quarter; many have indicated they are closing their wallets. Period.
With millions playing and still a cash flow, the game will likely survive for awhile. Profits will tank and the game will no longer be viable. And then Zynga will tell SG āshut it down.ā
The monies will be divided and the checks will be cashed.
This is part of the formula for small transaction MMO games. Has been for 15 years.
There is a reason every single one of these games creates a club/clan/alliance system in its game.
Itās because the human bonds we make socializing keep us active in their sub-standard games. And that keeps us spending and it keeps their active player numbers up for optics purposes.
Itās part of the developer instruction book.
We become pawns, by bonding with each other through the game.
Well the first one wasnāt really hard it was more of a the room for error was of only 2k soo you were only allowed to miss just a few challenges in order to level 50
There is a difference between hard and not being able to reach level 50 because you missed one day
This is kind of what Iām worried about. Wouldnāt be the least bit surprised if it did happen. Though Iām not actively cheering for it to happen, either. If this game does end up going the way of the dodo bird, my phone will likely go back to only being used for the purposes of making actual phone calls, or looking up maps when I make a wrong turn in an unfamiliar area. I will immediately revert back to PC and console for all of my future gaming desires and never look back.
I feel the same way @TGW. Very sad the tendency is NOT to look at the big picture/long term. There is so much potential here and I am inclined to think there would definitely be a loyal customer base. But alas, too much the dreamer and an old fool am I.
Thatās not how businesses work (at least not successful long running ones) and thereās no such thing as developer handbook. By that logic all businesses (be it restaurants, movie theaters, cafes, sports etc.) would just create micro-communities and just cash in on paychecks from regulars. Thereās a reason all of the businesses keep on finding ways to satisfy end user and to keep it running. If getting pawns was so easy there would be no motivation/reason to keep innovating.
This is why I didnāt understand people quitting over something that really doesnāt add a whole lot to the grind of the game but does add one more way to get a 4* AM. As opposed to say the costume portal that adds a whole new set of battles and grind for collecting a bunch of 3* costumes.
Agreed that it was not hard for a end game player, but it certainly had its issues. Before the whole tell-gate, complaining about POV was the top 3 trending topic on this forum. Commonly raised issues were:
The need to complete all the challenge events, twice. This was an issue that affected all players. Some late game players did not have any levelled 3* heroes to complete Rare either because they never bothered levelling them orā¦ they fed them away to make room in their roster. Then there were early & mid game players who struggled to complete Epic/ Legendary either through a lack of the right set of heroes (no proteus) or lack of resources (Forge not at a high enough level to build dragons/ time stops).
The original titan quest required killing increasingly bigger titans (iirc it was up to 6* titans), which was a problem for low level players or those in smaller alliances. This had a knock on effect for merc requests and at one point, the chat rooms were just swarmed with endless streams of these requests.
Thereās a difference between grinding daily and grinding 6 map levels. Plus if I miss 2 costume summons, Iām liking missing out on 2 3* costumes. If I miss out on few activities, I might miss an extra 4* mat which I have been waiting for months. Rare quests on other hand are much simpler.
Win raids, complete underwater/poison/mist stages, level heroes, complete 3 quest stagesā¦many of which I donāt really want to do or donāt have time to do but feel bad if I miss something. Lot of times when Iām with friends and family, rather than enjoying time with them this stupid game creeps up in my thoughts.
This POV was more forgiving and relaxed in those terms but now you have parts of community who are dissatisfied with the ādifficultyā factor. Which is why it becomes such a huge factor over costumes.
Yea I think weāre just going to be polar opposites on this one.
I like the costume events because it added something new to do in the game. The costume keys are just a bonus. PoV is a sustained chore, its everything you already had but now a passive obligation to do it on a schedule. You see that as a good thing and I see it like having my phone tell me to make my bed everyday. Iām a gainfully employed adult with a busy schedule, that just isnāt fun regardless of how many treats get waved in my face.
It comes down to what I said in the original post - you either are in the game for the skinner box or youāre not. I personally enjoy having things to do with the heroes that I have, not in the dopamine hit of getting a reward in 50 days later. Some people like grinding, but chasing loot does nothing for me, I like playing - raids, wars, titans, events, etc. I would do those things even if they gave you nothing. I definitely wouldnāt sit around waiting for ducks to spawn if gave me nothing.
Fwiw, personally, Iām not quitting the game over it, but I am going to stop doing PoV because it definitely has been a drag on wanting to login and play. It will (hopefully) reduce that chore feeling for me.
