I think this assumption tends to hold more often than not. usually those who just ask “recommend the best hero” or “recommend the best team”, fail to provide e.g., for what? war defense? Titans? the answers are very different depending on which… and indeed, more experienced players tend to know what information would be relevant for those giving advice 
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This is an important piece of subcontext. I can sometimes look at a roster and say “well they have a tank and they have a meta titan team, so this next hero is just depth”. But knowing specifically what the person has in mind definitely helps change the vote. Of course I’m sure many vote without looking at said context.
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Dang…now I need to review those ToS to make sure it’s fully applicable to Empires & Puzzles of 2023 & beyond.
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Today’s topic: Is SG the worst? Is Zynga the worst?
We see a lot of posts and spend a lot of time discussing how bad SG and Zynga are. Interesting Take Two Interactive hasn’t gotten as much hate on this forum. But what I always find interesting is what seems to be a belief that this is limited to SG/Zynga. So today I share an article I recently read about Madden, which is developed by EA Sports.
They deleted over 60% of “accounts” in their connected franchise mode! Imagine if 60% of us lost our accounts. Not only would that result in many leaving the game because they don’t have an account, but imagine the thought from the other 40%.
Not only was it down, but it took 2 days to fix. Most of us play every day. If we stopped playing for two days would we come back? Then if you want, you can read the official response too:
Hello Madden Franchise Community,
We wanted to provide you with an update and next steps around your Online Franchise, CFM Leagues and FOTF saves from 12/28.
From the Developers: On Wednesday 12/28 around 2:45 pm EST, Players trying to access the Franchise server were given an error that leagues were unavailable. The issue persisted until 12:45 am EST on Thursday 12/29. Unfortunately, if you logged into Franchise leagues during this time, your data was affected due to a data storage issue that resulted in Franchise files being corrupted.
Note: Players and leagues who did not log in during that window, your leagues were not impacted and are currently safe to log into and play.
First off, we are sorry that this happened. We know how important your franchises are to you and we are actively working on a fix to restore some files via a backup as soon as possible. However, not all affected leagues can be restored. The team is currently projecting around 40% of leagues to be recovered. We will communicate an updated timeline next week around the potential restoration of save files from a backup.
If you logged in during the above window, we encourage you to start a new franchise as theEA mode is up and running. Stay tuned to @MaddenNFLDirect for updates around Franchise restoration.
Is SG really that bad? I’ve played games by SG, Zynga, 2K, EA sports and I don’t notice that much difference between them. I even have friends that play Magic the Gathering that have said the money grabbing has gotten worse recently.
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This game is now listed as a Zynga game. No mention of SGG now. Does that studio still exists? It should, as a TT 100% subsidiary.
I have been following gaming industry reports in Pocket Gamer. Generally, 2022 gaming revenue was down due to life returning to normal. 2023 doesn’t look good generally, but then new markets (India, ME) may fill the “revenue void”.
As for business ethics, based on my preference for supporting indie studios or smaller outfits, I would say that the indie studios/smaller outfits make Zynga look like a Devil in disguise. Not a fair comparison because Zynga is a behemoth compared to these much smaller outfits.
Different aims. Different strategy. And all that.
Zynga’s behaviour is typical for an entity focused on making money and tons of it. Their CS could do with an overhaul but then this may not be a concern for them. They focus on that whale group whose spend powers their monthly revenue takings. Based on what happened post first AQ-CoK, This group does have a direct line to SGG/Zynga.
The speed of the recent Musketeer “disaster response and relief program” was impressive. Was it because a few top tier competitive players posted that they were exiting ? We will never know.
As for account loss, it can happen to any game. It’s unfortunate but it happens. Nobody wants this. But it can happen.
So… is Zynga really that bad?
Since Zynga acquired this game, focus has shifted from event / game quality to portal revenue quality, to recoup their investment ASAP. Nerf rate has increased dramatically. Game economy initiatives disguised as Buffs.
I would say that Zynga’s behaviour is expected. Not good. Not bad. Expected.
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This is a good way of phrasing it. Many things SG does I understand because it’s something I would do if I were running things for them.
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In their favourite parlance: WORKING AS INTENDED
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People don´t understand the fact that SG/Zynga or whoever owns them as well as any other computer game company are companies. In the capitalistic system we live in they have one job and one job only: to earn money.
They are not a NGO or a social project whose goal is to make people happy.
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It’s funny how things we expect to hate we rationalize later.
I used to use 20+ flasks every Atlantis. With the cap on seadragons, I don’t feel the need to push past the 40 I get (loot is nice, but the coins are more important to me). So now I use 10-15 flasks.
And I’m happier…I think
It’s nice not obsessing over hitting a few buttons every 2-3 minutes. I don’t have fun doing AR farming, so this cap has one plusside. I have been using flasks elsewhere and it’s just mentally less taxing to take away two full days dedicating it solely to AR farming.
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It’s like stock analysts - each has a rating. Avoid all the ones that have a 10% success rate, and only look at those with a 70 or higher
Imagine if we had a rating system for each person on the forum…
(sorry a bit late to your party)
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Sorry for the double post, but I couldn’t help but think of how wrong the “if he goes off, you win” is - just think of facing Ludwig or any riposte character using Azlar …
More like if you include vanilla Azlar in your team line up…you automatically lose
“if (s)he goes off, you win” → guys, have you met Khufu and his girlfriend Anne?
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How about when farming 8-7 and you fire Azlar you win?
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Knowing this has changed my perspective as well. I used to rage at SG/Zynga a lot. Then some posters here shared that other gaming companies do similar things. That made me realise it’s the industry as a whole that’s like that, and now I can better accept the business model. Not to say I like it, but I have a better appreciation of reality and it’s helped me enjoy the game more by lowering my expectations
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I think you can easily go up another level, it´s not the gaming industry, this is how capitalism works. In any industry. You do what you can to earn money unless somebody stops you. And when you earn money you try to earn more. If a supermarket can make more money by doubling the price of milk, they will. They don´t care if you have milk in your fridge or not. They only care if they make more money. If people stop buying milk altogether or at another shop where milk is still original price the supermarket will reduce the price of milk again, if people complain and buy expensive milk anyway, the supermarket doesn´t give a damn and will be celebrated by its shareholders for being a more profitable company. Exchange 2 words and the story fits any industry or company.
And I fully agree wit your conclusion, in RL as in this game: lower your expectations.
Don´t expect them to be nice, just because you think they should be. If you want them to be nice, you need to make sure that you pay them for being nice. If you pay them when they behave horribly, then that is what they will keep doing.
If you want kindness for other reasons than money, you need to go somewhere, where people do not earn money. some idealistic NGO, some government support program, a charity or maybe even: a FRIEND 
Anyway fun discussion! Cheers!
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indeed, good discussion as you say, it’s like airlines. pay cheap for a budget one, and most amenities aren’t there. a premium one gives nicer food and more leg room, but of course costs more
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As much as my job is to make capitalitistic decisions to increase profits, I don’t love seeing it used against me by other companies.
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On your latest post, as far as I am concerned, SG/Zynga/TT is no different to any other company that relies on revenue from lootboxes.
I absolutely detest lootboxes (because I think they are basically disguised gambling), which also makes me playing this game a living contradiction 
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I’ll ask you to answer on behalf of everyone: What’s wrong with gambling?
I don’t gamble. But I’m not too concerned about others doing.
Similar to any other company that wants to capitalize on irrationability.
Or is it a kids thing?
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would you consider this Karma ?
I get what you mean. It’s easier to decide in RL.
Take the case of my (used to be favourite) mini pineapple tarts:
Once upon a time
Many many years ago
I chanced upon a local bakery
Known for their local pastries
That began the annual pilgrimage
Every Chinese New Year
An order was placed
Minimum order $ increased by Year
Not a deterrent
Till product was removed for CNY
Only available via nepotism
Family member request
Family friend request
Friend of Family member
And so on and so forth
I still had access
But grew weary of the process
Decided to search anew
Providence shined on me
Spotlighted their competitor
Product just as good
Process is a breeze
All smiles now as it should be
For a traditional pastry
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It’s mainly a kids thing; I am pretty sure I gave a long winded answer back in 2020 in another heated debate thread on lootboxes…I’ll have to find the thread…
I probably don’t need to repeat the argument re kids - ie. that you can’t really police kids playing this game (or other games like it for that matter), and their exposure to lootboxes is likely to instill a culture of gambling in them at a young age
Adults - is more a grey area (I get that many adults enjoy gambling for entertainment, as one of many vices out there) but what I’m more concerned about is the vulnerable who probably can’t control themselves. I’m not endorsing a nanny state by any means, but it does make certain people more vulnerable and frankly I don’t think there is ever going to be a clean solution (people want to enjoy their gambling, so there will naturally be a social cost to this that can’t be changed - it is what it is)
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