I would like to see the pull/summon currency system simplified.
The problem
Empire and Puzzles uses ten different currencies for summons:
- Summon token
- Epic hero token
- Epic troop token
- Atlantis coin
- Valhalla coin
- Legends coin
- Challenge coin
- Costume key
- Tower coin
- Gems
Each currency varies in value.
1 x Summon/epic hero/epic troop token guarantees a single summon.
100 x Atlantis/Valhalla/Legends/Tower coins guarantees a single summon.
10 x Challenge coins guarantees a single summon.
5 x Costume keys guarantees a single summon.
150 - 350 x gems guarantees a single summon.
Note: I do not mention what hero/troop you get from the summon, just that a summon requires a set amount of currency.
Main consideration
A new player cannot access many coins or keys. They are denied the opportunity for newer heroes in the game. Except if they spend gems, or use money to purchase gems to summon. There is no in-game reason why the commander has the use of a hero they haven’t yet met. It is lore breaking (as flimsy as the story might be).
Gems essentially trumps all the tokens, coins and keys for summoning purposes. Lore is obviously not a consideration for summons, so why restrict hero access through currencies obtained via gameplay? And if lore is a consideration, then why aren’t there restrictions for gem usage for summons? This seems inconsistent.
Proposal
I believe the different coins and keys should be simplified to just one type of coin.
Thought process
The tokens are tiered, and should probably be kept as they are. Ideally the Summon token should have the chance at 4/5* as well, though this isn’t part of my proposal.
I think simplifying the current coins and key to a single currency, let’s call it ‘Coin’, would be beneficial.
By doing this it would allow players to spend Coins on whichever summon portal they wish. Elemental? Sure. Atlantis? Yep. Valhalla? Yeah. Seasonal events? Uh-huh. Challenge events? Indeed. Costume chamber? Yea. Tavern of Legends? Yup. Ninja Tower? Yus. Hey, I’m running out of different ways of expressing affirmation! And whatever new portal SGG decide to introduce (because we know they will…).
The values might need some readjusting so cost is uniform. In this case Coins as rewards in Challenge events and Costume Chamber would coincide with a new amount indicating equal worth. As it is ten Challenge coins or five Costume keys are worth the equivalent of 100 Atlantis/Valhalla/Legends coins as they provide a single summon. The farming for Challenge coins can also be adjusted proportionally to fit this new scheme.
Conclusion
I believe simplifying the summoning currencies to a single currency, excluding tokens and gems, would remove complaints about the lack of Atlantis coins and the bottleneck to summons in general for a proportion of the player base.
I don’t believe it would break the game economy, or upset game balance. If it does upset game balance then there is something fundamentally wrong with the heroes which can be summoned, but this would be a separate issue.
Let the yeas and nays begin!
EDIT: corrected Challenge coins amount required for a summon.
EDIT 2: 5th Sept. 2020: browsing around and it looks like Ninja Tower will introduce a new Ninja Tower summon portal and… Tower coins! Will update post when it’s officially released and if I’m still around.
EDIT 3: 14th Oct. 2020: included details on the Tower coins from the Ninja Tower game mode into consideration.