Style of Play

General Discussion
23

That’s interesting. So far as I am aware, the advantages to mercing have now been constrained to the point where it’s fair. (At least to the mercs - I still consider it a moral wrong on the part of the alliances that use them.) I can’t see why anyone would be hugely bothered by them now.

Edit: Well, I just read the thread you referred to (I’m included). If the statements made are accurate, it seems that there are once again massive potential advantages that accrue to any player who chooses to merc, and thus massive incentives for players to quit their alliances. This does need to be fixed, if the devs want players to stay in alliances, otherwise players like me (I just passed 666 days in the same alliance) won’t stick around in the same place. Hardly anyone would, and that would probably be a bad thing for the game.

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24

But didnt we have alliances before the merc nerfs?

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25

Yes. But mercing was much more widespread and alliances were much less sticky. It wasn’t a great situation, and that was when the advantages of mercing were not well known. When I realised how significant those advantages were, it was an epiphany - I immediately felt like a complete chump for having stuck with one alliance and I resolved to live the rest of my game life like Caine from Kung Fu or Hannibal Smith from the A Team.

Then, before I could quit my alliance for a life as a hired gun, the nerfs kicked in. Seems like emblems have now changed things back.

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26

No one is anti merc. HOWEVER some top alliances are mercing rare 5 star titans just to farm bonus emblem loot. It becomes a “you must merc or you cannot keep pace”. the extra emblems from farming low level non challenging rare titans is considerable. the bonus lootnis supposed to only be available to people who are in the alliance when the titan drops. This was coded before emblems came out and many feel this was an oversight and you shouldn’t get emblems from mercing rares.

it’s just as much a non intended loophole as using beta to test play monthly events…

however if sgg says that was intended (my personal opinion is doubtful) then top alliances will have to change to allow mercing or fall WAaaaaaay behind in emblem collection. it will become a merc or fall behind game.

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27

This is the essence of the problem.

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29

I’m not sure why socialization would need to be in contrast to loot earning. Intrinsically, war and titan killing are group activities. Whether you choose to make them social or not should definitely be a matter of choice, though.

The real question is, do you want to incentivize persistent groups, transitory groups, or neither?

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30

exactly this - if sgg says mercs should get bonus loot like emblems, then so be it. but based on their previous stances we believe that’s not the intent and a loophole.

others have argued successfully about other unintended loopholes in various game mechanics due to the order of how new content was added vs coding of older content, most recently doing non-new monthly events in beta, and I personally feel this falls in the same category.

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31

Beta isnt accessible to everyone

No one is stopping you guys from mercing

32

LMAO, Merc or fall behind…ROFLMAO

That’s comical. I hope they don’t nerf Mercs any more than already done. This is exactly what I was referring to in my OP. Players trying to dictate how others should play claiming it’s not fair. There’s so many unfair things in life, forcing others to okay a game your way is that important? I feel that it’s unfair that people played when mats dropped more frequently…I didn’t have that advantage…perhaps SG should give extra mats to new players because they missed out on the windfall of time past? That’s ludicrous. Just like making others play a game your way.

33

If the devs listen to the gripes of top alliance players and ignore what others think, then that’s unfair. Just because you have a stream or a channel don’t make you any better or worse than anyone else. This whole thing is absurd.

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34

Players will be in alliances with or without mercing

Mercing takes time

More mercs in the game just means more competition for mercing which makes it even harder

Which in turn makes players likely to still be in alliances as well.

It’s all just “he’s getting somethin i dont” bs and tide always turns for a player or alliance depending on which side of the fence they’re on.

Those too lazy to merc, hate it and want it banished or at least unrewarded.

Those willing to put in the time and effort to succesfully merc would like rewards like everyone else even though they may not have the convenience of squatting in 1 active alliance for months or years

35

SGG has clearly shown they don’t want the game at the top to be a “merc or fall behind”. that’s where this is coming from. If that has changed, then behavior will change but there’s 18 months of decisions from SGG that say this is not the case.

36

No worries, no one is takin u guys out of the top 5 by mercing lol [edited by Rook]

95% positive those changes by SG have come after complaints by the way

Not putting the time of searching and contacting to prove it because at the end of the day it doesnt matter

Some people have always gotten their way and always will

You guys wanted 12s to remain the top titan

Well now 12s are being killed within the first half of spawn time

Now you guys are mad that others have found more productive things to do gameplay wise than just sit around and wait for the next titan

Sounds like a problem that wouldnt exist if 12s wouldnt have been made the cap of the titan chain.

Mercing isnt effecting any other alliance in a negative way

Helps bottom, mid, and now even some top alliances

But because you guys choose not to merc then you guys dont like it so therefore no one should do it and when in a corner you guys just pass the buck off to SG as culprits

SG normally implements new changes and features due to player requests and complaints

Guess who has always complained about mercing as far back as i can remember?

Again mercing is a pretty fair game. Not everyone will do it. Some will. Just a strategic way to play the game, just like choosing to compete for top ranks in challenge events.

Opportunity is there for all. Those that dont put in the time/effort to take advantage of it, will bash it. Those that reap the rewards will defend it.

I’m just the guy in the middle with an opinion that got tired of watching 1 brand steamroll their way through the game and started speaking up about it.

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37

People who never mercs should not talking about mercing. I mean real mercing, the one that really gave me back then much more materials of regular playing.

I really think i deserved that for so much effort. Much more then staying at top and just kill whatever comes to me because all of my team is great.

Not anyone can be a real merc.
If you think so you are wrong.
Mercing meaning gain much and lose much at the same time.
Programming. Betting. Analize and so on…

38

No one is bashing mercs. and it’s not about “getting our way”. but in a competitive game, where margins are slim st the top, we need to know what’s allowed and what’s not. There’s a difference between what’s allowed because it’s intended and what the game mechanics allow because of how coding works and people didn’t think to implement certain things (ie turning off emblems for rares if you weren’t there at the start). I and others are looking for an answer as to “how is it supposed to be and what will it be like going forward”. if it’s no change then it’s no change, so be it.

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39

To my knowledge, no one has claimed mercing is unfair. It is perfectly fair.

But as matters stand, there are strong incentives to merc instead of sticking with an alliance for the long term. The devs have previously indicated that they do not want players to switch in and out of alliances frequently. If that is still the case then they probably need to nerf mercing to remove (or reduce) those incentives.

If that was the case then it might mitigate the situation, but I don’t think it is right. I dunno - need to think about this some more.

There is some truth to this. I don’t want the incentives to merc to be such that I can’t resist it. If they do turn out to be so great then I’ll just put on my mercing hat and get to it - but based on the devs’ previous comments, I don’t think this is what they want.

That’s definitely not true of the first merc nerfs. The player base in general (at least as represented here on the forum) was baffled as to what could be behind them. It took some rather vague hints by the devs followed by some decent analysis to divine exactly what was happening, and why. It’s fair to say, I think, that the whole thing was pretty surprising to most.

40

A post was merged into an existing topic: Gifting gems to others

41

It’s not the mercs shouldn’t get good loot. My view is that it should be similar to the loot a similar player gets in an alliance. Peoplemshould play whichever way they’d like, but the loot shouldn’t be markedly better on one path than another. In particular, given the commercial value to SGG of maintaining a strong social element to the game, loot should have a slight tilt towards alliances. Emphasis on slight.

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42

My only experience with mercs were the uninvited ones who joined our alliance when we were mid-level and had spots avaiable with an open invite.

We were struggling, at that time, perhaps with a 7 star titan. The merc would come in with their powerful team (at that point 3500) and we were so excited to welcome them as new members. They rarely said “hello” to our welcomes, helped us defeat the titan, landing in top spot, then leaving again. Now, we were left to face the next, now stronger titan on our own.

It also made me leery of any new, stronger member who legitimately joined us. I didn’t trust them, or want to get attached to them, not knowing if they genuinely wanted to be with us. I found it disruptive to our alliance.

I have no problem with alliances asking for mercs to come help them with a tough, or rare titan. It’s at least “honest” and both sides are agreeing to the offer.

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43

Moderator’s note: “naming and shaming” is not tolerated. Make your case without attacking other specific players or alliances.

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