The answer is already in the game

So, I have been playing for about 4 to 5 months now, and I can relate to the general frustration everyone has with regards to 3* and 4* ascension drops. A number of great ideas on how to increase those drops have been suggested, many of which, however, would likely require fairly large-scale changes from the Devs (entire new mission categories, etc). The answer, as I see it, is already in the game in the form of Rare Quests.

Most of us playing the game, and RPG fans in general, are goal-oriented people. We want to rise up to meet the challenges required to move forward; sometimes those challenges can be met quickly, sometimes they take a lot of time, thought, and dedication, but regardless, we feel a need to know what it is going to take to achieve the next level of success or at the very least that it is up to US and not some random computer quirk. This is what makes the 3* and 4* drops frustrating, itā€™s not really a ā€œchallengeā€ at all. Going through the motions and just praying the probability gods drop something in your lap so you can move forward is counter-ethical to what makes us fans of RPGs at the base level.

Therefore, my suggestion would be to keep the drops the same, you canā€™t have every casual player throwing down fully ascended 5s. But make the Rare Quests, where there are 5 levels, each progressively harder, an every 6 day feature. Rotate the elements each time, but if you meet the ā€œhardā€ challenge each week you are guaranteed a 3 ascension item. Meet the ā€œvery hardā€ challenge and you are guaranteed a 4*. At a standard elemental rotation, thatā€™s one of each a month. If Iā€™ve been playing forever, and all I need is that 1 warm cape, it might be 3 weeks away, but at least I know when itā€™s coming and I can plan my gameplay around it. And by all means, MAKE IT A CHALLENGE. No giving stuff away, you should have to work to get them, but I honestly believe players will go all-out to get these items on a weekly basis. If Iā€™m 200 power short of the 4* item, but I reaaaallly need it, Iā€™m bringing a full suite of battle items in and going 100% for it.

Thanks.

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Yup. What he said.
(And a few characters more to satisfy the forum police)

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I will click the little heart thingie for that very logical well thought out piece that will be totally ignored by devs, if they even bother to look at itā€¦

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Awesome. :call_me_hand:

(20 characters)

Yep. agree to the thoughts put above.
Definitely A little less dose of chance or randomness or probabilities or RNG or call what you will :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: and a hint more of assured drops or some definite strategy to grow or some mix of RPG/RTS in the game will be a great welcome feature :sunglasses:

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Heck, if it was even every two weeks per quest appearance it would be more frequent.

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Didnā€™t they change the rewards recently so that the 4th level gives a 3* ascension item and the last level gives a 4* ascension item? The only thing missing is the regular rotation. And I think the rewards donā€™t necessarily match the quest color.

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Rewards match the quest since quite a few updates ago. The problem was they had a rare quest with no color but showed green causing confusion. I believe they fixed that in 1.6 or 1.7

This is a very good idea so it will probably never happen.

Remember that this game is only about making them money. They donā€™t give a ratā€™s ā– ā– ā–  about improving the game, unless itā€™s off course about improving revenues.

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I actually think the idea will also serve to increase SG revenue from the game. People are most inclined to spend money on an app game A) at or near the very beginning; and B) when they are preparing for something . Example, I know that I have one week to get my power up 100 or 200 points to get the poison darts Iā€™ve been waiting months for. Now, if ever, is when Iā€™m buying gems to make sure it happens. Especially if SG is running a deal.

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And to debate it other way, the Halloween gem deal they have out right now is actually really good. Ten bucks for what is, effectively, 5 pulls from the elemental summon is really good. A month ago I probably would have jumped at that, but I canā€™t ascend the heroes I have now, with no path or knowledge of when I will. What is my motivation for spending $10 to go get more heroes with no path to ascension? Give me that slow, slogging, ticking path and there is no question I would take advantage of this offer.

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How very good this sounds! Iā€™m stuck with my heroes non acsended foreverā€¦ The wanted chest comes every 3rd month for me, the rare quests are indeed rare and there is no other way to get the ascention mats. Iā€™m about to quit,the very nice guild is the only reason Iā€™m still playing. I finish the titans every day we other an A, never ever any ascention mats. The map I have finished. Please give me something more! Or this is it for meā€¦ really.

You say that the Halloween deal is good, but it just means more 3* and 4* heroes that you cannot even ascend because you do not get the materials you need. Spending $10 on something you do not need in the first place is really not a very good deal if you think about it.

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I strongly agree with what you say. And there is no satisfaction, no sense of accomplishment in things dropping out of the air by the RNG. Make us work for it, make it too hard for me but so I can work toward it. I fear they are wrecking this game.

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And my very last add to all this (if, by some miracle a Dev should stumble upon it), is that my proposal would also open back up a portion of the game that, for all intents and purposes, becomes completely meaningless after about a month of playing. Both the common and uncommon quests, as they are, are functionally useless to a very large majority of players. With the exception of the gem quests, there is nothing in there worth spending time on. I have, currently, 1172 common herbs and 450 clean cloths. I donā€™t really need another one.

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Interesting read and ideaā€¦ i like the thought process put into this. Maybe a satff can pole this notion and make ready implementation LOL

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You have it in one @Aboisso . Iā€™ve been making the same point just about every time I post about the in-game economy.

Itā€™s a false economy if SG think that keeping things mean will boost their revenue. I already passed on 1 good special previously because I didnā€™t see the value (because of the RNG)ā€¦ and Iā€™ve not yet taken this Halloween one for the very reason you stated.
I already have a mature team. Iā€™ll blow 10 bucks to essentially get more 3* and 4* which wonā€™t be as good as my mains (because Iā€™ve had plenty of time to weed out the weak) so Iā€™ll essentially be flushing it down the can. In the event I do get something good, Iā€™ll be stuck on the very same ascension items I need for my mains.

Result: I still wonā€™t spend, even though itā€™s good value for gems. (I can afford them. I choose not to pay them though, because the NET value sucks).

SG are getting it so wrong. Itā€™s similar to the economic law on taxationā€¦ lower the tax rate and you actually increase revenue because people feel itā€™s good value to pay. Same hereā€¦ reward the playersā€™ spend and they will spend.

I love your reasoning behind it - spot on. This game is appealing because it plays to the RPG crowdā€¦ but as you say they are not actually rewarding effort in the classic way that RPG does.

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I dunno. I hear ā€œSG give us good deals!ā€ When they do, everyone is too busy kvetching about it and calling it a bad deal. :confused:

The answer is: Itā€™s a mix of both. Why?

The Halloween Gem deal is potentially a good dealā€¦ this is based solely on the effective price of its gems versus the standard published gem price (the other items are meh and I discount them ā€“ you can get them from maps).

But in this case ā€˜goodā€™ is a relative term. Whether itā€™s good in absolute terms boils down to the actual value of gemsā€¦ and this is where the problem lies.

Gems are high value for a newer player. Why? Because they are more likely to get a good uplift in team power by spending them. The value of gems drop for more mature playersā€¦ because they will need to spend a heck of a lot more of them to get any team uplift. More so if they also have mature alternate teams. So gems for mature players need a much lower monetary value to be considered worth it.

So while a newer player should not hesitate to grasp the Halloween special (gems for almost half published price), players with mature teams may balk because thereā€™s a much higher chance that they will get nothing from it.

Result: A mixed message of what construes ā€˜goodā€™.

Even I have said the Halloween special is ā€˜goodā€™ ā€“ but that is only on gem price. Given my reasoning above I would modify my statement to say it is only an ā€˜okā€™ deal. For ā€˜goodā€™ I expect my monetary spend to give me definite uplift in some aspect of the game rather than just a cheaper form of gambling with an outcome that is stacked against me if I already have a good team.

This, quite simply is why I havenā€™t taken the offer yet. If it really were ā€˜goodā€™ I would have snapped it up in a second.

SG have got it wrong on the game economy. (Stuck recordā€¦ but for good reason I feel).

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I bought it. My 3rd such purchase (since Iā€™m notoriously tight-fisted). :grin:

Iā€™m rather low on the totem pole (no 5* yet), so itā€™ll prolly be a good deal for me. :wink: