šŸ§Ŗ The Beta Beat (v23) [NOW RELEASED] ā€“ Sharing the Big Picture on What's Going on in Beta: Stronghold 22/23 & Alchemy Lab, New Challenge Event Heroes, New Knights of Avalon & Pirates of Corellia Challenge Events, Costumes, November/December HOTM

I actually donā€™t remember, unfortunately, and I didnā€™t document that.

I remember thinking during Beta that I should, but to be frank, my disappointment with Alchemy Lab made it hard for me to want to spend a ton of additional time documenting it at the end of Beta before release.

Maybe @MAGS661 documented which Levels unlock additional simultaneous Transmutations when upgrading in the live game. Any idea?


Alchemy Lab maxes out at 3 simultaneous Transmutations, so the ability to run more at once definitely unlocks at specific Levels. Iā€™m just not sure which unlocks the second and third.

4 Likes

Thank you again!!! That reduces the necessary time to gather 10k alkashards, 65 to 70 days i think, depending on which levels are used for alchemy :slight_smile:

Any info on what event will be in November?

Not yet, they havenā€™t announced the plan for November.

2 Likes

Levels 1-4 only 1 transmutation at a time.

Levels 5-7 only 2 transmutations at a time.

Levels 8-10 10 only 3 transmutations at a time.

8 Likes

Awesome, thanks! Iā€™ll add that to the top post of the Alchemy Lab FAQ.

2 Likes

Wuawww, 2 months and I donā€™t know how many thousands gems to get 10000 alkashards, so I can get one chance to get one material Iā€™ve been waiting for two monthsā€¦
I think itā€™s easier to get it in the 120 or so , mystics visions i can see in two months.
I would say that the chances may be higher in mystic visionsā€¦

Now, that I realize. I think SG should reduce the loot of mystic vision because it is unfair to people who spend thousands of gems to get 10000 alkashards and get worse loot.

#Ironic mode OFF#

1 Like

Pretty much so!!! They have pretty much ignored all suggestions thus far when it comes to cost, time, etc

Thanks empire and puzzles for making more random things that wastes everyoneā€™s time such a joke. Canā€™t they do something the players actually want? Like converting a 3* items into a 4* without costing gems and tons of recourses oh yeah and itā€™s random lmao. Such a sick joke almost like they enjoy getting are hopes up this community deserves more. It just shows how greedy they are and the funny thing is there are so many more free to play games that gross much more money than EP I in fact play them more often because they donā€™t rip me off like EP also I spend money on them. EP drives me to not spend a dime I donā€™t get much for my dollar. They go after the few that like spending tons of money on a game. While the masses that might enjoy this game get turned off because of how expensive it can be and play other games and give them small amounts of money but small amounts add up and thatā€™s why they actually hurt there income by being so damn greedy firsthand I can tell you this has happened to me I quit spending even on VIP. There are too many games that are just as good that donā€™t require a fortune to play and be competitive. Just said that the alchemy lab is more of the same.

2 Likes

But thereā€™s quite a lot who spend money, they grossed 500mil recently

1 Like

Timeā€¦ They would not want to meddle with, my thought is the longer it is, the farther it pushes the end game and objectively keep players on.
And for the costā€¦wellā€¦ revenue has to come, these two factors cost and time are essential to the business in a wayā€¦just my guess.

If you look at the top grossing mobile games most are much more free to play friendly and cost way less. Yeah I know there are wealthy people who donā€™t mind spending a lot or people that just make bad choices with there money and would rather pay a game over having a house nice car ECT. But a lot less than the amount of people that would spend if it was reasonable.

1 Like

My guess is a lot of people that played this game havenā€™t played a game that has good management itā€™s a world of difference I really like the match 3 RPG style but thatā€™s about it when they update they have no information on it or very little is just very poorly ran

Empires and Puzzles is Zyngaā€™s top grossing game title.

And Small Giant is doing it with fewer staff members than most game studios ā€” thus a higher profit margin.

What do you think that says about the market?


What would ā€œgood managementā€ entail in this context?

Just more communication about updates?

2 Likes

Well thatā€™s a start balancing heroes preventing power creep, buffing and nerfing based on statistics of game play, definitely need more communication. I might be spoiled because I play supercell games and have been for a long time and the designers have aYouTube channel for there games and they talk to the players and actually when a player has a request and thereā€™s enough of us they change things constantly tweaking The Meta and the balance of the game to make it interesting things donā€™t get stale that way. They also support their YouTubers who make content for their games and give them a Creator code so they get a little bit of the proceeds from the gems people spend giving them reason to make good content.

2 Likes

Iā€™d certainly love to see that.

Weā€™ve been working as volunteer moderators to increase the flow of information, but we are a very, very far way away from anything like that.


I can see the merit of this, though I personally have mixed feelings about the premise of players being compensated for content creation.

To me itā€™s much like the discussions about compensation for volunteer moderators ā€” which every one of us has strongly opposed.

3 Likes

I think there is a standard to how many viewers watch their videos and the type of content they create they have rules before you would get any kind of compensation and itā€™s not a ton of money itā€™s a little bit but everything helps Iā€™m not a YouTuber myself but it would be nice to have people that really break things down and have reason to do it. I get that itā€™s a small company but everything has to grow and they can make this game way more player friendly and people like me would probably spend money again the only reason I donā€™t is because I feel like Iā€™m getting ripped off also I think they take RNG too far thereā€™s a lot of games where they have different ways to guarantee you get something for your money eventually. In one game I played thereā€™s a luck factor the longer you donā€™t get a legendary hero closer percentage you have to getting one itā€™s not a lot but little by little. I just wish they were more player-friendly I still like this game donā€™t get me wrong and not thinking about quitting but it sucks that I canā€™t spend money on this game. Iā€™m sure thereā€™s a lot of people like me that would like to spend some money

1 Like

As far as moderaters not familiar with everything they do and Iā€™m not sure how that would work but maybe some type of in-game reward

1 Like

I definitely agree with that, Iā€™ve been a frequent proponent of Shards, Pity Timers, and removal/reduction of RNG from many game elements.

But itā€™s quite clear that the game designers really like unshaped RNG ā€” there seems to be almost a religious adherence to it.


The fascinating thing to me is that many players ā€” myself included ā€” have reduced or eliminated spendingā€¦

ā€¦and yet itā€™s clear that other players have not, judging by Small Giantā€™s continued high revenue.

For all the criticism of the game design, RNG, and offers, they seem to be working for revenue generation.


Thatā€™s one of the ideas players have brought up before, and all of the volunteer moderators have consistently opposed.

None of us wants to feel like our roles as moderators are a job, nor that weā€™ve been ā€œboughtā€ ā€” weā€™re all free to critique the game and give honest feedback just like any other players. Anyone who reads my posts on the Forum regularly would certainly see that Iā€™m a frequent critic of Summoning RNG and Alchemy Lab, and have often recommended that players reduce their spending and stick to budgets.

I like that I can make those criticisms, and also know that when I praise an element of the game, other players know Iā€™m doing so equally out of my own opinion ā€” and not because I feel obligated to because Iā€™ve been gifted some reward in the game.

5 Likes

Hrmā€¦Iā€™d argue that they are in fact ā€œdoing itā€

The game worksā€¦mostlyā€¦
The bugs are fixedā€¦ eventually
The feedback from beta ā€¦ wellā€¦ you see what Iā€™m getting at?

2 Likes