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Thread: Getting back to gameplay

  1. #1
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    Getting back to gameplay

    I've noticed a worrying and somewhat depressing trend recently towards new content being obviously slanted towards trying to make people spend real money - and not just a little money, either.

    Recent example: oil refinery. As with several new buildings, it's not a proper production building so can't be buffed - to make it work faster you have to have multiple buildings. This makes the production of buffs increasingly pointless - and worse, if you want any number of those you have to buy them for ~10K gems each, which is a not-insignificant amount of real money - many times more gems than you can earn in any reasonable time just by playing.

    Another example is event rewards. Used to be that by solid gameplay through an event such as Halloween, you could buy pretty much all the rewards in the shop. You had to work for it, which is only fair, or if you weren't prepared to work so hard, you could spend money to get extra.

    Now this year, we see that the best bundle in the shop is ONLY for gems. You can't play for it at all. Also, if you wanted all those dark trees and a second one of each to boost the production (because, again, not buff-able) it costs more pumpkins than it's possible to make, and that's without counting any other rewards you might want.

    Another event aspect that has become less worthwhile is adventuring. A few years back, triple loot was introduced during events. It applied to a relatively small list which was different each time - and it was fun because it made some adventures which ordinarily aren't that rewarding worth playing - it rejuvenated the game and made events something to look forward to.

    Now, we have a big list of nearly every adventure, and the loot is only double not triple. The result is that when it's event time, everyone wants a pile of Arctic Explosions to run, because that brings most loot for the time/troops used. Worse, it's boring and grind-y. We also see a more or less endless string of short events in between the 3 "big" events; viz. Christmas, Easter and Halloween, but again those events are full of new opportunities to spend gems, which, even if you buy exclusively in happy hours, aren't cheap.

    All in all, it feels to me that the game is becoming more and more slanted towards making people want to spend money to get ahead and the interest and gameplay is increasingly fading. I get that the game has to make money, because running game servers and employing staff is not free. But you also need PLAYERS and if everyone gets bored or feels that it's becoming a money pit, they will drift away to other things.

  2. #2
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    I agree the game's events are tilted toward spending gems / money.

    Perhaps a subscription model would be better.
    Then developers could enhance the gameplay and enjoyment, rather than encouraging gem spending.

    After the developers get the game ported to Unity technology, perhaps they could reflect on what makes the game fun. It's not spending gems that makes it fun.

    People play video games for the sense of learning, mastery, and accomplishment.
    They play to exercise their personal goals in the game environment.
    They play to relate to other people and compare their accomplishments.
    And they play to get that dopamine rush when they get a reward.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Elgin View Post
    I agree the game's events are tilted toward spending gems / money.

    Perhaps a subscription model would be better.
    Then developers could enhance the gameplay and enjoyment, rather than encouraging gem spending.

    After the developers get the game ported to Unity technology, perhaps they could reflect on what makes the game fun. It's not spending gems that makes it fun.

    People play video games for the sense of learning, mastery, and accomplishment.
    They play to exercise their personal goals in the game environment.
    They play to relate to other people and compare their accomplishments.
    And they play to get that dopamine rush when they get a reward.
    A fair number of people would quit if there was a subscription. This is a game of patience, it is only the impatient who tend to feel the need to buy things with gems.

    There actually is very little that you really need to buy this event, it is mostly small improvements (i.e that tree none of those buffs are game changers, nor the scared explorer, nor the ghost general).

  4. #4
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    BB is like a corner Pizzeria that asks it's customers to come in every weekend and walk out with a large 2 topping pie, 20 wings, a small container of pepperoncini and a 2 liter soda, all free of charge..... plus they give you paper plates & napkins. If you want to upgrade to a supreme pizza, or an extra-large, it's going to cost a little money. If you want to eat pizza and wings more than once a week, you're going to have to pay full price for the extra days you eat there.

    I cannot fathom how any customer could be distrubed with such a generous business model.

    For a little perspective on the difference between events in the past and the current one see the links below. There is literally double or more the amount of items available for purchase in recent events when compared to the past. Mostly because of sheer volume we can't get every single item on offer for free anymore. So? I'd much rather play a game like this where spending money is voluntary, than one that forces me to pay a subscription to get past level 32, thank you very much.

    http://settlersonlinewiki.eu/en/even...2016-merchant/

    http://settlersonlinewiki.eu/en/even...2020-merchant/
    "Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking." ~ Marcus Aurelius

  5. #5
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    Sure you can play for free. But a lot of the new stuff works very slow, and if you want it to work faster you have to get multiple items (and find space for them), and some of those are not just "a little" extra. 10K gems (price of the oil refinery) in my world is not "a little", even if you only buy gems when it's happy hour. Worse, you can't even upgrade or buff the thing when you've got it. You buy it and that's it, sit there looking at it dribbling oil. I have, it's true, so far upgraded both my barracks. But to upgrade any significant number of buildings with one oil mill and one refinery is gonna take years.

    But no, I don't support a subscription model either, it's not that kind of game.

  6. #6
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    I totally agree. The game is getting more and more "gem" focused. Buildings we can't buff & need more of them to be better, faster etc. It just seems that BB is putting too much focus on pumping out more of these buildings as opposed to just offering new regular production buildings that can be buffed with just standard buffs. Would also like to see BB at least add an option for these buildings where by we buy or get the first one, then for subsequent copies, we have the option of either getting the building or getting blue prints to upgrade an existing one. Esp since most of them don't let you produce stuff in each one individually anyway

    x3 loot on that small number of adventures during event doesn't exist anymore.

    You practically have to be on premium to gather enough fill to keep the patches full. Either that or you almost have to pound the adventures from sun up to sun down to get enough fill to cover your patches since it feels like about 70-80% of the time you only get the minimum fill. Thankfully I'm premium and can actually do a lot of adventuring. But can't imagine what it's like for those not on premi or who don't have the time to be on more then a few hrs a day

    I like that they do add new stuff. Just wish they also increased the amount of pumpkins you can get from stuff to allow to be able to get a bit more stuff. I will likely end up getting some stuff. But also will probably be helping some of our newer/lower level guildies get some expos and gens too. But when two of the expos are over 4k and gens start at over 5k, it will make it harder for the players with not many expos to get a lot of pumpkins.

    I know BB needs to make $$ off the game. However it is a fine balance. I am one who does spend $$ on the game. But it is honestly starting to feel like they want us just spending more and more. And until just the past week or two when they announced that they had a new home for the game, I was not wanting to spend $$ on gems till I knew for sure the game was going to still be around in 2 months

  7. #7
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    Have to say, if it'd been me running it that decision and announcement would've been at least 3 months earlier, maybe more. You're not alone in holding off on gem purchase for that reason. That's likely hurt their income and would've easily been avoidable. I realise also that they tend to want to chase the "big spenders", as they bring in money. However, you also need to have things for the people who want to spend 5 bucks - some folks can't afford to spend more than that, yet would still like to support a game they enjoy - and it's a foolish decision in these days not to attract as many revenue streams big and small as you can.

    Other broadly similar games (in operating style, not actual gameplay) that I play have already transitioned away from flash to other platforms weeks or months ago, and here's BB saying they will have to do a stopgap for the first 3 months. Since the "death of flash" has been common knowledge for a year or more, I see little reason to have waited until essentially the last minute to have solid plans.

  8. #8
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    I haven't bought gems for about a year or more because of the impending demise of flash.

    Other games I play either switched to Unity already or have been running it so people can opt in and try it at any time.

  9. #9
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    All I have read above covers a lot of the concerns my guild has, I had a little more free money to buy gems until just recently from having to resign from my job and now layed up with a broken ankle so that leaves what I have now and not buying with gems. The amount of this event for purchasing is just too high for items and now that I can't get into the game to play because there is a failed loading problem that for some reason I can't get support to ck out. I can collect collectables, fill my ph and rph but that's about it. I've noticed too often that just after a fix my computer and laptop develop a glitz that I miss over half of these events. Haven't seen anything about Unity before now but with the current issue of failed to load file exists will it carry over and for the most part WHEN will BB actual move the game. Upcoming events should be looked at on the money making end because of all the players out of jobs, jobs not supporting them to buy into these items and still have this great outlet to release some of their pent up stress trying to survive. With these higher costs in purchasing the items people are just not going to be able to afford and I'm afraid that this game will slowly die and disappear like some r already. Thanks for the outlet Hope it has enough of the topic to post.

  10. #10
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    Getting back to gameplay to me means the strategy of building with limited resources and running adventures and getting away from pure clicking.

    Too much stuff is a good thing - if you are made to choose between various good choices. The blacktree five color model is a good idea, but the top buff in each one should have been different - force some strategy into which you buy and how far to upgrade. Two blues? A blue and a red? etc.

    Sending explorers is pure clicking now. I have like 50, I spend 5-10 minutes every event day sending them. So sick of them I don't send them very often, except for quests and events.

    I wouldn't mind two new gens at the next event, and being allowed to only buy one initially with in game resources, choose your general! Then make them available next year with a max of one of either for in game resources. So get them both in year one (one with event resources, one with gems) if you need to play fast... or if you're patient then you can get the other next year for in game resources... and the gem user can't get a second so it evens up in the end.

    Seems like BB is doing a solid job with new stuff, but there are a few obvious areas to make the game less tedious and feel like it's not pay to win, just pay to advance faster, which most of the time is my favorite thing about TSO over other games. I am not sure how long I'll play beyond 75, and I recognize they have a tough trade off with high-level new content for players with two of everything already vs new player advancement (to get to the high level content!), but I think some quality of life updates should be next. Explorer / Geologist / General sends, buff grouping (so buff all farms with irma's basket at one click, all iron mines next).

    Anyone, sorry kind of got away from your point a little, but with Unity keeping the game around post-flash, they can take a multi-year view on events and let us know, hey - you can only get x of this ever, and it will be back next year for event resources, or you can buy the limit now for gems.

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