What about a 5:1 exchange rate? Depending on whether you clear GW or place high in arena, and whether you buy shipments from either for non 7* chars, f2p people could exchange for about 2-4 shards per day. Kind of like hard node farming.
Smaller spenders make up the majority of this games income trust me. The same thing happened in the walking dead road to survival, instead of catering for their main audiences they went and screwed everyone over and catered to the big spenders only, the game is now ultimately failing. Went from 10th place on IOS store to 150 in couple of months, these changes are very dangerous because the reason why the walking dead road to survival dropped top grossing from 10th to 150th is because the biggest income was from the small spenders and after the updates most of these audiences stopped paying or left the game simple as that.
Big spenders are a minority compared to the smaller spenders. Theirs 1000 small spenders to every 50 big spenders and if CG want to fly out updates to cater for the whales fine by me but expect to lose your rank on top grossing just a warning.
Qui-Gon progress in cantina currently 4* gear lvl 7.
I really don't understand this trail of thought at all. I paid big and I still get screwed over by free to play teams in the arena on a daily basis.
I've played a lot of other app games. This one is easily among the most generous to FTP players. And I have absolutely zero problems with that. I think that's cool.
Some random user making prophecies of doom and gloom otoh... Those I can do without.
The Shard Shop will have multiple character shards rotated in and out, and may eventually have an exclusive character that has been highly requested by the community
Cannot believe no one has speculated on what EAJesse was talking about.
Did he elude to Yoda? Or what other character could he be referring to?
He didnt elude to yoda that i saw. Hopefully its general grievous tbh
The Shard Shop will have multiple character shards rotated in and out, and may eventually have an exclusive character that has been highly requested by the community
Cannot believe no one has speculated on what EAJesse was talking about.
Did he elude to Yoda? Or what other character could he be referring to?
He didnt elude to yoda that i saw. Hopefully its general grievous tbh
There aren't a lot of " Where's Grevious" threads. Most of them pertain to Jedi Luke and Yoda.
The Shard Shop will have multiple character shards rotated in and out, and may eventually have an exclusive character that has been highly requested by the community
Cannot believe no one has speculated on what EAJesse was talking about.
Did he elude to Yoda? Or what other character could he be referring to?
He didnt elude to yoda that i saw. Hopefully its general grievous tbh
There aren't a lot of " Where's Grevious" threads. Most of them pertain to Jedi Luke and Yoda.
Perhaps not threads dedicated to GG but there is prob just as many "we want grievous" comments as any other toon thus far.
I think one of the frustrations/concerns of the community is the inconsistency of communication from the Community Managers regarding information/updates about the game. Based on what I've seen compared to other Community Managers in other games, it feels like the staff there is inexperienced and winging it. An example would be the communication regarding the last major update. I can't remember a recent instance of how a critical update (i.e. raising level cap) in a game with this kind of following was communicated so poorly to the player base. Many people expressed their frustrations with that and hopefully there is something in motion over on the community team's side to improve upon this.
The ultra hardcore are obviously going to want every bit of information to seize any advantage they can prior to a patch. The developers are going to have a level of comfort of how much information they are going to want to allow players to leverage. Regardless of where the developers land, I believe you guys can improve a ton on starting to set the expectations of the community as to how often we will hear from you with updates or discussion points about the game.
Right now, there isn't a clear system or structure in place to release information. This post from you was fine in and of itself, but people are wondering is this it? Is this the last we will hear from you before the update pops up again in our game client with an Inbox message saying the message was sent to us 11 hour ago? You might be able to temper some of the harsher reactions from people by simply setting the expectation with the community as to when and how often we will hear from you with what you are able to share.
Another mobile game that I play, Puzzle & Dragons, does a much better job with this. Granted it has and will have more players (and as a result a bigger staff) than this game will ever have, but they have multiple updates a week, Twitch streams with the Community Managers, and tastefully blend what is common knowledge of an upcoming release and hints about what could be to come.
The notion that you have to hide the majority of details of an upcoming patch to build maximum hype for an upcoming release is both absurd and outdated. Another game that I play, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn/Heavensward, holds multiple live conferences/streams several times a year with the Producer/Director and Development Team that can last a couple of hours. The results speak for themselves, letting their player base know of what's coming (they obviously still keep some surprises) doesn't kill hype for the update. You could make a strong argument that it actually builds more anticipating and excitement (unless you guys are about to drop a big **** on us).
I understand this is a new game and there isn't going to be as much to say compared to these other games. Can you at the very least start to develop some of sort of regular update system?
@Naecabon it's a preview, just like anything else that gives a preview. When you watch a trailer for a movie do you just want to know everything about it right that second? Why is Rey crying in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer? They should tell me now before I even go to see it!
Also, reacting like this may make us hesitant to share information before a release, so....
Seeing a post like this from an EA Community Manager is discouraging and disappointing. Honestly, in other games it potentially would be grounds for the employee's termination or at the very least an infraction against them. This is a mobile game with a relatively small player base (even less who frequents the forums) and if you can't take the heat from people (responding with a threat to anyone who doesn't just sit and nod at your posts) EA should replace you with someone who can.
This is a huge part of your job responsibilities - listening to people **** and complain. It's no different from any other game that people are passionate about. The only difference is that you have the luxury of having to deal with far less of it.
Smaller spenders make up the majority of this games income trust me. The same thing happened in the walking dead road to survival, instead of catering for their main audiences they went and screwed everyone over and catered to the big spenders only, the game is now ultimately failing. Went from 10th place on IOS store to 150 in couple of months, these changes are very dangerous because the reason why the walking dead road to survival dropped top grossing from 10th to 150th is because the biggest income was from the small spenders and after the updates most of these audiences stopped paying or left the game simple as that.
Big spenders are a minority compared to the smaller spenders. Theirs 1000 small spenders to every 50 big spenders and if CG want to fly out updates to cater for the whales fine by me but expect to lose your rank on top grossing just a warning.
Mobile games do not have a very long life span. Those hardcore fans that spend a lot will be there from day one until the game dies.
@TweetTromp, thank you for that post. I was honestly so upset and disappointed with EA_Jesse's response of "If you keep saying you don't like it and refuse to nod complacently we'll just stop giving information at all" that I really just decided to keep my responses in this thread to a minimum as best I could. It became obvious there was too much going on here and I was far too passionate on this particular subject to make an argument enough people would agree with or understand.
Your post hits it right on the head. It's exactly how I feel and how I felt when trying to make my first posts. I was just seeing red and couldn't get it out as neutral as you managed to. You did it beautifully, bravo.
The key thing I wish people could see about my position on this topic is that this isn't about being afraid about losing on an investment or a desire to see something pay off. It's my desire to be able to actively participate in the support of this game again. I miss opening packs. I miss hunting out the characters I'm missing. I can't do that until this whole Shard Shop thing fixes the glaring issue of opening surplus shards for those of us that open a lot of packs. It stinks, I like the game and I want to be able to support it again some day. But, right now, with how it is, until we know more about what's in store with this mechanic, I simply can't. And I know I'm not alone.
@Naecabon it's a preview, just like anything else that gives a preview. When you watch a trailer for a movie do you just want to know everything about it right that second? Why is Rey crying in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer? They should tell me now before I even go to see it!
Also, reacting like this may make us hesitant to share information before a release, so....
Agreed with the above that this post was highly unprofessional. You are a community manager of the official EA forum. When was the last time you see a moderator on an official forums throw threats at players, and in this instance, at the entire player base? Never. Because such post would've been deleted and some action being taken to the moderator.
@Nonemo Thanks for the kind words.
I think you didn't the get vibe of the stuff i said, at all. Or it was my "fault" by simply sending the wrong message(s). Seems that i wasn't able to package the humorous part of it well enough, probably due to the limitations of this sort of communication medium.
I've played a lot of other app games. This one is easily among the most generous to FTP players. And I have absolutely zero problems with that. I think that's cool.
This was absolutely not my intention. My appologies if it contributed to any kind of negativ thoughts. You or others may have perceived.
What i meant was that I think this new toon which will be introduced via that Shard Shop will be welcomed by everyone! Everyone WILL want that toon. If they do it right, it will create a HUGE amount of hype and exclusivity. As well as add a ton of VALUE to this game. And in the end everyone will be happy once they have said toon.
Considering CG's previous design approaches - and the fact that this game IS indeed one of the most FTP friendly western games of this kind - i STRONGLY believe they will make it ACCESSIBLE to EVERYONE!
Everyone will have a (worthy) goal to grind for. And there WILL be a huge sense of accomplishment for anyone who gets this toon = Is able to max it. This is by no means some kind of "prohecy of doom" or something, in fact it's the actual opposite. This toon will create a long term goal for everyone. And if it's anything like in some other games, will be a lot of fun to play with. I am trully looking forward to this update.
Nonetheless accessibility does not equal availability.
Which WILL result in different tiers of grinds for different tiers of spenders/non-spenders. This here is a business after all. A very good one actually. Everyone will have a chance to get that toon .. at some point.
Biggest spenders first, then the next tier, then the next etc. etc... until some time later... FTP will also have that toon.
Which in itself isn't anything bad. Instead it's the best what they could do, in that they satisfy the demands of their paying customers - in that they create value in form of "exclusivity" - and in that they satisfy the demands of the rest by giving them "something to look forward to". Pretty legitimate in my book.
Also i'm quite unsure how you were able to conclude some prophecy of doom kinda thinking from what i have said. I'm totally fine with whatever approach they choose. I don't hold any prejudices against neither paying players nor free players. To me everyone is equal.
If that toon alone will cost 2k+ to 7*, so be it. If they give it away for free like Kylo, so be it. In the end probably everyone will be able have said toon. And i'm happy for everyone who will get to enjoy this game/toon. It will just be a matter of time. Which will be shortened by the amount you spend/already have spent. This is how it should be in these kinda games IMO. Legitimate in my book.
Keep in mind that creating "exclusivity" = Value isn't as easy as just screwing with pricings like theres no tomorow. You have to create a HUGE demand for it.
In some way there is already a HUGE demand for certain things (i,e: Shard exchanges, Certain characters etc) in this game/community. All they have to do is just (slowly) satisfying said demand(s). - Of course it's a bit more than this but you know what i mean, right.
Lastly: Seriously if they created something "exclusive" - something EVERYBODY wants - obtainable at like half-the-hardmode grind rate = 1-2 Shards a day, would that be that bad?
Today we’d like to give you a preview on one of the big features we’re adding to our next major update in February, the Shard Shop.
This will be the place to trade in those extra shards for characters that you already have at 7 stars. The Shard Shop will have multiple character shards rotated in and out, and may eventually have an exclusive character that has been highly requested by the community
The Shard Shop is just one of the many new features that we’re adding to Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. As we get closer to the next major update we’ll continue to preview content that will be included. Stay tuned!
Cheers
That's nice. I also like that there's a new exclusive toon by this method, this will make it even more appealing both in short and long term, for all the player base, F2P, P2P and P2W.
I'll also speculate a little bit, most likely there'll be a new token, and a buy/sell system for shards, selling based on base * level of the character, and maybe those that are Chromium only being a bit more profitable too.
I'll keep an eye on this, and future updates, after all this is just part 1 of the preview. Thanks for keeping us posted!
@Nonemo If you know all those (similar looking) "eastern, quick cashgrab" apps out there = VIP ****, huge upfront purchases, No-Limit, No-Value.
Then you should have realized by now - CG is in here for LONG HAUL. Not the quick buck.
Anyone who fails to see that this IS indeed one the most FTP FRIENDLY apps out there, just does not have sufficient informations available to him to make the "right" judgement.
But they HAVE TO make volume. --> "Exclusivity" equals to Value in this game.
Value is appreciated by everyone .. at some point. -->Everyone will be happy with the new update .. at some point.
@Naecabon I can't share further details at this time. Feel free to ask your questions over in the thread I just created though.
...why? This is the part I don't understand. You guys have an update coming in a few weeks, you already know 100% what's going in it, you have the ability to answer questions a large portion of your playerbase are hungry to find out more about, and you just... choose not to?
I guess I'm just really having a hard time understanding the company policy you guys have adapted on information pertaining to your game. The Shard Shop is something a lot of your big spenders have been patiently waiting months for, and this isn't really a "preview" at all. This was just confirming what a different dev said weeks ago, in that this was "coming in the next update." We knew that already. This post didn't give us any new information we didn't already have.
Why the tight lips on stuff like this? Why wait until the last possible second when a patch is going live to ACTUALLY preview new content? Is it a concern a lot of us are going to be unhappy with it and you don't want to hear about it prior to launch? I have no idea why else you guys would be so so so adamant of keeping us in the dark as long as possible until the last second.
You sound like a delightful person.
Devs, ignore this one. Probably just mad that his Friday night is... complaining about how a game that's being responsive to its consumers by implementing a trade system has somehow wronged him by not providing enough information on his timetable. Sheesh!
The game is great, you guys are listening to feedback and it's appreciated. Ignore those whose sense of entitlement is irrational.
For me and most F2P players, the shard exchange will not be of much use. When I farmed characters, I completed 7*s pretty accurately like most will so I don't really have many extras. You won't be able to trade otherwise, so this update has no bearing on the game for most. I'd consider this a pay-for customer bonus mostly, which is fine.
What would really make this upgrade good for all is if bugged characters and the targeting issue are fixed also, which is truly something for all, hope to see it...
Good luck with 2:1 lol. Ppl spend thousands to 7* exclusive chars. 7* Lumi takes about 20 days or less
Well, if the exchange rate is too low, there's little incentive to buy Chromium packs. I have 15 toons at 7* now, with two more almost finished. That means the odds are pretty high I'll pull a duplicate from Chromium. Those odds will just continue to increase.
If the exchange rate of surplus shards is low, the effect would be that the game basically punishes people for getting too many characters maxed out. That would not be a good way to get them to spend even more.
And keeping the game alive and fun is a lot about keeping people spending.
The exchange rate should be different for different toons. For example Galactic:exclusive 10:1 but exclusive:exclusive 2:1. There is a huge diminishing return after you get most chars at 7*, getting that last new char to 7* may cost extra several thousands $ because you will keep getting shards for chars that you already have at 7*. So unless you are planning to spend a BMW on this game you wont be able to keep up. Late comer will have advantage. Less incentive to spend more.
The announcement clearly states the new Shard Shop is only applicable to excess shards of 7* heroes, which means,
1. No, we cannot liquidate non-7* heroes to gain shards of the more desirable ones
2. Most players will likely have little use for this shop
3. Whales who have most of their heroes maxed out will have little use as well - unless they can trade in excess shards for credits, materials or gears
The only question is what would be the trade ratio. Hope it is not 1:10 or 1:16 as some people have speculated... I would assume a different ratio based on how rare the hero is. The tricky part is the valuation of the traded in shards. Say someone is trading in a Chromium exclusive shard. That's got to be worth more than a non-Chromium shard, right?
On the flip side, pay-for players will have a costly opportunity to trade in unused shards towards something useful. I cringe at thinking about the exchange rate on this transaction and for a moment feel for the whales because they're pulling all the stops to extract your wealth and I hope you can get some type of ROI for the thousands invested.
It also sounds like you'll receive a special character in this exchange and for me that's fine, you certainly paid for it!! If they could make a consolation to free players, I'd like to see more of the farmable characters available in shipments like Geonosian Soldier, and anyone else who is farmable in shards only. By doing this, the free players can stay competitive as pay-for teams get distance in gear and power over free players. The last thing paying players want is to walk through PVP daily to just buy first place...
The announcement clearly states the new Shard Shop is only applicable to excess shards of 7* heroes, which means,
1. No, we cannot liquidate non-7* heroes to gain shards of the more desirable ones
2. Most players will likely have little use for this shop
3. Whales who have most of their heroes maxed out will have little use as well - unless they can trade in excess shards for credits, materials or gears
The only question is what would be the trade ratio. Hope it is not 1:10 or 1:16 as some people have speculated... I would assume a different ratio based on how rare the hero is. The tricky part is the valuation of the traded in shards. Say someone is trading in a Chromium exclusive shard. That's got to be worth more than a non-Chromium shard, right?
For the sake of argument, if galactic:exclusive is 1:1 many pple will raise one char to 7* and keep buying for extra shards and use that to exchange for exclusive chars -> huge profit loss to EA. If the exchange rate is too low, it would be a useless system.
The exchange rate should be 1:1 BUT only to get a random shard.
Any exchange rate 1:5, 1:10, and so for a specific shard would be awful (if it's the only kind of option) because when you buy a chromium card and get shards for a character you already have up to 7 stars it would mean your chromium card is worth almost nothing, and that would not be a motivation to buy cards.
When a character is 7 stars, you normally never try to get more shards, and only get them at random in GW or cards (or new cantina battle in order to advance) so it would be fair and logical to exchange those random shards for other random shards.
Thanks but something in the back of my mind tells me the rate may excessively not be in our favor especially after seeing the price rate of shards offered in shipments
The exchange rate should be 1:1 BUT only to get a random shard.
Any exchange rate 1:5, 1:10, and so for a specific shard would be awful (if it's the only kind of option) because when you buy a chromium card and get shards for a character you already have up to 7 stars it would mean your chromium card is worth almost nothing, and that would not be a motivation to buy cards.
When a character is 7 stars, you normally never try to get more shards, and only get them at random in GW or cards (or new cantina battle in order to advance) so it would be fair and logical to exchange those random shards for other random shards.
1. Based on what the announcement suggests, I don't think it will be random. Just like Shipment, a number of heroes will be available every 6 hours and you can trade in excess shards for them. I would imagine there is a refresh button in which you can refresh the available heroes for 50 crystals
2. Ideally, the exchange rate would need to be 1:1 because people who paid for a Chromium package and ended up with excess shards (whether a Chromium exclusive hero or not) will be getting diminishing returns otherwise
3. As for potentially abusing the system (i.e. trading in excess Lumi or Sid shards for Chromium shards), I don't think that would be much of an issue because those rare ones will rarely appear in the Shard Shop and I would think there is a limit per transaction (i.e. you can't trade in 100 excess Lumi shards for 100 Obiwan shards)
There have to be some other things that we can exchage with excess shards as well such as Action Point or Gear. Otherwise, it is useless to those that already have maxed out the characters they use.
EA_Jess, please suggest it to the dev team.
Don't bother trying in this thread, it won't do you any good.
This is standard procedure in nearly every online game which delivers content regularly. How is this anything new to you?
Believe me, I've quickly realized I'm in the very small minority here and there's no point in arguing about it because the majority are not whales and the majority don't see our perspective, and we can't make comments that show any sort of disdain in the forums unless we're willing to endure the wrath of the whacists. If you disagree with something you're outed as a crazy person.
Winner winner chicken dinner. You're fighting an uphill battle with no support. The forums or reddit won't be your avenue as you are the very small minority. You're an "evil" whale...you're the 1%er...you're the guy that much of the forum wants to take down. Any post or suggestion you make will get looked at with a critical eye that you're looking out for whales and to smash the little guy.
Segmentation Problem
The fundamental problem I have with these games and I've seen it play out pretty much every time is there's no real customer segment that is targeted. Most businesses have a target segment right? They then build products / content to appease that customer. This type of game spans F2P to the top spender, which is probably you or close to it. They have to balance the game as a result to something in the middle to try to keep everyone happy. In this type of one-size-fits-all approach, the folks on the extremes get the shaft...and this comes down most hard on whales because they have an aggressive appetite to compete / advance / grow. They inevitably hit the whale wall and outspend the content too fast.
Past Example
CG has another game, Heroes of Dragon Age...they came out with this really awesome PVE content update called Nexus. They had 3/4 levels generally: med/hard/very hard/ insane. The difficulty scaled up considerably on insane, but the drop / loot rate was much better as well. Even if you were the whaliest of whales, the Insane level was a big challenge that you wouldn't beat at a high rate without the help of powerful booster runes. So, they tried to create a segment targeted piece of content. You should have seen the backlash and unbelievable wrath of destruction that CG had to deal with on their FB page and on the forums. The F2P / low spender base, which outnumbers the 1%ers by an incredible amount, absolutely flamed non-stop. I mean it made the early Barriss / Dooku threads here look tame. Many of them just couldn't even come close to competing in that content and weren't happy that all the good loot / drop rates were only available to whales. Massive, massive PR problem. The end result was CG had to nerf the difficulty of nexus overall, and in particular the insane mode...the evil whales lost their only source for challenging content and they also nerfed the value / appeal of the drops that were in Nexus as a result of the nerf to difficulty. This was necessary because the value to spend / cost ratio was then way out of whack and acquiring good stuff was then too easy and cheap. This was a sad event for me and others that enjoyed that content, but you just have to realize what you're getting in to.
Hope in the Battle
I will give you some hope in general though...once there is guild war content is in place that will give the whales something to be invigorated about as there will be a challenge in the form of facing other whales and the satisfaction of competing / winning. This game boils down to 2 objectives really: 1. Acquiring heroes 2. Winning / competing. Whales will always suffer from #1 because once you have all toons ... that part of the content is gone. #2 isn't there now because PVE content gets steamrolled by whales and PVP is likely pretty easy depending on the server and it's kind of repetitive after 2 months anyway so it's not all that exciting / fun even if you do get #1.
Shards not the Cure
I'd honestly have been more excited about guild content or expanding PVP somehow. Shard exchange, if you think about it won't really change the game for you. No matter what it could offer, essentially it's going to offer you just something that goes back in to #1 above...either more heroes or something to build a hero. At your rate of advancement you'll burn through that instantly and be right back in the same position. Sure you'll get to use some wasted resources that is a nuisance right now, but it's not materially changing your issue long-term. What we need is #2 above...competing / winning.
Old Man Advice Time
Just to be clear, my roster is definitely on the advanced side (as it was in HoDA) and I'd be bucketed on a spend scale with you generally. I have Jinn, Maul, FOTP, and Leia ..for example..all at 6* as a minimum. I'm not at level 70 like you, but I'll be at 68 today, which is among the higher levels relative to the general population. You're just going way too fast man. You're blowing through the content and the game will struggle to meet your pace, giving you little to look forward to day to day. I'll share my approach on toon acquisition that still provides me with excitement about content coming up. I've had Dooku at 6* for weeks now - don't recall how long. I stopped farming him at 6* because I figured I wanted to save him for later in a pack or if he had a better node. Same for Barriss. I also did that in part because I saw from farming JC / Sid early on that even after I had them 7*, shards just accumulate randomly over time through pack purchases of course, but even through GW shards or bronze packs. I'm now very much looking forward to hitting 69 and opening up the Cantina to finish those two characters. I have Maul at 7*, love him in PVE and just as a character in general, but I was also partly sad to have him at 7* already. I know now if they ever unveil him to farm or put as a prize - imagine how big of a deal that would be for most - that's content I'll miss out on because it will be of no value to me. I'd consider slowing down now and going forward to let the pace of content development catch up until we get guild wars or some other advanced level of PVP play. Till then we just have the Poe-roll coin flip going on
@Naecabon it's a preview, just like anything else that gives a preview. When you watch a trailer for a movie do you just want to know everything about it right that second? Why is Rey crying in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer? They should tell me now before I even go to see it!
Also, reacting like this may make us hesitant to share information before a release, so....
Hey, a majority of us are cool ! Don't mind the cribby fellows in every thread, they are the minority.
Seriously, guys, stop pretending this game is your life and stop belly aching about each and every step the devs take. If you really want to vent, do so regarding the delays in fixing long time bugs or major changes in the game without discussion or announcement, or about the excessive pricing etc.
Rofl at the guys posting 100 plus word essays on how this preview is wrecking the game and their lives! You guys rock! Makes me feel good that I'm not so depressed and negative!
Replies
Big spenders are a minority compared to the smaller spenders. Theirs 1000 small spenders to every 50 big spenders and if CG want to fly out updates to cater for the whales fine by me but expect to lose your rank on top grossing just a warning.
I've played a lot of other app games. This one is easily among the most generous to FTP players. And I have absolutely zero problems with that. I think that's cool.
Some random user making prophecies of doom and gloom otoh... Those I can do without.
He didnt elude to yoda that i saw. Hopefully its general grievous tbh
There aren't a lot of " Where's Grevious" threads. Most of them pertain to Jedi Luke and Yoda.
Perhaps not threads dedicated to GG but there is prob just as many "we want grievous" comments as any other toon thus far.
The ultra hardcore are obviously going to want every bit of information to seize any advantage they can prior to a patch. The developers are going to have a level of comfort of how much information they are going to want to allow players to leverage. Regardless of where the developers land, I believe you guys can improve a ton on starting to set the expectations of the community as to how often we will hear from you with updates or discussion points about the game.
Right now, there isn't a clear system or structure in place to release information. This post from you was fine in and of itself, but people are wondering is this it? Is this the last we will hear from you before the update pops up again in our game client with an Inbox message saying the message was sent to us 11 hour ago? You might be able to temper some of the harsher reactions from people by simply setting the expectation with the community as to when and how often we will hear from you with what you are able to share.
Another mobile game that I play, Puzzle & Dragons, does a much better job with this. Granted it has and will have more players (and as a result a bigger staff) than this game will ever have, but they have multiple updates a week, Twitch streams with the Community Managers, and tastefully blend what is common knowledge of an upcoming release and hints about what could be to come.
The notion that you have to hide the majority of details of an upcoming patch to build maximum hype for an upcoming release is both absurd and outdated. Another game that I play, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn/Heavensward, holds multiple live conferences/streams several times a year with the Producer/Director and Development Team that can last a couple of hours. The results speak for themselves, letting their player base know of what's coming (they obviously still keep some surprises) doesn't kill hype for the update. You could make a strong argument that it actually builds more anticipating and excitement (unless you guys are about to drop a big **** on us).
I understand this is a new game and there isn't going to be as much to say compared to these other games. Can you at the very least start to develop some of sort of regular update system?
Seeing a post like this from an EA Community Manager is discouraging and disappointing. Honestly, in other games it potentially would be grounds for the employee's termination or at the very least an infraction against them. This is a mobile game with a relatively small player base (even less who frequents the forums) and if you can't take the heat from people (responding with a threat to anyone who doesn't just sit and nod at your posts) EA should replace you with someone who can.
This is a huge part of your job responsibilities - listening to people **** and complain. It's no different from any other game that people are passionate about. The only difference is that you have the luxury of having to deal with far less of it.
Mobile games do not have a very long life span. Those hardcore fans that spend a lot will be there from day one until the game dies.
This is disgusting.
Your post hits it right on the head. It's exactly how I feel and how I felt when trying to make my first posts. I was just seeing red and couldn't get it out as neutral as you managed to. You did it beautifully, bravo.
The key thing I wish people could see about my position on this topic is that this isn't about being afraid about losing on an investment or a desire to see something pay off. It's my desire to be able to actively participate in the support of this game again. I miss opening packs. I miss hunting out the characters I'm missing. I can't do that until this whole Shard Shop thing fixes the glaring issue of opening surplus shards for those of us that open a lot of packs. It stinks, I like the game and I want to be able to support it again some day. But, right now, with how it is, until we know more about what's in store with this mechanic, I simply can't. And I know I'm not alone.
Agreed with the above that this post was highly unprofessional. You are a community manager of the official EA forum. When was the last time you see a moderator on an official forums throw threats at players, and in this instance, at the entire player base? Never. Because such post would've been deleted and some action being taken to the moderator.
I think you didn't the get vibe of the stuff i said, at all. Or it was my "fault" by simply sending the wrong message(s). Seems that i wasn't able to package the humorous part of it well enough, probably due to the limitations of this sort of communication medium. Totally agree with you. This was absolutely not my intention. My appologies if it contributed to any kind of negativ thoughts. You or others may have perceived.
What i meant was that I think this new toon which will be introduced via that Shard Shop will be welcomed by everyone! Everyone WILL want that toon. If they do it right, it will create a HUGE amount of hype and exclusivity. As well as add a ton of VALUE to this game. And in the end everyone will be happy once they have said toon.
Considering CG's previous design approaches - and the fact that this game IS indeed one of the most FTP friendly western games of this kind - i STRONGLY believe they will make it ACCESSIBLE to EVERYONE!
Everyone will have a (worthy) goal to grind for. And there WILL be a huge sense of accomplishment for anyone who gets this toon = Is able to max it. This is by no means some kind of "prohecy of doom" or something, in fact it's the actual opposite. This toon will create a long term goal for everyone. And if it's anything like in some other games, will be a lot of fun to play with. I am trully looking forward to this update.
Nonetheless accessibility does not equal availability.
Which WILL result in different tiers of grinds for different tiers of spenders/non-spenders. This here is a business after all. A very good one actually. Everyone will have a chance to get that toon .. at some point.
Biggest spenders first, then the next tier, then the next etc. etc... until some time later... FTP will also have that toon.
Which in itself isn't anything bad. Instead it's the best what they could do, in that they satisfy the demands of their paying customers - in that they create value in form of "exclusivity" - and in that they satisfy the demands of the rest by giving them "something to look forward to". Pretty legitimate in my book.
Also i'm quite unsure how you were able to conclude some prophecy of doom kinda thinking from what i have said. I'm totally fine with whatever approach they choose. I don't hold any prejudices against neither paying players nor free players. To me everyone is equal.
If that toon alone will cost 2k+ to 7*, so be it. If they give it away for free like Kylo, so be it. In the end probably everyone will be able have said toon. And i'm happy for everyone who will get to enjoy this game/toon. It will just be a matter of time. Which will be shortened by the amount you spend/already have spent. This is how it should be in these kinda games IMO. Legitimate in my book.
Keep in mind that creating "exclusivity" = Value isn't as easy as just screwing with pricings like theres no tomorow. You have to create a HUGE demand for it.
In some way there is already a HUGE demand for certain things (i,e: Shard exchanges, Certain characters etc) in this game/community. All they have to do is just (slowly) satisfying said demand(s). - Of course it's a bit more than this but you know what i mean, right.
Lastly: Seriously if they created something "exclusive" - something EVERYBODY wants - obtainable at like half-the-hardmode grind rate = 1-2 Shards a day, would that be that bad?
EDIT: I may have a cold too. Not sure yet.
That's nice. I also like that there's a new exclusive toon by this method, this will make it even more appealing both in short and long term, for all the player base, F2P, P2P and P2W.
I'll also speculate a little bit, most likely there'll be a new token, and a buy/sell system for shards, selling based on base * level of the character, and maybe those that are Chromium only being a bit more profitable too.
I'll keep an eye on this, and future updates, after all this is just part 1 of the preview. Thanks for keeping us posted!
Then you should have realized by now - CG is in here for LONG HAUL. Not the quick buck.
Anyone who fails to see that this IS indeed one the most FTP FRIENDLY apps out there, just does not have sufficient informations available to him to make the "right" judgement.
But they HAVE TO make volume. --> "Exclusivity" equals to Value in this game.
Value is appreciated by everyone .. at some point. -->Everyone will be happy with the new update .. at some point.
You sound like a delightful person.
Devs, ignore this one. Probably just mad that his Friday night is... complaining about how a game that's being responsive to its consumers by implementing a trade system has somehow wronged him by not providing enough information on his timetable. Sheesh!
The game is great, you guys are listening to feedback and it's appreciated. Ignore those whose sense of entitlement is irrational.
What would really make this upgrade good for all is if bugged characters and the targeting issue are fixed also, which is truly something for all, hope to see it...
You know patience is a virtue?
The announcement clearly states the new Shard Shop is only applicable to excess shards of 7* heroes, which means,
1. No, we cannot liquidate non-7* heroes to gain shards of the more desirable ones
2. Most players will likely have little use for this shop
3. Whales who have most of their heroes maxed out will have little use as well - unless they can trade in excess shards for credits, materials or gears
The only question is what would be the trade ratio. Hope it is not 1:10 or 1:16 as some people have speculated... I would assume a different ratio based on how rare the hero is. The tricky part is the valuation of the traded in shards. Say someone is trading in a Chromium exclusive shard. That's got to be worth more than a non-Chromium shard, right?
It also sounds like you'll receive a special character in this exchange and for me that's fine, you certainly paid for it!! If they could make a consolation to free players, I'd like to see more of the farmable characters available in shipments like Geonosian Soldier, and anyone else who is farmable in shards only. By doing this, the free players can stay competitive as pay-for teams get distance in gear and power over free players. The last thing paying players want is to walk through PVP daily to just buy first place...
Any exchange rate 1:5, 1:10, and so for a specific shard would be awful (if it's the only kind of option) because when you buy a chromium card and get shards for a character you already have up to 7 stars it would mean your chromium card is worth almost nothing, and that would not be a motivation to buy cards.
When a character is 7 stars, you normally never try to get more shards, and only get them at random in GW or cards (or new cantina battle in order to advance) so it would be fair and logical to exchange those random shards for other random shards.
1. Based on what the announcement suggests, I don't think it will be random. Just like Shipment, a number of heroes will be available every 6 hours and you can trade in excess shards for them. I would imagine there is a refresh button in which you can refresh the available heroes for 50 crystals
2. Ideally, the exchange rate would need to be 1:1 because people who paid for a Chromium package and ended up with excess shards (whether a Chromium exclusive hero or not) will be getting diminishing returns otherwise
3. As for potentially abusing the system (i.e. trading in excess Lumi or Sid shards for Chromium shards), I don't think that would be much of an issue because those rare ones will rarely appear in the Shard Shop and I would think there is a limit per transaction (i.e. you can't trade in 100 excess Lumi shards for 100 Obiwan shards)
Winner winner chicken dinner. You're fighting an uphill battle with no support. The forums or reddit won't be your avenue as you are the very small minority. You're an "evil" whale...you're the 1%er...you're the guy that much of the forum wants to take down. Any post or suggestion you make will get looked at with a critical eye that you're looking out for whales and to smash the little guy.
Segmentation Problem
The fundamental problem I have with these games and I've seen it play out pretty much every time is there's no real customer segment that is targeted. Most businesses have a target segment right? They then build products / content to appease that customer. This type of game spans F2P to the top spender, which is probably you or close to it. They have to balance the game as a result to something in the middle to try to keep everyone happy. In this type of one-size-fits-all approach, the folks on the extremes get the shaft...and this comes down most hard on whales because they have an aggressive appetite to compete / advance / grow. They inevitably hit the whale wall and outspend the content too fast.
Past Example
CG has another game, Heroes of Dragon Age...they came out with this really awesome PVE content update called Nexus. They had 3/4 levels generally: med/hard/very hard/ insane. The difficulty scaled up considerably on insane, but the drop / loot rate was much better as well. Even if you were the whaliest of whales, the Insane level was a big challenge that you wouldn't beat at a high rate without the help of powerful booster runes. So, they tried to create a segment targeted piece of content. You should have seen the backlash and unbelievable wrath of destruction that CG had to deal with on their FB page and on the forums. The F2P / low spender base, which outnumbers the 1%ers by an incredible amount, absolutely flamed non-stop. I mean it made the early Barriss / Dooku threads here look tame. Many of them just couldn't even come close to competing in that content and weren't happy that all the good loot / drop rates were only available to whales. Massive, massive PR problem. The end result was CG had to nerf the difficulty of nexus overall, and in particular the insane mode...the evil whales lost their only source for challenging content and they also nerfed the value / appeal of the drops that were in Nexus as a result of the nerf to difficulty. This was necessary because the value to spend / cost ratio was then way out of whack and acquiring good stuff was then too easy and cheap. This was a sad event for me and others that enjoyed that content, but you just have to realize what you're getting in to.
Hope in the Battle
I will give you some hope in general though...once there is guild war content is in place that will give the whales something to be invigorated about as there will be a challenge in the form of facing other whales and the satisfaction of competing / winning. This game boils down to 2 objectives really: 1. Acquiring heroes 2. Winning / competing. Whales will always suffer from #1 because once you have all toons ... that part of the content is gone. #2 isn't there now because PVE content gets steamrolled by whales and PVP is likely pretty easy depending on the server and it's kind of repetitive after 2 months anyway so it's not all that exciting / fun even if you do get #1.
Shards not the Cure
I'd honestly have been more excited about guild content or expanding PVP somehow. Shard exchange, if you think about it won't really change the game for you. No matter what it could offer, essentially it's going to offer you just something that goes back in to #1 above...either more heroes or something to build a hero. At your rate of advancement you'll burn through that instantly and be right back in the same position. Sure you'll get to use some wasted resources that is a nuisance right now, but it's not materially changing your issue long-term. What we need is #2 above...competing / winning.
Old Man Advice Time
Just to be clear, my roster is definitely on the advanced side (as it was in HoDA) and I'd be bucketed on a spend scale with you generally. I have Jinn, Maul, FOTP, and Leia ..for example..all at 6* as a minimum. I'm not at level 70 like you, but I'll be at 68 today, which is among the higher levels relative to the general population. You're just going way too fast man. You're blowing through the content and the game will struggle to meet your pace, giving you little to look forward to day to day. I'll share my approach on toon acquisition that still provides me with excitement about content coming up. I've had Dooku at 6* for weeks now - don't recall how long. I stopped farming him at 6* because I figured I wanted to save him for later in a pack or if he had a better node. Same for Barriss. I also did that in part because I saw from farming JC / Sid early on that even after I had them 7*, shards just accumulate randomly over time through pack purchases of course, but even through GW shards or bronze packs. I'm now very much looking forward to hitting 69 and opening up the Cantina to finish those two characters. I have Maul at 7*, love him in PVE and just as a character in general, but I was also partly sad to have him at 7* already. I know now if they ever unveil him to farm or put as a prize - imagine how big of a deal that would be for most - that's content I'll miss out on because it will be of no value to me. I'd consider slowing down now and going forward to let the pace of content development catch up until we get guild wars or some other advanced level of PVP play. Till then we just have the Poe-roll coin flip going on
Hey, a majority of us are cool
Seriously, guys, stop pretending this game is your life and stop belly aching about each and every step the devs take. If you really want to vent, do so regarding the delays in fixing long time bugs or major changes in the game without discussion or announcement, or about the excessive pricing etc.
Rofl at the guys posting 100 plus word essays on how this preview is wrecking the game and their lives! You guys rock! Makes me feel good that I'm not so depressed and negative!