I think it is a legitimate concern that newer players see the "mountain" that they have to climb and may be intimidated/put off. Players from launch didn't have to deal with that--they got to grow as the game grew.
Yes, the mountain can be intimidating. But it's not true that, two years, ago there was no mountain as big as it is now. It's always been there. Actually, I think the mountain metaphor is misleading. It's really a vast landscape. And the mystery hasn't been how big the landscape is. We've always been able to see how big it is. The mystery has always been: what's sitting on it.
When the game launched, there were many blank spots on the main home screen - not just things that you had to unlock. We all knew that there were things that hadn't been fully developed yet. Guilds was a blank, ships was a blank, mods were two blanks. And that's still the case. Right now there's a blank spot below Guilds.
In Dec. 2015, I knew this game:
1.) Would not have a proper, finite ending. It would end when I decided to quit.
2.) Would have a bazillion characters to upgrade because it's Star Wars for pete's sake.
3.) Would take me years. Not months. Years. I knew it would be a minimum of two.
No, I didn't know about legendary character events and zetas, etc. But back then if you didn't know how vast this game was going in, you weren't thinking through things very well.
I think it is a legitimate concern that newer players see the "mountain" that they have to climb and may be intimidated/put off. Players from launch didn't have to deal with that--they got to grow as the game grew.
Yes, the mountain can be intimidating. But it's not true that, two years, ago there was no mountain as big as it is now. It's always been there. Actually, I think the mountain metaphor is misleading. It's really a vast landscape. And the mystery hasn't been how big the landscape is. We've always been able to see how big it is. The mystery has always been: what's sitting on it.
When the game launched, there were many blank spots on the main home screen - not just things that you had to unlock. We all knew that there were things that hadn't been fully developed yet. Guilds was a blank, ships was a blank, mods were two blanks. And that's still the case. Right now there's a blank spot below Guilds.
In Dec. 2015, I knew this game:
1.) Would not have a proper, finite ending. It would end when I decided to quit.
2.) Would have a bazillion characters to upgrade because it's Star Wars for pete's sake.
3.) Would take me years. Not months. Years. I knew it would be a minimum of two.
No, I didn't know about legendary character events and zetas, etc. But back then if you didn't know how vast this game was going in, you weren't thinking through things very well.
Sure, that sounds true, though I am not a launch player. My point was more that launch players had the psychological reward of accomplishing that level 60 cap, then hitting each new level cap as it was added. For the new player it is different. I was not discouraged by the length of time it took to get to level 85, but I can imagine people who would be.
But like I said I'm not necessarily in favor of giving new players a big bonus or anything. There are plenty of rewards and things to unlock along the way. I'm just saying that it is a legitimate concern. And that EA is probably on top of it.
Macattack9 I think what you said was reasonable, wasn't trying to shoot it down. Just wanted to note that for those who didn't start in 2015, trust me - if you were paying attention, you knew this game would require an extraordinary amount of time because it was massive and that there would be no true finish date. You would play until you stopped.
The idea that new players today are the only ones who face a gargantuan task is false. I know several people who started in 2015 and quit within a year because they were sick of the unending-ness of it all. That's most likely how most players who ever play will eventually quit this game. Eventually, the devs will stop their work and the game will not evolve. But at that point I don't see the player pool being composed mainly of people who've been playing as long as I have. Everyone has their own breaking point.
Either this is the kind of game for you or it isn't.
This discussion is moot. I'm sure EA/CG has the numbers on how many new players join and remain active and how much they spend. If these numbers are not satisfactory I'm sure things will change. Since things remain the same I guessing the numbers are doing ok.
Can’t 7* Yoda without getting over G8. Thus, can’t get CLS. Can’t get CLS, cant win GW.
Uh what?
1) The way I know that you don't need over g8 for 7* Yoda is that the only Jedi I have over g8 are ones that weren't even in the game when I got 7* Yoda (Kenobi and Ezra), plus Yoda himself.
2) Yoda isn't required for CLS.
3) Not having CLS wouldn't change my ability to win GW since I don't even use him in GW.
As someone that started just a couple months ago I thought I would add my 2 cents as to what would have made this a better experience for me. I’ve just hit level 75 as a reference for where I’m at.
When I started I just had no idea about how important it was to increase the star count of a player or which layers I should prioritise, or even that I had to prioritise. I generally pursued characters that I happened to unlock or were the most easily accessible. So I wasted a lot of time, crystals and other resources. I also didn’t know how important Squad arena was for crystals and to have more Squad store currency... so I’m currently stuck at 400-600 squad store currency a day as I just don’t have a great team for arena, and so my progress is slower than it could have been.
So if those were my main problems, this is what I have currently done to combat that. I started off writing down a list of all the legendary events, and which characters could be used for it (or at least characters that I would want to use and that’s are good) and then wrote what my current progress for those characters were. I then wrote down a priority list of characters to farm for each store and cantina and hard node battles... I basically focused my farming and have it all planned and prioritised now, but I had to put the work in to research what was needed.
So what would have helped me as a newer player would be to have that info in the game. It would be great to have legendary events available all the time, but at the very least show what all the possible events are so I can see the requirements for them. Better yet, there could very easily be a permanent and long term event schedule listed so I could decide what to go after and to prepare... fromthere add flash events and new stuff as it comes up, but an event schedule for existing content could be shown for months in advance.
In addition, as this game matures it is supposed to be easier for new players to get in and reach the level and content of veteran players, that’s just how a game needs to adapt over time due to things like the increased content. I’m at level 75 and my highest character level is 70 just because of a lack of credits and training droids, there should at least be enough resources available to build a team up as you progress.
Anyway, I have probably the next 6 months of character farming mapped out and it’s nice to have goals and direction. Being part of a good guild really helps, and I can’t wait to have farmed everything I need so I can actually go after what I want!
I don't get it. New players have it so much easier than Vets in this. There has been so many improvements in this game it doesn't even look or feel like the game when it launched. x4 Combat Speed, 5x Hard Nodes, Shops galore! Also to say Resistance is a hard grind is just silly. With the exception of Pilot and Finn all have Hard Nodes on LS and DS and are in a different shop. New Players are probably spreading themselves to thin trying to grind 4-5 teams at once instead of just focusing on 1 team and moving on to the next.
So that puts you in position that you team up with players of your own time / start vintage. What's wrong with that? The HAAT raid and Rancor raid was set up to permit players to be carried - TBs are not. I say this because as a launch player, my Rancor and HAAT experience...I was not carried!!! You don't NEED or deserve to be carried. Have fun, play the game - don't take hand-out rewards!!! Trust me, you will have more fun and you won't incur any bodily harm as a result of not having someone to carry you; you'll have much more satisfaction and sense of accomplishment.
It doesn't work this way because you can't be isolated from the effect the older players have on the game even on a newer shard.
Take Person A...he joins a bigger fairly established guild happy to tow him along for his 600 daily that runs 3x rancor and 2x aat heroic raids a week, and his guild gets 25+ stars in TB.
Take Person B...he joins a weaker newbie guild(provided he can even find one) that runs a few lower level raids a week and gets <10 stars in TB.
At the end of 3 months Person A will have accumulated a ridiculous amount more resources than Person B. The problem is...both of these people are on the same arena shard...now Person B also ends up way behind Person A in squad and fleet arena, which puts him even further and further behind.
Its not more fun, satisfying, or a sense of accomplishment to get wrecked day in and day out in squad and ship arenas by people who are getting carried by big guilds, getting far more rewards then you, and perpetually pulling further and further ahead.
Did you get carried when guilds were brand new? Nope. But did you have people posting 10 million+ damage on rancor 10 minutes after its opened for damage or guilds where your top 5 players could wreck HAAT without any contribution from the other 45? Nope. I'd love it if getting carried wasn't an option for people on my shard so I didn't have to get carried or get left behind...but that simply isn't how the game works.
This is a legit point - but it feels different from a new player issue specifically in to some kind of game setup issue. I'm not sure what the solution is here - that imbalance exists somewhat even on old player shards. Some people are in elite guilds getting 42/43*+ in TB and getting more rewards than others in guilds hitting 26/27/28*. That situation would be much more pronounced when comparing two new accounts though. Unless they segmented off guilds by player age I'm not sure how that can be addressed.
To me, it still comes down to "build whatever sqd makes you happy". Arena rank isn't everything, yes it gets you more crystals, but you get more when the servers break.
As to getting bigger/tougher/faster, just enjoy the journey you take your toons on.
We aren't complaining about the fact that new players DO have it easier - that's expected and fine as things are added and old content is made easier / more available - we're fighting the weak logic that two players starting at vastly different times should be at the same points on the same path.
Nobody is arguing a 3 month player should have the same roster as a two year player.
Players that are able to tackle end game content now (Hoth TB) have played for 20-22 months or so. Players that have played for a fraction of that time are arguing that is unfair to them. This is ridiculous.
If you played at launch you were tackling end game content probably a few months after you started playing when the caps were lower. Why now should players be expected to face a much, much, much longer grind before they can meaningfully participate in/contribute to high level content? That = ridiculous.
WE HAD NO END GAME CONTENT!!!
End game content was arena and galactic war. The game was terrible!!! There really was no game.
Think about this though. You're comparing the game at 2 years. Let's go ahead and move forward to 2019. The new star wars EP 9 is going to come out ... Disney keeps churning out shows / movies, etc. GoH is humming along fine. So a new player that starts in 2019, what's the expectation for them? How do you keep a 2017 new player interested with new content to tackle, and not put the 2019 guys so far behind? And let alone the 2017 person - how do you keep the Nov 2015 guys still engaged at that point? If we assume the game is still going in 2021 .. same question. Take the argument out to the extremes a bit further. If the game is successful, the problem you are trying to articulate will only get greater. Do you then see the game as destined to fail relatively soon due to this new / veteran player gap?
As a new player since August 1st I can agree with the OP. There is a lot of veterans saying "you're new you can't be as good as a veteran!". Well I agree, but what I don't agree with is that new players get left behind. And when I say left behind I am not talking about arena, but raid progression. I was lucky to find a training guild that has helped me get in on heroic rancor raids and tier 6 tank raids, but im sure most newbies haven't been this lucky.
The best thing they have done for new players is make TB rewards equal across the guild. That way new players can progress at the same rate as vets and not get further left behind.
One thing that would be really nice is if the past events were available for new players. Also making legendary events available all the time or at a much more frequent schedule
New players bringing in new money is what will keep this game going. They should do more to let new players progress at a quicker rate and not further the desparity between newbs and vets.
I think what would help me to understand is how are you defining "behind" - how do you know you are behind and who are you behind?
I'm behind, and hold an average arena rank of top 50, I simply strive to make my toons/sqds better. Isn't that the personal end game? We choose who to farm/gear depending on what we ourselves are aiming to achieve. Newbie/oldie makes no difference. You get out what you put in. Forums are full of veterans and Devs giving hints as to what is coming up. This community is probably one of the best I've seen in relation to helping new players.
Yoda and palp events aren't difficult as it's easier to build those sqds. BB8? I unlocked at 5* and might have 6* by end of event (doubtful as fost is only 10/85 shards). Point is, I read forums, new movie release is imminent, so I farmed toons that were likely to be involved. It's not that difficult to predict what is coming next.
End game content was arena and galactic war. The game was terrible!!! There really was no game.
That is exactly the point I have been making! Older players want to act like they had it so bad back in the day...literally 5 LS and 5 DS toons and you'd have all the toons you needed to do well in arenas and GW.
Now that same amount of toons you'd be lucky if you had 5 for squad arena and 5 decent pilots for ships and odds are you'd suck most other places in the game.
Why is it 10 appropriately leveled/geared toons back then was a decent enough roster, and 10 appropriately leveled/geared toons(which takes longer because you need more xp and gear) today is a drop in the bucket, yet some of the older players insist they had it rougher?
New players today simply need a bigger roster to be able to participate in all areas of the game than when the game was launched, and it takes longer to level/gear a toon to max...its a double whammy.
Think about this though. You're comparing the game at 2 years. Let's go ahead and move forward to 2019. The new star wars EP 9 is going to come out ... Disney keeps churning out shows / movies, etc. GoH is humming along fine. So a new player that starts in 2019, what's the expectation for them? How do you keep a 2017 new player interested with new content to tackle, and not put the 2019 guys so far behind? And let alone the 2017 person - how do you keep the Nov 2015 guys still engaged at that point? If we assume the game is still going in 2021 .. same question. Take the argument out to the extremes a bit further. If the game is successful, the problem you are trying to articulate will only get greater. Do you then see the game as destined to fail relatively soon due to this new / veteran player gap?
I have thought it through. Do you want to know what I expect?
I'd expect that a toon starting in two years from now doesn't have to get bottlenecked at G9ish with raid gear and copious amounts of cuffs/guns/frisbees/carbantis(after some people have had 4 years to farm this stuff), and then bottlenecked again at G12 because he has to farm out TB gear(after some people have had 2 years to farm this stuff), while the rest of us are bottlenecked at G15.
I'd expect he's not going to be seeing events for level 100 characters that you have no hope of completing without appropriate G13+ squads, and having him sit there thinking darn...its gonna take me 2 years to get 1 squad up to that caliber.
I don't think someone starting 4 years after launch should be 4 years behind someone who started day 1 any more so than someone starting 2 years after launch should be a solid 2 years behind. Old bottlenecks need to be removed as new ones are added. There is some hysterics in this thread about people feeling entitled and being lazy and all that jazz...that isn't the case here, I'm not saying newbs should just be handed maxed out zeta'd toons, just that as level/gear caps increase previous grinds should be lessened to newer players can get to the current end game grind faster. Older players are still going to have advantages of deeper rosters, more effectively farming the current end game, more zetas, better mods, etc...I'm by no means saying after a few months a new player should be equal to a launch player.
What benefit is there to bottlenecking new players at yesterdays end game, which is today's mid game?
No, I don't see the game as destined to "fail relatively soon" due to new/veteran player gap. All the veterans have to quit before the game would fail. I imagine even if 3/4 of the game population quit tomorrow the game would still be turning big profits. What I do see though is if the new/veteran gap gets too big more and more potential new players are going to hit a point where they may dabble for a bit, realize how ridiculously long its going to take them to catch up to new content, and say adios not worth a multiple year grind just to get a reasonable taste of high level game play. That is what I think should be avoided.
End game content was arena and galactic war. The game was terrible!!! There really was no game.
That is exactly the point I have been making! Older players want to act like they had it so bad back in the day...literally 5 LS and 5 DS toons and you'd have all the toons you needed to do well in arenas and GW.
Now that same amount of toons you'd be lucky if you had 5 for squad arena and 5 decent pilots for ships and odds are you'd suck most other places in the game.
Why is it 10 appropriately leveled/geared toons back then was a decent enough roster, and 10 appropriately leveled/geared toons(which takes longer because you need more xp and gear) today is a drop in the bucket, yet some of the older players insist they had it rougher?
New players today simply need a bigger roster to be able to participate in all areas of the game than when the game was launched, and it takes longer to level/gear a toon to max...its a double whammy.
Think about this though. You're comparing the game at 2 years. Let's go ahead and move forward to 2019. The new star wars EP 9 is going to come out ... Disney keeps churning out shows / movies, etc. GoH is humming along fine. So a new player that starts in 2019, what's the expectation for them? How do you keep a 2017 new player interested with new content to tackle, and not put the 2019 guys so far behind? And let alone the 2017 person - how do you keep the Nov 2015 guys still engaged at that point? If we assume the game is still going in 2021 .. same question. Take the argument out to the extremes a bit further. If the game is successful, the problem you are trying to articulate will only get greater. Do you then see the game as destined to fail relatively soon due to this new / veteran player gap?
I have thought it through. Do you want to know what I expect?
I'd expect that a toon starting in two years from now doesn't have to get bottlenecked at G9ish with raid gear and copious amounts of cuffs/guns/frisbees/carbantis(after some people have had 4 years to farm this stuff), and then bottlenecked again at G12 because he has to farm out TB gear(after some people have had 2 years to farm this stuff), while the rest of us are bottlenecked at G15.
I'd expect he's not going to be seeing events for level 100 characters that you have no hope of completing without appropriate G13+ squads, and having him sit there thinking darn...its gonna take me 2 years to get 1 squad up to that caliber.
I don't think someone starting 4 years after launch should be 4 years behind someone who started day 1 any more so than someone starting 2 years after launch should be a solid 2 years behind. Old bottlenecks need to be removed as new ones are added. There is some hysterics in this thread about people feeling entitled and being lazy and all that jazz...that isn't the case here, I'm not saying newbs should just be handed maxed out zeta'd toons, just that as level/gear caps increase previous grinds should be lessened to newer players can get to the current end game grind faster. Older players are still going to have advantages of deeper rosters, more effectively farming the current end game, more zetas, better mods, etc...I'm by no means saying after a few months a new player should be equal to a launch player.
What benefit is there to bottlenecking new players at yesterdays end game, which is today's mid game?
No, I don't see the game as destined to "fail relatively soon" due to new/veteran player gap. All the veterans have to quit before the game would fail. I imagine even if 3/4 of the game population quit tomorrow the game would still be turning big profits. What I do see though is if the new/veteran gap gets too big more and more potential new players are going to hit a point where they may dabble for a bit, realize how ridiculously long its going to take them to catch up to new content, and say adios not worth a multiple year grind just to get a reasonable taste of high level game play. That is what I think should be avoided.
But they are already shortening the journey for new players relative to old to some degree. You seem to think it's not enough, but what is? So someone starting 4 years later - how much do you advance them relative to the 4 year player? Do they skip 1 full year? 2? 3? What's the magic #? At 6 years, do you essentially give everyone a 7* maxed out Hermit Yoda, CHan, Rolo, GK, and Raid Han / CLS, etc....all the legendaries?
If I'm a developer though - why would I light all of that content on fire? Wouldn't a new player actually have fun winning EP / CLS / R2, etc.? Do people NOT want to advance in the Rancor anymore? Or what about the HAAT? In 2 years, TBs will also be old - skip that too?
You also have to consider that anything that you give out, you lose the ability to get revenue on that content like you did in the past. Gearing a character fully now from shipments to G11 / G12 can cost roughly $100. Do you want to lose that for each player x each character?
Also - does data really support your position that this is a problem? Are people dropping from the game at a higher rate now compared to when the game launched? Would you be more likely to drop a game at it's launch when content is terrible compared to later in the game when content is abundant? I don't think so. I'd bet early player retention now is as good if not better than what it was at launch.
@GildoMcFlay ... also your portrayal of the difficulty of Gal War and what was needed to succeed is way off. The game then was very simple. Think something like ship arena now. There weren't many toons. You didn't have many geared, and tactics were very limited. So most players had maybe 1 team - but so did everyone else. So each node you essentially ran out the best you had and there was little depth behind it. There was also a Poe / rey / Dooku / Droid / Jinn / Leia speed meta that was pre-protection that no matter the matchup you were going to get heavily damaged. If you saw 3+ Poe teams in Gal War you were in big big trouble. That one setup was so powerful, since the game was so shallow, that it was difficult to wade through a survival trial. Gal War for me now is much easier than it was at times early on because the roster wasn't developed - no depth to turn to. So we did actually have to build much more than 5 LS / 5 DS to compete. I remember building as many taunting tanks as I could so that they could take abuse and die on a tough GW Poe node. Chewy, Han, Poe, etc. Feel free to look up the Gal War complaint threads from that time - that was by far the #1 complaint in the game at that time for how impossible it was for many players.
Do new players now need more than back then though? Of course - the game is bigger and the content is bigger. I think that's appropriate though. In time, those new players will be in that position. They shouldn't just get to skip that process entirely however. Should some things get easier over time? Yes...and they have! I think the pace of improvement has been appropriate. If they ever get to a point in this game where so much is a handout you'll see a tremendous amount of players - and a large % of your paying players - leave the game.
I have thought it through. Do you want to know what I expect?
I'd expect that a toon starting in two years from now doesn't have to get bottlenecked at G9ish with raid gear and copious amounts of cuffs/guns/frisbees/carbantis(after some people have had 4 years to farm this stuff), and then bottlenecked again at G12 because he has to farm out TB gear(after some people have had 2 years to farm this stuff), while the rest of us are bottlenecked at G15.
I'd expect he's not going to be seeing events for level 100 characters that you have no hope of completing without appropriate G13+ squads, and having him sit there thinking darn...its gonna take me 2 years to get 1 squad up to that caliber.
I don't think someone starting 4 years after launch should be 4 years behind someone who started day 1 any more so than someone starting 2 years after launch should be a solid 2 years behind.
This isn't called "thinking it through." This is called "my fantasyland."
And it's funny because one page earlier you wrote: "Nobody is arguing a 3 month player should have the same roster as a two year player." OK. So what should a three-month player roster be like? A one-year player roster? That's only nine months removed. A six-month player? A four-month player? You think the four-month player would like having to grind it out, only to realize that if he had started just one month later in your welfare program he wouldn't have had to grind it out? Talk about people quitting the game.
Going through your comment history I've figured out why you're on this crusade. You've spent money on the game, I don't know how much, but you wrote earlier:
As it stands now I've spent money on this game in the past but I'm done going forward unless things change because I'm so far behind the curve I can't get anywhere without spending thousands.
You're mad because you've been playing for four months, and you are just now coming to grips with how the CG/EA racket works.
But they are already shortening the journey for new players relative to old to some degree. You seem to think it's not enough, but what is? So someone starting 4 years later - how much do you advance them relative to the 4 year player? Do they skip 1 full year? 2? 3? What's the magic #? At 6 years, do you essentially give everyone a 7* maxed out Hermit Yoda, CHan, Rolo, GK, and Raid Han / CLS, etc....all the legendaries?
I'm not saying newbs should just be handed maxed out zeta'd toons, just that as level/gear caps increase previous grinds should be lessened to newer players can get to the current end game grind faster.
I already explained what should happen, and it doesn't have anything to do with giving anyone characters. It could literally be as easy as adjusting raid rewards so people can get past that bottleneck faster rather than pulling challenge gear you already have over 1000 of you'll never use...like I've already said multiple times I'm not looking for some blanket give aways to noobs, but apparently that is too much for you to comprehend.
If I'm a developer though - why would I light all of that content on fire? Wouldn't a new player actually have fun winning EP / CLS / R2, etc.? Do people NOT want to advance in the Rancor anymore? Or what about the HAAT? In 2 years, TBs will also be old - skip that too?
How would you not still "win" those characters? You'd still have to farm out required squads to get them just like you do now. Again..I'm not asking for stuff to be handed over to people just for logging in for the first time...no "welcome to swgoh...here is your free decked out CLS!"
As far as raids go...its not really a measurement of advancing anymore because its pretty easy for any 600 daily player to get into a guild that is smashing heroics anyhow right now. I put up a post in the looking for guild section a month ago that I was a 500k Gp player putting up 600 daily and had over a dozen offers from HAAT guilds within a half hour. I really feel no different about raiding when I was putting up 50k in heroic AAT as I do now when I'm putting over a million up.
You also have to consider that anything that you give out, you lose the ability to get revenue on that content like you did in the past. Gearing a character fully now from shipments to G11 / G12 can cost roughly $100. Do you want to lose that for each player x each character?
Lol, you really think the average new player is spending 100 dollars a toon to gear up to G11/G12? No way. I don't know if you read these forums much but the general consensus on cash for gear seems to be you get crap value for your money and it seems like something only whales do.
I think the devs would have far more success trying to sell character shards and getting newer players up to where they can buy G12 gear rather than bottlenecking them and trying to sell them mid level gear. I think people are more willing to pay to win rather than pay just to be able to try out high level content.
Also - does data really support your position that this is a problem? Are people dropping from the game at a higher rate now compared to when the game launched? Would you be more likely to drop a game at it's launch when content is terrible compared to later in the game when content is abundant? I don't think so. I'd bet early player retention now is as good if not better than what it was at launch.
Content isn't abundant for new players. You end up locked out of a lot of it for not meeting squad requirements, and a lot of what you can get into you end up wildly outgunned in it. And yeah...I think we do get more people now that log in, dabble for a bit, and say nope, too much catching up to do, not interested, and move along. If you played at launch, or even prior to raids, you'd have been equal to everyone on your shard, so that problem wouldn't have been as apparent as it is now.
Does data really support your position, because you know darn well its all speculation and you have as much raw data as I do.
I think one of the big things new players need is education. If a new player started the game now they would be very overwhelmed by the amount of content/characters available or potentially available to them.
And lets be honest, a small percentage of the player base would actually use the forums.
Just clicking on the character screen reveals 120+ toons to potentially farm with no real information on the path required to get them.
For example I don't think there would be anything wrong with having some tutorial/newbie events during their first couple of weeks that gave them some 3 or 4* toons while at the same time educated them on the path to better toons.
But they are already shortening the journey for new players relative to old to some degree. You seem to think it's not enough, but what is? So someone starting 4 years later - how much do you advance them relative to the 4 year player? Do they skip 1 full year? 2? 3? What's the magic #? At 6 years, do you essentially give everyone a 7* maxed out Hermit Yoda, CHan, Rolo, GK, and Raid Han / CLS, etc....all the legendaries?
I'm not saying newbs should just be handed maxed out zeta'd toons, just that as level/gear caps increase previous grinds should be lessened to newer players can get to the current end game grind faster.
I already explained what should happen, and it doesn't have anything to do with giving anyone characters. It could literally be as easy as adjusting raid rewards so people can get past that bottleneck faster rather than pulling challenge gear you already have over 1000 of you'll never use...like I've already said multiple times I'm not looking for some blanket give aways to noobs, but apparently that is too much for you to comprehend.
If I'm a developer though - why would I light all of that content on fire? Wouldn't a new player actually have fun winning EP / CLS / R2, etc.? Do people NOT want to advance in the Rancor anymore? Or what about the HAAT? In 2 years, TBs will also be old - skip that too?
How would you not still "win" those characters? You'd still have to farm out required squads to get them just like you do now. Again..I'm not asking for stuff to be handed over to people just for logging in for the first time...no "welcome to swgoh...here is your free decked out CLS!"
As far as raids go...its not really a measurement of advancing anymore because its pretty easy for any 600 daily player to get into a guild that is smashing heroics anyhow right now. I put up a post in the looking for guild section a month ago that I was a 500k Gp player putting up 600 daily and had over a dozen offers from HAAT guilds within a half hour. I really feel no different about raiding when I was putting up 50k in heroic AAT as I do now when I'm putting over a million up.
You also have to consider that anything that you give out, you lose the ability to get revenue on that content like you did in the past. Gearing a character fully now from shipments to G11 / G12 can cost roughly $100. Do you want to lose that for each player x each character?
Lol, you really think the average new player is spending 100 dollars a toon to gear up to G11/G12? No way. I don't know if you read these forums much but the general consensus on cash for gear seems to be you get **** value for your money and it seems like something only whales do.
I think the devs would have far more success trying to sell character shards and getting newer players up to where they can buy G12 gear rather than bottlenecking them and trying to sell them mid level gear. I think people are more willing to pay to win rather than pay just to be able to try out high level content.
Also - does data really support your position that this is a problem? Are people dropping from the game at a higher rate now compared to when the game launched? Would you be more likely to drop a game at it's launch when content is terrible compared to later in the game when content is abundant? I don't think so. I'd bet early player retention now is as good if not better than what it was at launch.
Content isn't abundant for new players. You end up locked out of a lot of it for not meeting squad requirements, and a lot of what you can get into you end up wildly outgunned in it. And yeah...I think we do get more people now that log in, dabble for a bit, and say nope, too much catching up to do, not interested, and move along. If you played at launch, or even prior to raids, you'd have been equal to everyone on your shard, so that problem wouldn't have been as apparent as it is now.
Does data really support your position, because you know darn well its all speculation and you have as much raw data as I do.
You haven't specifically articulated how much you want to see new players skip old content. Again - if 4 years behind in start date - how many years do you let them skip? Be specific. What are you asking for exactly?
But they are already shortening the journey for new players relative to old to some degree. You seem to think it's not enough, but what is? So someone starting 4 years later - how much do you advance them relative to the 4 year player? Do they skip 1 full year? 2? 3? What's the magic #? At 6 years, do you essentially give everyone a 7* maxed out Hermit Yoda, CHan, Rolo, GK, and Raid Han / CLS, etc....all the legendaries?
I'm not saying newbs should just be handed maxed out zeta'd toons, just that as level/gear caps increase previous grinds should be lessened to newer players can get to the current end game grind faster.
I already explained what should happen, and it doesn't have anything to do with giving anyone characters. It could literally be as easy as adjusting raid rewards so people can get past that bottleneck faster rather than pulling challenge gear you already have over 1000 of you'll never use...like I've already said multiple times I'm not looking for some blanket give aways to noobs, but apparently that is too much for you to comprehend.
If I'm a developer though - why would I light all of that content on fire? Wouldn't a new player actually have fun winning EP / CLS / R2, etc.? Do people NOT want to advance in the Rancor anymore? Or what about the HAAT? In 2 years, TBs will also be old - skip that too?
How would you not still "win" those characters? You'd still have to farm out required squads to get them just like you do now. Again..I'm not asking for stuff to be handed over to people just for logging in for the first time...no "welcome to swgoh...here is your free decked out CLS!"
As far as raids go...its not really a measurement of advancing anymore because its pretty easy for any 600 daily player to get into a guild that is smashing heroics anyhow right now. I put up a post in the looking for guild section a month ago that I was a 500k Gp player putting up 600 daily and had over a dozen offers from HAAT guilds within a half hour. I really feel no different about raiding when I was putting up 50k in heroic AAT as I do now when I'm putting over a million up.
You also have to consider that anything that you give out, you lose the ability to get revenue on that content like you did in the past. Gearing a character fully now from shipments to G11 / G12 can cost roughly $100. Do you want to lose that for each player x each character?
Lol, you really think the average new player is spending 100 dollars a toon to gear up to G11/G12? No way. I don't know if you read these forums much but the general consensus on cash for gear seems to be you get **** value for your money and it seems like something only whales do.
I think the devs would have far more success trying to sell character shards and getting newer players up to where they can buy G12 gear rather than bottlenecking them and trying to sell them mid level gear. I think people are more willing to pay to win rather than pay just to be able to try out high level content.
Also - does data really support your position that this is a problem? Are people dropping from the game at a higher rate now compared to when the game launched? Would you be more likely to drop a game at it's launch when content is terrible compared to later in the game when content is abundant? I don't think so. I'd bet early player retention now is as good if not better than what it was at launch.
Content isn't abundant for new players. You end up locked out of a lot of it for not meeting squad requirements, and a lot of what you can get into you end up wildly outgunned in it. And yeah...I think we do get more people now that log in, dabble for a bit, and say nope, too much catching up to do, not interested, and move along. If you played at launch, or even prior to raids, you'd have been equal to everyone on your shard, so that problem wouldn't have been as apparent as it is now.
Does data really support your position, because you know darn well its all speculation and you have as much raw data as I do.
You haven't specifically articulated how much you want to see new players skip old content. Again - if 4 years behind in start date - how many years do you let them skip? Be specific. What are you asking for exactly?
You haven't specifically articulated how much you want to see new players skip old content. Again - if 4 years behind in start date - how many years do you let them skip? Be specific. What are you asking for exactly?
Where have I said I want to see new players skip anything? All I said is old bottlenecks need to be alleviated...make it easier for people to get to to the "end game" G12 bottleneck. Current players are still going to retain a large advantage in zetas, G12 gear, and roster depth, and those are what matters the most right now.
What would I change? Nothing that hasn't already been asked for by players old and new dozens of times on this forum. I'd start with raid gear. Cut some of the challenge gear out of the loot tables...you wouldn't even get more drops, just more consistently get useful drops because its like a kick in the nuts every time you pull some challenge gear you already have over 1000 of with no use for. Adjust challenges...add stun guns, cuffs, and mk3 holo projectors since everyone seems to need stupid amounts of those things.
Basically all I'm asking for is if you bottlenecked players with gear crunch starting around G9/10 before when G11 was the cap, you were bottlenecking them at a point where at least they were like 3/4 as good as they'll be. G12 was a huge boost in power...yet that same old bottleneck still exists...now your bottlenecking new players in a place where their toons are like 1/2 as good as they'll get. What purpose does that serve? Push the bottleneck back a bit. Its not handing them decked out characters or skipping anything, its just letting them get to a point where they can at least enjoy more of the games content a little quicker to keep them interested rather than frustrated...is that a terrible thing?
This isn't called "thinking it through." This is called "my fantasyland."
And it's funny because one page earlier you wrote: "Nobody is arguing a 3 month player should have the same roster as a two year player." OK. So what should a three-month player roster be like? A one-year player roster? That's only nine months removed. A six-month player? A four-month player? You think the four-month player would like having to grind it out, only to realize that if he had started just one month later in your welfare program he wouldn't have had to grind it out? Talk about people quitting the game.
Nah, read my previous post of what I'd like for them to do. It would help everyone out, unless of course your entire roster was already at a point where all you needed for gear was G12. The thing is getting a squad up to G10/11 right now is a heck of a lot more useful for someone if its their first or second squad then if its their 9th or 10th squad, so although they could do things that benefit everyone equally in terms of how much stuff you get it would have more impact ones gaming experience for people who have less right now.
My welfare program...lol...such a drama queen you are.
Going through your comment history I've figured out why you're on this crusade. You've spent money on the game, I don't know how much, but you wrote earlier:
As it stands now I've spent money on this game in the past but I'm done going forward unless things change because I'm so far behind the curve I can't get anywhere without spending thousands.
You're mad because you've been playing for four months, and you are just now coming to grips with how the CG/EA racket works.
I'm not mad or I wouldn't be playing anymore. I just hit a point where I'm level capped, spent some money on crystals for refreshes and don't regret it, and have a pile of toons waiting for gear. Its a waste for me to buy any character shards at this point because I have no gear for them. If I buy crystals, to in exchange buy gear, its going to cost me like 50 bucks for 3 pieces. Just to gear one squad up to where I'd need nothing but G12 would cost me hundreds of dollars...which is just a rip off. I'll throw a bit of money at a game I enjoy here and there but only if I feel like I'm getting a decent return on my money, and that feeling went away soon as I didn't need refreshes for xp anymore, so I haven't spent any more money on the game since.
Basically every week just from my guild doing 3 heroic pits, 2 heroic aats, and consistently finishing at least top 20 arena and top 10 ships daily what I'm pulling in a week would probably cost me 100 bucks to buy. 100 bucks to progress 1 week isn't worth it to me. If they sweetened the deal a bit I'd gladly open the wallet...and getting rid of the crystal boosters that was the cheapest crystal per dollar ratio didn't exactly make me want to spend more either.
What would I change? Nothing that hasn't already been asked for by players old and new dozens of times on this forum. I'd start with raid gear. Cut some of the challenge gear out of the loot tables...you wouldn't even get more drops, just more consistently get useful drops because its like a kick in the nuts every time you pull some challenge gear you already have over 1000 of with no use for. Adjust challenges...add stun guns, cuffs, and mk3 holo projectors since everyone seems to need **** amounts of those things.
In other words, you've come up with nothing. Gee, make gear easier to get. What a solution. That's the only change you could come up with - something that affects everyone? I like how you assume players who have been playing since 2015 don't suffer from gear problems. Using Nightsisters as an example, since the thought now is that some large change or addition is coming with them. I've got two at two stars. So the new player gets to accelerate through those same two Nightsisters but I don't? Is that your big plan? What about all the other characters I have stuck at G9 and G10? Tough patooties?
Your "solution" is either:
1.) Unleash gear, which would benefit everyone and do zero to close the gap between new and old (whatever that does.)
2.) Give new players easier access to gear but do not give older players with the same roster shortcomings that identical, easier access.
What would I change? Nothing that hasn't already been asked for by players old and new dozens of times on this forum. I'd start with raid gear. Cut some of the challenge gear out of the loot tables...you wouldn't even get more drops, just more consistently get useful drops because its like a kick in the nuts every time you pull some challenge gear you already have over 1000 of with no use for. Adjust challenges...add stun guns, cuffs, and mk3 holo projectors since everyone seems to need **** amounts of those things.
In other words, you've come up with nothing. Gee, make gear easier to get. What a solution. That's the only change you could come up with - something that affects everyone? I like how you assume players who have been playing since 2015 don't suffer from gear problems. Using Nightsisters as an example, since the thought now is that some large change or addition is coming with them. I've got two at two stars. So the new player gets to accelerate through those same two Nightsisters but I don't? Is that your big plan? What about all the other characters I have stuck at G9 and G10? Tough patooties?
Your "solution" is either:
1.) Unleash gear, which would benefit everyone and do zero to close the gap between new and old (whatever that does.)
2.) Give new players easier access to gear but do not give older players with the same roster shortcomings that identical, easier access.
2.) Give new players easier access to gear but do not give older players with the same roster shortcomings that identical, easier access.
I think you should re-read what I said because I never suggested anything close to this. But regardless...you aren't really worth any more of my time when you are just going to keep accusing me of nonsense like this I never said.
But they are already shortening the journey for new players relative to old to some degree. You seem to think it's not enough, but what is? So someone starting 4 years later - how much do you advance them relative to the 4 year player? Do they skip 1 full year? 2? 3? What's the magic #? At 6 years, do you essentially give everyone a 7* maxed out Hermit Yoda, CHan, Rolo, GK, and Raid Han / CLS, etc....all the legendaries?
I'm not saying newbs should just be handed maxed out zeta'd toons, just that as level/gear caps increase previous grinds should be lessened to newer players can get to the current end game grind faster.
I already explained what should happen, and it doesn't have anything to do with giving anyone characters. It could literally be as easy as adjusting raid rewards so people can get past that bottleneck faster rather than pulling challenge gear you already have over 1000 of you'll never use...like I've already said multiple times I'm not looking for some blanket give aways to noobs, but apparently that is too much for you to comprehend.
If I'm a developer though - why would I light all of that content on fire? Wouldn't a new player actually have fun winning EP / CLS / R2, etc.? Do people NOT want to advance in the Rancor anymore? Or what about the HAAT? In 2 years, TBs will also be old - skip that too?
How would you not still "win" those characters? You'd still have to farm out required squads to get them just like you do now. Again..I'm not asking for stuff to be handed over to people just for logging in for the first time...no "welcome to swgoh...here is your free decked out CLS!"
As far as raids go...its not really a measurement of advancing anymore because its pretty easy for any 600 daily player to get into a guild that is smashing heroics anyhow right now. I put up a post in the looking for guild section a month ago that I was a 500k Gp player putting up 600 daily and had over a dozen offers from HAAT guilds within a half hour. I really feel no different about raiding when I was putting up 50k in heroic AAT as I do now when I'm putting over a million up.
You also have to consider that anything that you give out, you lose the ability to get revenue on that content like you did in the past. Gearing a character fully now from shipments to G11 / G12 can cost roughly $100. Do you want to lose that for each player x each character?
Lol, you really think the average new player is spending 100 dollars a toon to gear up to G11/G12? No way. I don't know if you read these forums much but the general consensus on cash for gear seems to be you get **** value for your money and it seems like something only whales do.
I think the devs would have far more success trying to sell character shards and getting newer players up to where they can buy G12 gear rather than bottlenecking them and trying to sell them mid level gear. I think people are more willing to pay to win rather than pay just to be able to try out high level content.
Also - does data really support your position that this is a problem? Are people dropping from the game at a higher rate now compared to when the game launched? Would you be more likely to drop a game at it's launch when content is terrible compared to later in the game when content is abundant? I don't think so. I'd bet early player retention now is as good if not better than what it was at launch.
Content isn't abundant for new players. You end up locked out of a lot of it for not meeting squad requirements, and a lot of what you can get into you end up wildly outgunned in it. And yeah...I think we do get more people now that log in, dabble for a bit, and say nope, too much catching up to do, not interested, and move along. If you played at launch, or even prior to raids, you'd have been equal to everyone on your shard, so that problem wouldn't have been as apparent as it is now.
Does data really support your position, because you know darn well its all speculation and you have as much raw data as I do.
You haven't specifically articulated how much you want to see new players skip old content. Again - if 4 years behind in start date - how many years do you let them skip? Be specific. What are you asking for exactly?
Unlocking a marquee event every 5 levels or sonfor new players after say lvl 40 seems reasonable, and for older accounts that missed them the first time round might alleviate some difficulties for the younglings.
Replies
Yes, the mountain can be intimidating. But it's not true that, two years, ago there was no mountain as big as it is now. It's always been there. Actually, I think the mountain metaphor is misleading. It's really a vast landscape. And the mystery hasn't been how big the landscape is. We've always been able to see how big it is. The mystery has always been: what's sitting on it.
When the game launched, there were many blank spots on the main home screen - not just things that you had to unlock. We all knew that there were things that hadn't been fully developed yet. Guilds was a blank, ships was a blank, mods were two blanks. And that's still the case. Right now there's a blank spot below Guilds.
In Dec. 2015, I knew this game:
1.) Would not have a proper, finite ending. It would end when I decided to quit.
2.) Would have a bazillion characters to upgrade because it's Star Wars for pete's sake.
3.) Would take me years. Not months. Years. I knew it would be a minimum of two.
No, I didn't know about legendary character events and zetas, etc. But back then if you didn't know how vast this game was going in, you weren't thinking through things very well.
Sure, that sounds true, though I am not a launch player. My point was more that launch players had the psychological reward of accomplishing that level 60 cap, then hitting each new level cap as it was added. For the new player it is different. I was not discouraged by the length of time it took to get to level 85, but I can imagine people who would be.
But like I said I'm not necessarily in favor of giving new players a big bonus or anything. There are plenty of rewards and things to unlock along the way. I'm just saying that it is a legitimate concern. And that EA is probably on top of it.
The idea that new players today are the only ones who face a gargantuan task is false. I know several people who started in 2015 and quit within a year because they were sick of the unending-ness of it all. That's most likely how most players who ever play will eventually quit this game. Eventually, the devs will stop their work and the game will not evolve. But at that point I don't see the player pool being composed mainly of people who've been playing as long as I have. Everyone has their own breaking point.
Either this is the kind of game for you or it isn't.
Uh what?
1) The way I know that you don't need over g8 for 7* Yoda is that the only Jedi I have over g8 are ones that weren't even in the game when I got 7* Yoda (Kenobi and Ezra), plus Yoda himself.
2) Yoda isn't required for CLS.
3) Not having CLS wouldn't change my ability to win GW since I don't even use him in GW.
When I started I just had no idea about how important it was to increase the star count of a player or which layers I should prioritise, or even that I had to prioritise. I generally pursued characters that I happened to unlock or were the most easily accessible. So I wasted a lot of time, crystals and other resources. I also didn’t know how important Squad arena was for crystals and to have more Squad store currency... so I’m currently stuck at 400-600 squad store currency a day as I just don’t have a great team for arena, and so my progress is slower than it could have been.
So if those were my main problems, this is what I have currently done to combat that. I started off writing down a list of all the legendary events, and which characters could be used for it (or at least characters that I would want to use and that’s are good) and then wrote what my current progress for those characters were. I then wrote down a priority list of characters to farm for each store and cantina and hard node battles... I basically focused my farming and have it all planned and prioritised now, but I had to put the work in to research what was needed.
So what would have helped me as a newer player would be to have that info in the game. It would be great to have legendary events available all the time, but at the very least show what all the possible events are so I can see the requirements for them. Better yet, there could very easily be a permanent and long term event schedule listed so I could decide what to go after and to prepare... fromthere add flash events and new stuff as it comes up, but an event schedule for existing content could be shown for months in advance.
In addition, as this game matures it is supposed to be easier for new players to get in and reach the level and content of veteran players, that’s just how a game needs to adapt over time due to things like the increased content. I’m at level 75 and my highest character level is 70 just because of a lack of credits and training droids, there should at least be enough resources available to build a team up as you progress.
Anyway, I have probably the next 6 months of character farming mapped out and it’s nice to have goals and direction. Being part of a good guild really helps, and I can’t wait to have farmed everything I need so I can actually go after what I want!
This is a legit point - but it feels different from a new player issue specifically in to some kind of game setup issue. I'm not sure what the solution is here - that imbalance exists somewhat even on old player shards. Some people are in elite guilds getting 42/43*+ in TB and getting more rewards than others in guilds hitting 26/27/28*. That situation would be much more pronounced when comparing two new accounts though. Unless they segmented off guilds by player age I'm not sure how that can be addressed.
As to getting bigger/tougher/faster, just enjoy the journey you take your toons on.
WE HAD NO END GAME CONTENT!!!
End game content was arena and galactic war. The game was terrible!!!
Think about this though. You're comparing the game at 2 years. Let's go ahead and move forward to 2019. The new star wars EP 9 is going to come out ... Disney keeps churning out shows / movies, etc. GoH is humming along fine. So a new player that starts in 2019, what's the expectation for them? How do you keep a 2017 new player interested with new content to tackle, and not put the 2019 guys so far behind? And let alone the 2017 person - how do you keep the Nov 2015 guys still engaged at that point? If we assume the game is still going in 2021 .. same question. Take the argument out to the extremes a bit further. If the game is successful, the problem you are trying to articulate will only get greater. Do you then see the game as destined to fail relatively soon due to this new / veteran player gap?
I think what would help me to understand is how are you defining "behind" - how do you know you are behind and who are you behind?
That is exactly the point I have been making! Older players want to act like they had it so bad back in the day...literally 5 LS and 5 DS toons and you'd have all the toons you needed to do well in arenas and GW.
Now that same amount of toons you'd be lucky if you had 5 for squad arena and 5 decent pilots for ships and odds are you'd suck most other places in the game.
Why is it 10 appropriately leveled/geared toons back then was a decent enough roster, and 10 appropriately leveled/geared toons(which takes longer because you need more xp and gear) today is a drop in the bucket, yet some of the older players insist they had it rougher?
New players today simply need a bigger roster to be able to participate in all areas of the game than when the game was launched, and it takes longer to level/gear a toon to max...its a double whammy.
I have thought it through. Do you want to know what I expect?
I'd expect that a toon starting in two years from now doesn't have to get bottlenecked at G9ish with raid gear and copious amounts of cuffs/guns/frisbees/carbantis(after some people have had 4 years to farm this stuff), and then bottlenecked again at G12 because he has to farm out TB gear(after some people have had 2 years to farm this stuff), while the rest of us are bottlenecked at G15.
I'd expect he's not going to be seeing events for level 100 characters that you have no hope of completing without appropriate G13+ squads, and having him sit there thinking darn...its gonna take me 2 years to get 1 squad up to that caliber.
I don't think someone starting 4 years after launch should be 4 years behind someone who started day 1 any more so than someone starting 2 years after launch should be a solid 2 years behind. Old bottlenecks need to be removed as new ones are added. There is some hysterics in this thread about people feeling entitled and being lazy and all that jazz...that isn't the case here, I'm not saying newbs should just be handed maxed out zeta'd toons, just that as level/gear caps increase previous grinds should be lessened to newer players can get to the current end game grind faster. Older players are still going to have advantages of deeper rosters, more effectively farming the current end game, more zetas, better mods, etc...I'm by no means saying after a few months a new player should be equal to a launch player.
What benefit is there to bottlenecking new players at yesterdays end game, which is today's mid game?
No, I don't see the game as destined to "fail relatively soon" due to new/veteran player gap. All the veterans have to quit before the game would fail. I imagine even if 3/4 of the game population quit tomorrow the game would still be turning big profits. What I do see though is if the new/veteran gap gets too big more and more potential new players are going to hit a point where they may dabble for a bit, realize how ridiculously long its going to take them to catch up to new content, and say adios not worth a multiple year grind just to get a reasonable taste of high level game play. That is what I think should be avoided.
But they are already shortening the journey for new players relative to old to some degree. You seem to think it's not enough, but what is? So someone starting 4 years later - how much do you advance them relative to the 4 year player? Do they skip 1 full year? 2? 3? What's the magic #? At 6 years, do you essentially give everyone a 7* maxed out Hermit Yoda, CHan, Rolo, GK, and Raid Han / CLS, etc....all the legendaries?
If I'm a developer though - why would I light all of that content on fire? Wouldn't a new player actually have fun winning EP / CLS / R2, etc.? Do people NOT want to advance in the Rancor anymore? Or what about the HAAT? In 2 years, TBs will also be old - skip that too?
You also have to consider that anything that you give out, you lose the ability to get revenue on that content like you did in the past. Gearing a character fully now from shipments to G11 / G12 can cost roughly $100. Do you want to lose that for each player x each character?
Also - does data really support your position that this is a problem? Are people dropping from the game at a higher rate now compared to when the game launched? Would you be more likely to drop a game at it's launch when content is terrible compared to later in the game when content is abundant? I don't think so. I'd bet early player retention now is as good if not better than what it was at launch.
Do new players now need more than back then though? Of course - the game is bigger and the content is bigger. I think that's appropriate though. In time, those new players will be in that position. They shouldn't just get to skip that process entirely however. Should some things get easier over time? Yes...and they have! I think the pace of improvement has been appropriate. If they ever get to a point in this game where so much is a handout you'll see a tremendous amount of players - and a large % of your paying players - leave the game.
This isn't called "thinking it through." This is called "my fantasyland."
And it's funny because one page earlier you wrote: "Nobody is arguing a 3 month player should have the same roster as a two year player." OK. So what should a three-month player roster be like? A one-year player roster? That's only nine months removed. A six-month player? A four-month player? You think the four-month player would like having to grind it out, only to realize that if he had started just one month later in your welfare program he wouldn't have had to grind it out? Talk about people quitting the game.
Going through your comment history I've figured out why you're on this crusade. You've spent money on the game, I don't know how much, but you wrote earlier:
You're mad because you've been playing for four months, and you are just now coming to grips with how the CG/EA racket works.
Are you even capable of reading?
I already explained what should happen, and it doesn't have anything to do with giving anyone characters. It could literally be as easy as adjusting raid rewards so people can get past that bottleneck faster rather than pulling challenge gear you already have over 1000 of you'll never use...like I've already said multiple times I'm not looking for some blanket give aways to noobs, but apparently that is too much for you to comprehend.
How would you not still "win" those characters? You'd still have to farm out required squads to get them just like you do now. Again..I'm not asking for stuff to be handed over to people just for logging in for the first time...no "welcome to swgoh...here is your free decked out CLS!"
As far as raids go...its not really a measurement of advancing anymore because its pretty easy for any 600 daily player to get into a guild that is smashing heroics anyhow right now. I put up a post in the looking for guild section a month ago that I was a 500k Gp player putting up 600 daily and had over a dozen offers from HAAT guilds within a half hour. I really feel no different about raiding when I was putting up 50k in heroic AAT as I do now when I'm putting over a million up.
Lol, you really think the average new player is spending 100 dollars a toon to gear up to G11/G12? No way. I don't know if you read these forums much but the general consensus on cash for gear seems to be you get crap value for your money and it seems like something only whales do.
I think the devs would have far more success trying to sell character shards and getting newer players up to where they can buy G12 gear rather than bottlenecking them and trying to sell them mid level gear. I think people are more willing to pay to win rather than pay just to be able to try out high level content.
Content isn't abundant for new players. You end up locked out of a lot of it for not meeting squad requirements, and a lot of what you can get into you end up wildly outgunned in it. And yeah...I think we do get more people now that log in, dabble for a bit, and say nope, too much catching up to do, not interested, and move along. If you played at launch, or even prior to raids, you'd have been equal to everyone on your shard, so that problem wouldn't have been as apparent as it is now.
Does data really support your position, because you know darn well its all speculation and you have as much raw data as I do.
And lets be honest, a small percentage of the player base would actually use the forums.
Just clicking on the character screen reveals 120+ toons to potentially farm with no real information on the path required to get them.
For example I don't think there would be anything wrong with having some tutorial/newbie events during their first couple of weeks that gave them some 3 or 4* toons while at the same time educated them on the path to better toons.
You haven't specifically articulated how much you want to see new players skip old content. Again - if 4 years behind in start date - how many years do you let them skip? Be specific. What are you asking for exactly?
3.5 years.
Where have I said I want to see new players skip anything? All I said is old bottlenecks need to be alleviated...make it easier for people to get to to the "end game" G12 bottleneck. Current players are still going to retain a large advantage in zetas, G12 gear, and roster depth, and those are what matters the most right now.
What would I change? Nothing that hasn't already been asked for by players old and new dozens of times on this forum. I'd start with raid gear. Cut some of the challenge gear out of the loot tables...you wouldn't even get more drops, just more consistently get useful drops because its like a kick in the nuts every time you pull some challenge gear you already have over 1000 of with no use for. Adjust challenges...add stun guns, cuffs, and mk3 holo projectors since everyone seems to need stupid amounts of those things.
Basically all I'm asking for is if you bottlenecked players with gear crunch starting around G9/10 before when G11 was the cap, you were bottlenecking them at a point where at least they were like 3/4 as good as they'll be. G12 was a huge boost in power...yet that same old bottleneck still exists...now your bottlenecking new players in a place where their toons are like 1/2 as good as they'll get. What purpose does that serve? Push the bottleneck back a bit. Its not handing them decked out characters or skipping anything, its just letting them get to a point where they can at least enjoy more of the games content a little quicker to keep them interested rather than frustrated...is that a terrible thing?
Nah, read my previous post of what I'd like for them to do. It would help everyone out, unless of course your entire roster was already at a point where all you needed for gear was G12. The thing is getting a squad up to G10/11 right now is a heck of a lot more useful for someone if its their first or second squad then if its their 9th or 10th squad, so although they could do things that benefit everyone equally in terms of how much stuff you get it would have more impact ones gaming experience for people who have less right now.
My welfare program...lol...such a drama queen you are.
I'm not mad or I wouldn't be playing anymore. I just hit a point where I'm level capped, spent some money on crystals for refreshes and don't regret it, and have a pile of toons waiting for gear. Its a waste for me to buy any character shards at this point because I have no gear for them. If I buy crystals, to in exchange buy gear, its going to cost me like 50 bucks for 3 pieces. Just to gear one squad up to where I'd need nothing but G12 would cost me hundreds of dollars...which is just a rip off. I'll throw a bit of money at a game I enjoy here and there but only if I feel like I'm getting a decent return on my money, and that feeling went away soon as I didn't need refreshes for xp anymore, so I haven't spent any more money on the game since.
Basically every week just from my guild doing 3 heroic pits, 2 heroic aats, and consistently finishing at least top 20 arena and top 10 ships daily what I'm pulling in a week would probably cost me 100 bucks to buy. 100 bucks to progress 1 week isn't worth it to me. If they sweetened the deal a bit I'd gladly open the wallet...and getting rid of the crystal boosters that was the cheapest crystal per dollar ratio didn't exactly make me want to spend more either.
In other words, you've come up with nothing. Gee, make gear easier to get. What a solution. That's the only change you could come up with - something that affects everyone? I like how you assume players who have been playing since 2015 don't suffer from gear problems. Using Nightsisters as an example, since the thought now is that some large change or addition is coming with them. I've got two at two stars. So the new player gets to accelerate through those same two Nightsisters but I don't? Is that your big plan? What about all the other characters I have stuck at G9 and G10? Tough patooties?
Your "solution" is either:
1.) Unleash gear, which would benefit everyone and do zero to close the gap between new and old (whatever that does.)
2.) Give new players easier access to gear but do not give older players with the same roster shortcomings that identical, easier access.
Try harder.
Whats your problem? Everthing is bad for you
I think you should re-read what I said because I never suggested anything close to this. But regardless...you aren't really worth any more of my time when you are just going to keep accusing me of nonsense like this I never said.