Arena (both) is a big time-sink. Any way to make it less burdensome or time-specific for players?

Prev1
This isn't a threaten-to-quit kind of post. But whenever I get little passing feelings of wanting to quit it is always centered around how much time arena takes and how it makes demands on my schedule for a particular time slot each day.

How do other players manage this?

Would there be any way of systematically reducing this burden for players? (It is a mobile game, after all.)

Replies

  • Just being able to choose our payout times for fleet and arena would be a huge help. Even if it was a one time setting. I have 10+ players all at the same payout time in my arena shard.
  • Recommend going NS and autoing your 5 battles. Might not work forever, but you'll be okay so long as this CLS and JTR thing is going on.
    #AcolyteShootsTwice
  • Kyno
    32087 posts Moderator
    Moved to Feedback >> Arena.

    The current system can be stressful, but just like the game is about resource management, this is about time management. If it's important for you to be placing well in arena you make the time, if not then don't stress it.

    At this point, I would say that arena timing is one of the longer requested changes out there and we have not heard anything about it being even on the table. There are many suggested systems and changes out there but each has its pitfalls, especially at the "changing point", so it's probably being left alone for the best of all involved.
  • harryheckDAX
    208 posts Member
    edited January 2018
    Ariben wrote: »
    This isn't a threaten-to-quit kind of post. But whenever I get little passing feelings of wanting to quit it is always centered around how much time arena takes and how it makes demands on my schedule for a particular time slot each day.

    How do other players manage this?

    Would there be any way of systematically reducing this burden for players? (It is a mobile game, after all.)

    I basicly don't because I want to keep my job, so arena is impossible for me (and many in my situation).
    Even when I can I don't even bother because of the time sink. But hey that's just me.
  • Are you trying to finish top 5 everyday? When I go for that, I end up sinking a good bit of the hour into it. When I settle for 10-20 it gives me so much more enjoyment to my day.
  • Ploosh wrote: »
    Are you trying to finish top 5 everyday? When I go for that, I end up sinking a good bit of the hour into it. When I settle for 10-20 it gives me so much more enjoyment to my day.

    I assume for you the difference is that settling means no refreshes. I very rarely do refreshes. If I do my battles randomly and spread throughout the day (not taking my time all in one hour) I would drop out of top 20 and into top 100.
  • TVF
    36519 posts Member
    Ariben wrote: »
    Ploosh wrote: »
    Are you trying to finish top 5 everyday? When I go for that, I end up sinking a good bit of the hour into it. When I settle for 10-20 it gives me so much more enjoyment to my day.

    I assume for you the difference is that settling means no refreshes. I very rarely do refreshes. If I do my battles randomly and spread throughout the day (not taking my time all in one hour) I would drop out of top 20 and into top 100.

    Well that's the trade off isn't it? I'm generally between 100-200 without much effort (if at all). I can push into the top 100 barely and if I time it right I can hit payout around 85-90, but it's not worth it to me so I don't.
    I need a new message here. https://discord.gg/AmStGTH
  • Waqui
    8802 posts Member
    You could settle for 5th place even if you _could_ take first by playing 3 more battles in the sniping game.
    You could join a shard chat and then just relax after reaching your designated rank.
  • Ariben wrote: »
    Ploosh wrote: »
    Are you trying to finish top 5 everyday? When I go for that, I end up sinking a good bit of the hour into it. When I settle for 10-20 it gives me so much more enjoyment to my day.

    I assume for you the difference is that settling means no refreshes. I very rarely do refreshes. If I do my battles randomly and spread throughout the day (not taking my time all in one hour) I would drop out of top 20 and into top 100.

    Well, kinda. I can usually take top 20 with only 2 or maybe 3 battles in the hour before. If I push for top 5, yeah, I have to do a refresh on my fifth battle, so 6 total, and then half the time I get locked out and settle for top 10 anyway. There’s a lot of top end collusion against me at the top. They won’t let me into their shard chat haha
  • It’s so annoying that we have to be on at a set time determined by the developers and that certain people get more rewards just because they are in an unpopular time zone (ex: we have someone on a 1/2 hour time zone in our shard. He gets 1 every day while everyone else has to fight it out or share).

    Remember how unpopular 2 hour flash events were? People hate being told they have to be on at this exact time. For some of us it’s literally impossible.
  • Kyno wrote: »
    Moved to Feedback >> Arena.

    The current system can be stressful, but just like the game is about resource management, this is about time management. If it's important for you to be placing well in arena you make the time, if not then don't stress it.

    At this point, I would say that arena timing is one of the longer requested changes out there and we have not heard anything about it being even on the table. There are many suggested systems and changes out there but each has its pitfalls, especially at the "changing point", so it's probably being left alone for the best of all involved.

    So spending time on a job and a family is apart of the time management a game forces us to choose? And if we choose a game over our jobs and family, we'll be rewarded? Lol. What kind of game is this that penalizes hardworking people with families. Good Kitten!
    what an ugly thing to say... does this mean we're not friends anymore?
  • Kyno
    32087 posts Moderator
    Kyno wrote: »
    Moved to Feedback >> Arena.

    The current system can be stressful, but just like the game is about resource management, this is about time management. If it's important for you to be placing well in arena you make the time, if not then don't stress it.

    At this point, I would say that arena timing is one of the longer requested changes out there and we have not heard anything about it being even on the table. There are many suggested systems and changes out there but each has its pitfalls, especially at the "changing point", so it's probably being left alone for the best of all involved.

    So spending time on a job and a family is apart of the time management a game forces us to choose? And if we choose a game over our jobs and family, we'll be rewarded? Lol. What kind of game is this that penalizes hardworking people with families. Good Kitten!

    IF it is going to interfere with anything in your life, than you have the choice to make things a priority. Some people have more flexibility than others. While the time is odd, it is indifferent, it's fixed for everyone all over relative to TZ.
  • Kyno wrote: »
    Kyno wrote: »
    Moved to Feedback >> Arena.

    The current system can be stressful, but just like the game is about resource management, this is about time management. If it's important for you to be placing well in arena you make the time, if not then don't stress it.

    At this point, I would say that arena timing is one of the longer requested changes out there and we have not heard anything about it being even on the table. There are many suggested systems and changes out there but each has its pitfalls, especially at the "changing point", so it's probably being left alone for the best of all involved.

    So spending time on a job and a family is apart of the time management a game forces us to choose? And if we choose a game over our jobs and family, we'll be rewarded? Lol. What kind of game is this that penalizes hardworking people with families. Good Kitten!

    IF it is going to interfere with anything in your life, than you have the choice to make things a priority. Some people have more flexibility than others. While the time is odd, it is indifferent, it's fixed for everyone all over relative to TZ.

    And because of that, the payout times need a serious QOL adjustment simply for the fact everyone in the world doesn't have the same hours to play. To have a game be set assuming the same time works for everyone is simply naive.
    what an ugly thing to say... does this mean we're not friends anymore?
  • Kyno wrote: »
    Moved to Feedback >> Arena.

    The current system can be stressful, but just like the game is about resource management, this is about time management. If it's important for you to be placing well in arena you make the time, if not then don't stress it.

    At this point, I would say that arena timing is one of the longer requested changes out there and we have not heard anything about it being even on the table. There are many suggested systems and changes out there but each has its pitfalls, especially at the "changing point", so it's probably being left alone for the best of all involved.

    So spending time on a job and a family is apart of the time management a game forces us to choose? And if we choose a game over our jobs and family, we'll be rewarded? Lol. What kind of game is this that penalizes hardworking people with families. Good Kitten!

    +1000
  • leef
    13458 posts Member
    having to be online during specific times in order to have a better chance at a better reward sucks, regardless of what you're (not) doing at that specific time.
    Save water, drink champagne!
  • You CAN change your payout time.
    But only during Account Creation, which is why that’s my number 1 advice to anyone starting a new account.
  • leef wrote: »
    having to be online during specific times in order to have a better chance at a better reward sucks, regardless of what you're (not) doing at that specific time.

    Gamers should be able to change payout times to whatever works best for them, and be able to change it more than once. Assuming gamers will always have the same time constraints is also naive.

    This seems like a fairly simple issue to grasp. Any arguments against it is really no matter how you slice it, insensitive to the rythm of life.
    what an ugly thing to say... does this mean we're not friends anymore?
  • Arena.

    Slider.

    Pick.

    Opponents.

    Random refreshing a million ties drives me insane and takes ages
  • Shaunyvee wrote: »
    Arena.

    Slider.

    Pick.

    Opponents.

    Random refreshing a million ties drives me insane and takes ages

    Not specifically what this post is about but agreed: that seems like a fairly easy QOL implementation.
  • leef
    13458 posts Member
    leef wrote: »
    having to be online during specific times in order to have a better chance at a better reward sucks, regardless of what you're (not) doing at that specific time.

    Gamers should be able to change payout times to whatever works best for them, and be able to change it more than once. Assuming gamers will always have the same time constraints is also naive.

    This seems like a fairly simple issue to grasp. Any arguments against it is really no matter how you slice it, insensitive to the rythm of life.

    Well, raid times suck aswell eventhough we can manage those ourselves.
    Save water, drink champagne!
  • leef wrote: »
    leef wrote: »
    having to be online during specific times in order to have a better chance at a better reward sucks, regardless of what you're (not) doing at that specific time.

    Gamers should be able to change payout times to whatever works best for them, and be able to change it more than once. Assuming gamers will always have the same time constraints is also naive.

    This seems like a fairly simple issue to grasp. Any arguments against it is really no matter how you slice it, insensitive to the rythm of life.

    Well, raid times suck aswell eventhough we can manage those ourselves.

    At least raid times are in the control of the guild. If those times don't work, it's not an issue with the game, but conflicts between gamers which can be avoided by playing with similarly time constrained people.

    Arena (toon & Fleet) on the other hand are crudely dictated by the current game mechanics having zero flexibility. It's disingenuous to put the burden of meeting unrealistic payout demands on gamers, so that they are forced to choose between a game and work/family in order to fully enjoy the game. The game priorities are 100% backwards. To think that employed gamers have more disposable income, it seems a no brainer games should cater to them, not paying customers catering to a game. Remember who pays the bills here. It's working gamers.

    Why can't we have a win/win solution. Instead of the game wins and gamers get shafted with a big arm & hammer.
    what an ugly thing to say... does this mean we're not friends anymore?
  • To answer the original post specifically: participate in the shard chat. Get in touch (e.g. via this forum) with the 20 or so folks that are the regular top-20 of your shard. It works wonders, and for me, was the best quality of life improvement by far. I'm fortunate to be in a non-crowded payout slot (only 1 other), but I can slowly climb any time during the afternoon, usually take my spot a couple of hours before payout and trust I won't be bothered until then.

    It's also great because these guys give you feedback on your teams, and occasionally help you move up.
    ☮ Consular ☮ - https://swgoh.gg/u/tiggus/
  • I submitted a request to Answers HQ after a mod suggested that may be more effective than posting here. So if you want to support my request, reply to this:

    https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/Please-let-us-choose-our-arena-and-fleet-payout-times/m-p/6583825#M7609
  • It’s ridiculous that you can’t change your timezone. Moving from California to New York should not mess up your game experience. This is an easy fix. Make it like changing your name in game. Make it cost an additional 2,000 extra crystals each time you change timezone. Limit to only one change a month. Have the analytics people figure out what the pricepoint is to curb abuse it.
  • I submitted a request to Answers HQ after a mod suggested that may be more effective than posting here. So if you want to support my request, reply to this:

    https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/Please-let-us-choose-our-arena-and-fleet-payout-times/m-p/6583825#M7609

    thanks. petition signed, this is the most important deficit of this game.
  • I signed the petition, and I encourage others to do so as well.
    what an ugly thing to say... does this mean we're not friends anymore?
  • Arenas take a max of 60 minutes of your day and I doubt it takes even that. Split across 24 hrs that's less than 3 minutes an hour. What's the problem?
  • Arenas take a max of 60 minutes of your day and I doubt it takes even that. Split across 24 hrs that's less than 3 minutes an hour. What's the problem?

    *sigh*

    I'm in pst tz. If I climb early, I'm knocked down. I can really only climb during my hour of po (2 hours counting ships) , whenI want to spend that time with my wife and 3 kids ages 9, 10 and 12. Not sure why you can't understand that, but if it doesn't matter to you and it does matter to me, then why not add this functionality to change po times and you can just ignore it.
    what an ugly thing to say... does this mean we're not friends anymore?
  • Because then it leads to payout jumpers who decide their payout isn't easy enough for them and then we get an even bigger problem than the folks whining about discord chats. The time of payout does not matter to me, you are correct, the ability to change the payout when everybody else is playing by the same rules however does. You have to make a choice. This game is all about choice. Spend time with your family or focus on payout. Really shouldn't be that hard to decide.
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