Datacron Feedback

I haven’t been engaging in GAC lately due to a negative feeling towards datacrons. In the Hynsey chat the other night Crumb said something which resonated with me paraphrasing “identify specifically what I don’t like about datacrons and offer constructive feedback.”

After thinking about it for a couple of weeks, what I specifically do not like about datacrons are the Alignment, Faction and Character bonuses. This game has always been character driven and learning their kits and synergies. These bonuses fundamentally transform characters to a degree where it’s the “spinning box” I’m now collecting rather characters themselves.

I am not the player who wants middle and lower tiered characters to get new and amazing abilities for “fun”. Most of the characters in this game are crafted and balanced well and reflect their place in lore. Aayla Secura and Fifth Brother shouldn’t be deciding GACs.

The large stat bonuses do not bother me, because at the core it’s still the team and characters driving the strategy and flavor of each encounter. Maintaining the integrity of each character and team should always be paramount, and in my opinion datacrons have largely destroyed that piece of SWGOH, which may be a reason folks are not enjoying it as much as they should be.

My suggestion is to get rid of the Alignment, Faction and Character bonuses. Leave the stat boosts, these can be argued about, right now I’m largely okay with them. Make datacrons much more difficult to acquire and level up; and re-rolls should be very expensive and limited to 2-3.

I think by implementing these changes it would achieve: (1) simplifying datacrons and strategy to make them more digestible for a larger audience; (2) make competitive play more stable as the teams remain largely the same but with a stat boost twist; and (3) close the P2P and F2P gap by limiting the supply of datacrons.

At the end of the day I strongly do not want to collect spinning boxes (even for competitive advantage), I’m a Star Wars fan first and I want characters and events to drive my experience in SWGOH.

Replies

  • AlexanderG
    1927 posts Member
    DCs are just bad. Characters can take ages to farm, gear is a regular block to progress, relics are a grind, but I was OK with that as patience and daily play can get you there. I really didn't want a layer of RNG / lottery for temporary buffs

    There's nothing good about them. I hope CG will have a re-think.
  • Crumb said something which resonated with me paraphrasing “identify specifically what I don’t like about datacrons and offer constructive feedback.”

    Some folks are just screaming and whining. Some have offered specific things they don't like. Some have done both.

    Either they aren't reading the forums/Reddit or are going to use this as an excuse to do nothing.

    I would wager what will really drive their reaction is spending and engagement data. They'll come up with some PR bee ess to justify whatever course they take.
  • My interest in the game has certainly fallen off, and is directly related to datacrons.

    Why? Under their current rollout, datacrons feel like the deciding factor in GAC, which makes the rest of my roster nearly invalid.

    With the limited roll-out, what I see is that there are OP teams that you can't beat, or are insanely hard to beat, unless you have the right datacron to respond to it.

    I bounce between Kyber 1and Kyber 2 and ever opponent has all 6-GLs like me. Why should I bother chasing the newest character, team or faction if the datacron-of-the-month is going to be the determining factor for who wins in GAC?

    If my opponent can set a single team on defense that I can't beat, because they have the correct datacron and I can't counter it, then what good is it for me to have the cool new team?

    This problem is compounded by the temporary nature of datacrons. If there was a team or new GL I couldn't beat, that'd be ok, because it'd drive me to get the same team or the appropriate counter team. I could work towards a goal and eventually reach it so I could win. However, when the deciding factor is a datacron, you're chasing a meta that's 2-months long, and any gear/relic upgrades I make to help me win against the new meta will soon be diluted when a new datacron meta comes out and those upgrades don't matter as much.
    .
    Datacrons really make me feel like it's all about having the right datacrons, or more datacrons. If I can't counter a new temporary meta then the rest of my roster doesn't matter.. I will say it again....why should I care about getting the latest characters if datacrons can make winning a GAC match nearly impossible....unless I have the right datacron in return?

    I know removing datacrons from the game won't happen, but if CG truly wants our thoughts, as Crumb said on Hynsey's video, then here's mine....let datacrons elevate teams instead of making them unbeatable.

    What do I mean by that? The current datacrons have really been designed to make GLs even better. The problem is, "better GLs" are becoming "unkillable GLs". Instead of doing that, why not focus on making non-GL teams better. -- Perhaps a datacron Phoenix team can suddenly take out GAS or even a GLs. For 2-months Phoenix would be a nightmare, but not unkillable. Yes, people might use a GL to take out a datacron Phoenix team, and while that would suck, it's better than having teams you simply can't beat, no matter what's in your roster.

    I will go back to something CG has stated more than once -- They have said that GAC was designed so that we'd utilize our entire roster, in new and interesting ways. Well, in their current format....datacrons are doing just the opposite. Datacrons are promoting one or two teams to insane levels and invalidating the rest of your roster.

    I will end by reiterating the same point again....if datacrons can make GAC unwinnable, even if you have all the best teams, then why should I care about getting the new characters?

    The thing is...I won't spend money on a temporary boost or temporary meta, so if datacrons become the win-factor in SWGOH, then I won't spend at all and my interest in the game will continue to fade.

  • flux_rono
    2112 posts Member
    i think datacrons could be good but they need to be toned down a lot and have good counterplay if we keep them. aka having a stun on every special that you can't avoid or resist doesn't have much counterplay and is frustrating. Plus as others said if a GL is on the team they should be deactivated (aka a GL and datacron cant be on the same team, but using a datacron to fight a GL is ok), because GLs are strong enough as is and datacrons break them even more. also the relic requirement should be removed form the first 8 tiers, only tier 9 that's character specific should need a relic requirement if anything. its just way to hard to get full and good teams together that are all relic 3+, since CG cant allow gear to be more accessible.

    also, i think 3 months is too short with how the format is, i would propose a 6-month cycle that follows conquest, where the first 3 months are getting the datacron materials and upgrading, and the next 3 you get less in conquest and is the "battle stage" CG proposed in the road behind from June. it would be similar to how the conquest characters are where the first 3 months they are the main rewards and the following 3 they get much less but are still obtained.


    but again that's how i think they could be good, but how they are now, they are not fun, and hurt the game overall.
  • TVF
    36527 posts Member
    The last thing anyone facing OP DCs should want is for them to last twice as long.
    I need a new message here. https://discord.gg/AmStGTH
  • I_JnK_I
    464 posts Member
    Liklik113 wrote: »
    @CG_SBCrumb its fairly simple. We don't want hacks. If we wanted that we would just download the application and do them on burner accounts. We are happy with the toon mechanics as is. We just want more ways to use them. Meaning content......hello...crumb....is thing on?...What do u mean i had you at content?.

    Strangely, when they removed the hack in form of deployable cooling systems, everyone wanted them. You either take both or neither
  • I_JnK_I wrote: »
    Liklik113 wrote: »
    @CG_SBCrumb its fairly simple. We don't want hacks. If we wanted that we would just download the application and do them on burner accounts. We are happy with the toon mechanics as is. We just want more ways to use them. Meaning content......hello...crumb....is thing on?...What do u mean i had you at content?.

    Strangely, when they removed the hack in form of deployable cooling systems, everyone wanted them. You either take both or neither

    Wut? Why? How are they even related?

    Also, while I know some were vocal about DCS going away, it's not like the new disks make Conquest any less trivial.

    @Liklik113 I agree. The issue in this game is the lack of content. I'll say it again, if DCs were only active in PvE and there was new, challenging content that essentially required them, they'd have received a much warmer reception.
  • I_JnK_I
    464 posts Member
    I_JnK_I wrote: »
    Liklik113 wrote: »
    @CG_SBCrumb its fairly simple. We don't want hacks. If we wanted that we would just download the application and do them on burner accounts. We are happy with the toon mechanics as is. We just want more ways to use them. Meaning content......hello...crumb....is thing on?...What do u mean i had you at content?.

    Strangely, when they removed the hack in form of deployable cooling systems, everyone wanted them. You either take both or neither

    Wut? Why? How are they even related?

    Also, while I know some were vocal about DCS going away, it's not like the new disks make Conquest any less trivial.
    How are they related? Arent they just modifiers but for another gamemode?

    Conquest still is easy to be cleared. But you cant go for full clear with 2 toons anymore.
  • I_JnK_I wrote: »
    I_JnK_I wrote: »
    Liklik113 wrote: »
    @CG_SBCrumb its fairly simple. We don't want hacks. If we wanted that we would just download the application and do them on burner accounts. We are happy with the toon mechanics as is. We just want more ways to use them. Meaning content......hello...crumb....is thing on?...What do u mean i had you at content?.

    Strangely, when they removed the hack in form of deployable cooling systems, everyone wanted them. You either take both or neither

    Wut? Why? How are they even related?

    Also, while I know some were vocal about DCS going away, it's not like the new disks make Conquest any less trivial.
    How are they related? Arent they just modifiers but for another gamemode?

    Conquest still is easy to be cleared. But you cant go for full clear with 2 toons anymore.

    After DCs, Conquest actually became the fun game mode. 3v3 was bad enough before DCs. It’s a total joke now.
  • The bottom line is they don't care about your opinions. Datacrons were put into the game for one purpose and one purpose alone.. to have upper tier players and GAC chasers spend money to get them.

    It's easy. If you don't like them don't engage and don't chase mats other than what your normal play gives you. I know it sounds harsh but trust me that this will send your message louder than anything else will. All DC's have done is produce more stress for the player base. Nobody wants crystal income tied to GAC at the levels it is. If they want to continue destroying what should be an enjoyable, fun, relaxing mobile game with a beloved franchise behind it then let them.
  • StewartH
    148 posts Member
    edited August 2022
    Crumb said something which resonated with me paraphrasing “identify specifically what I don’t like about datacrons and offer constructive feedback.”

    Some folks are just screaming and whining. Some have offered specific things they don't like. Some have done both.

    Either they aren't reading the forums/Reddit or are going to use this as an excuse to do nothing.

    I would wager what will really drive their reaction is spending and engagement data. They'll come up with some PR bee ess to justify whatever course they take.

    I agree and I'm particularly curious about the engagement data because I don't believe I've seen a Datacron in GAC yet (Chromium 1). Small sample obviously but I'd think that someone in my GAC range (3-7M GP) would be using them given we all have them and all have teams that can use them but...nobody is using them.

    Very important side note: does anyone know if SWGOH.GG shows you in GAC history if someone used a Datacron vs you in the attack phase? Nobody has used one on defense and I'm using .GG data to say nobody has on offense either.
  • StewartH wrote: »
    Crumb said something which resonated with me paraphrasing “identify specifically what I don’t like about datacrons and offer constructive feedback.”

    Some folks are just screaming and whining. Some have offered specific things they don't like. Some have done both.

    Either they aren't reading the forums/Reddit or are going to use this as an excuse to do nothing.

    I would wager what will really drive their reaction is spending and engagement data. They'll come up with some PR bee ess to justify whatever course they take.

    I agree and I'm particularly curious about the engagement data because I don't believe I've seen a Datacron in GAC yet (Chromium 1). Small sample obviously but I'd think that someone in my GAC range (3-7M GP) would be using them given we all have them and all have teams that can use them but...nobody is using them.

    Very important side note: does anyone know if SWGOH.GG shows you in GAC history if someone used a Datacron vs you in the attack phase? Nobody has used one on defense and I'm using .GG data to say nobody has on offense either.

    Even when you find them, it doesn’t mean people like them. I have several from doing just the Conquests which is all I will get but don’t like them. I place them on teams for defense and it probably makes the other player miserable but it is the way they designed them to be, an I un-enjoyable experience adding nothing interesting to the game.
  • flux_rono
    2112 posts Member
    TVF wrote: »
    The last thing anyone facing OP DCs should want is for them to last twice as long.

    I don't want OP ones lasting as long. i said they should be toned down a lot and have good counterplay. and those toned down would be the ones lasting longer. and otherwise, datacrons as they are now suck and shouldn't be a thing
  • StAugJames wrote: »
    StewartH wrote: »
    Crumb said something which resonated with me paraphrasing “identify specifically what I don’t like about datacrons and offer constructive feedback.”

    Some folks are just screaming and whining. Some have offered specific things they don't like. Some have done both.

    Either they aren't reading the forums/Reddit or are going to use this as an excuse to do nothing.

    I would wager what will really drive their reaction is spending and engagement data. They'll come up with some PR bee ess to justify whatever course they take.

    I agree and I'm particularly curious about the engagement data because I don't believe I've seen a Datacron in GAC yet (Chromium 1). Small sample obviously but I'd think that someone in my GAC range (3-7M GP) would be using them given we all have them and all have teams that can use them but...nobody is using them.

    Very important side note: does anyone know if SWGOH.GG shows you in GAC history if someone used a Datacron vs you in the attack phase? Nobody has used one on defense and I'm using .GG data to say nobody has on offense either.

    Even when you find them, it doesn’t mean people like them. I have several from doing just the Conquests which is all I will get but don’t like them. I place them on teams for defense and it probably makes the other player miserable but it is the way they designed them to be, an I un-enjoyable experience adding nothing interesting to the game.

    I've run across some in Kyber 1 that have very good ones and aren't using them. The hemorrhaging of players quitting or disengaging from GAC should give them all the data they need on DC's... but maybe the whaling on them is worth losing a large chunk of paying players. DC's don't seem to discriminate in terms of the type of higher tier player flocking from the game from what I've witnessed.

  • Thanks for all the replies.

    I really want to give feedback whether they want it or not. As I said in the original post it really is the extra skills and abilities that are killing my enjoyment of the game. Those need to vanish.

    Having one, and I mean one, faction a quarter with suped up stats seems interesting and reasonable. Also the relic gates also have to go. All players should get to enjoy datacrons, how awesome would it be to have G8 characters with those crazy stats in bronzium.

    The only other purpose I can see for datacrons in the game right now is CG introduced a “poison pill” to start winding this game down while soaking up as much cash as possible. I’m a very large whale and in Kyber 1, the rewards for GAC do not outweigh the amount of crystals being flung at datacrons to stay competitive.

    Again spinning boxes are not characters or events, I’m not seeing the fun factor for me personally.
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