Last minute season quitting...

Bloo_Alliance

Last minute season quitting is maybe the **** thing I've experienced in this game and I've been around since day one. You and 19 others spend hours of time daily as well as some plenty of dollars just to get a Thor cover that will be useless for months or even years to come. Then, with just minutes to go in the tournament, a player inexplicably quits. Now an entire month's worth of time and money is completely down the drain with no recourse whatsoever. My emails to D3 were responded with "all features are working as intended" and that someone quitting is an "intended challenge".

I've had a 20 person alliance since it was possible and got all 3 Fury covers so I have walked the walk. If you factor in how much harder it is just to get the alliance reward then it was just a few months ago. It used to be that you could have a few slackers in the group and still collect. Now, a minimum to get top 100 is that every player must be getting 600-700 per with at least 3-5 shield hoppers getting 1000+. I don't think D3 realizes how insanely hard you have to work every single day to maintain a group like this. As a commander since day one, I do.

I have dealt with every single change this game has thrown out but I can feel that I'm approaching my limit. When someone like me leaves, you know it will be the beginning of the end. There is no doubt, D3 won't give a rip. To end this post on a light note though... Remember FarmVille? Pepperidge Farm does.

Bloo

ClydeFrog76

It really sucks, but hardcore veterans have left in the past and it didn't signal "The End". The game will keep going, and D3 will keep making money.

Sorry.

Bloo_Alliance

Sorry, I wasn't trying to suggest that me leaving signaled the end (and I did say the beginning of the end). I was just trying to say I can work through most changes but this is a design flaw leading to a customer service issue (and I think we can all agree on D3's customer service level)

Flare808

While it sucks to be in that position, what do you want D3 to do? They aren't in control of individual players. If someone decides to leave, D3 isn't going to gift a player/score to an alliance. Think of it this way: If Peyton Manning leads the Broncos to the Super Bowl and gets hurt right before the game, the NFL isn't going to send a replacement player to help the team. I don't see a customer service issue, and yes it it "working as intended". Bad situation, but nothing wrong with it.

wymtime

I think D3 realizes how hard it is to transition to 3* land and how hard it is for alliances to get top 100. The problem is what is the solution. Shields made the game better becuase players did not have to play the last 3-8 hours and still get placements in PVP. It then created shield hopping and when they introduced Sentry and Daken it went to a new level. Now 2* players have an MMR hell at 600 points when it takes 800-900 points to reach top 25 for a lower tier character reward. D3 is playing with MMR and asking for our feedback. They are trying to make the game better especially for the transitioning player. I feel bad for the OP that someone quite the last min of the season. That is a character issue with that player not thinking about how they impact their team.
D3 has made all alliances 20 person to try and even the playing field. It will cause more alliance jumping and that is a shame. People should be in an alliance to be apart of a team not just get rewards.
Again what is the solution. I really don't know because as D3 introduces new mechanics players get upset even if it is good for the overall game (take a look at true healing). with alliances now 20 people, PVP will be harder, PVE will be harder, and commanders will be forced to either be cut throat for their alliance to get good rewards or potentially loose out on top 100 placement. I will say this to players trying to get into a top 100 alliance. It can be cut throat. If you can choose to be in an alliance because you want to make friends online, share stories, and help each other out. If you just want rewards you can be a Merc and that is ok too.
Sorry for your missed reward OP. I hope you can look at the players in your alliance and remember the jokes you and your team share because the fun you have with them is what an alliance should be about. Good luck next season I hope you get what you are looking for.

Bloo_Alliance

What do I want them to do? How about something simple like: if someone leaves within 3 hours of a month-long event ending, their score stays unless you replace them with another player. To prevent alliance hopping for the purpose of giving multiple alliances your score, they could put a limit in place for that as well. I'm normally not an apathetic guy but when you experience the anguish of 18 others' month of hard work down the drain like I did...
Again, like I also mentioned, I think it's beyond time they moved to top 150 for alliance rewards. The fact that why haven't is bizarre as apparently the user base continues to expand.

Bloo_Alliance

wymtime,

Having a 20 person alliance since day one, I will say, what a great group they are and what fun we have. I could easily leave the alliance and got to a top 25 alliance if I wanted to. I choose to stick with them though because of the camaraderie. Except one...

Lystrata

Bloo_Alliance wrote:

What do I want them to do? How about something simple like: if someone leaves within 3 hours of a month-long event ending, their score stays unless you replace them with another player. To prevent alliance hopping for the purpose of giving multiple alliances your score, they could put a limit in place for that as well.

But even having that in place for just 'the first time you leave an alliance' would create ridiculous alliance hopping opportunities. And would the leaving player take their score with them to the new alliance or what? If so, that could effectively lead to dozens and dozens (if not hundreds) of duplicate 6000+ Season scores floating about.

I agree it's a **** situation, but as far as anything in this game can go, staying in/leaving alliances (and the repercussions) really is on the players, not D3.

wymtime

Bloo_Alliance wrote:

wymtime,

Having a 20 person alliance since day one, I will say, what a great group they are and what fun we have. I could easily leave the alliance and got to a top 25 alliance if I wanted to. I choose to stick with them though because of the camaraderie. Except one...

And that is what is important. I know everyone wants the shinny new Thor and your alliance worked really hard to get there. Continue to celebrate the players on your team. And if you see me in PVP feel free to hit me for 10-20 points. I probably deserve it.

Afrocigar

I agree that the score when jumping to another alliance within a certain amount of time should trigger something. I'm sure D3 is just as puzzled as we are with trying to devise a solution that is equitable to all and doesn't produce unforeseen ways to "game" the system.

Yes, I'm a member of Bloo's Alliance and was also affected by the last minute abandonment and missed some covers that I was counting on. I'm not going to call them unresponsive, because they did help me with a Captain Marvel Red I had accidentally sold. But it would be nice if they would address the issue with something other than a boilerplate response. They can look at what happened in the Alliance and see the timing of the departure and what our score would've been. I understand that doing so would most likely open the floodgates so to speak.

Either way, this has to be addressed. It can't be left to an, "Oh well, them's the breaks"

I'm not threatening to leave or anything, but I do spend a trickle of money for a slot or two now and then. If I feel too many results are out of my control, I'll most likely start viewing the game is really F2P or P2W and play strictly in that manner, so as not to become upset when things of this nature happen.

vr,
Afro

lukewin

This sounds like a problem, but not a problem that should be handled by D3. It sucks that someone quit on you last minute, but that's on that person, not on D3. If it was a case of someone getting kicked or sandboxed, or an action that was on D3's part, it would be theirs to rectify.

Unknown

The solution may be actually pretty simple - one can't leave alliance within last 24 hours of season.

Bloo_Alliance

I was thinking that too Raziel but I thought it would be deemed unfair to "trap" someone in an alliance. Now that I think about it more, it would make the most sense and stop people from alliance hopping. You would know the alliance you chose within the final 24 hours of a month long contest would be the one you are committed to. Plus, if someone did leave the day before, it would give the alliance a full day to pick up a straggler.

Mawtful

Surely the easy fix is: The alliance earns the points, not the player. More to the point, after a PvP ends, the points that each player earns is "transferred" to the alliance's seasonal "point pool". That pool cannot lose points that have been added to it.

To keep up with the sportsball analogies, this turns the break between seasons into "transfer week". Once a season starts, it's in the best interest to stick it out. If you do swap, the work that you contributed to your alliance to get to that point remains. If a player transfers teams mid-season, they don't apply any points they earned in those games to their new team retroactively .

Mega-alliances will probably still keep doing what they are doing and swap members between sub-alliances inbetween each event of a season. They'll have to do it at the start of an event, not the end - all this really means is that they'll actually have to plan in advance a bit more.

Sandmaker

It is unfortunate this happened to your alliance, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that managing your members and the stability in your alliance is a test of your skill as a leader. It is part of the competition, where alliances are rewarded for keeping their alliance stable and members loyal. This is true in almost every game, and even in most real life group scenarios.

Note that I am not saying you're a bad leader. You're probably a great leader. I'm simply suggesting that you've probably made mistakes when handling this member. Did he shown signs of discontent? How many personal conversations have you had with the guy? What was his motivation for leaving?

Your members are not just points on your scoreboard. They are people with their own goals and own ambitions. If you don't understand these aspect of them and don't interact with them, then you suffer the consequences. If you interact closely with your members then you should be able to start detecting "bad apples" such as the member that left. Then you can either start addressing the problem, or replacing them before it becomes a last minute problem.

I don't usually do shameless plugs, but from personal experience, the leaders in DeadpoolsTacos/Rings make an extreme effort to foster an environment where this kind of stuff don't happen.

-They dissipate any hints of drama.
-They provide better forms of communication between the alliance(s), so members get to know each other.
-They do 1on1 chats with members that seem unhappy about the alliance, and try to address their concerns.
-They reevaluate the state of the alliance at the end of each season, and ask their members to contribute.
-They build morale when events don't go well.
-They make the hard calls of cutting people that look like they will hurt the alliance.

As a result they've built an extremely loyal member base. When I joined, I was amazed they we able to do this for a game with almost no player interaction. But they've pulled it off, and it's allowed the alliance to flourish.

Unknown

You lost out on a single cover. So instead of needing 12 more covers, you need 13. It's really not that big of a difference. The sad truth is that season rewards are not worth the work it takes to get them. Why spend a season of shielding or shield hopping, when you can just get the 1300 progressive on a PvP, or grind a PVE event hitting every optimal. Either scenario is much easier and less work than season rewards.

The real advantage of alliances are the PvP and PVE rewards. Think about it. It's the dirty little secret MPQ hopes your season tunnel vision won't let you notice.

Bloo_Alliance

Sandmaker,

I think anyone in my alliance will tell you how much fun we have and how engaged we all are. Newcomers are always surprised by our level of interaction. That being said, there was no indication anyone was looking to leave and the person who did was one of our most active and vocal members. It was a shock to everyone in the alliance. Keep in mind this was just a few minutes before the whole thing ended. They PM'd me later and stated that they were offered an invite to be in a top 40 alliance instead of top 100. By all means go, but that timing...

over_clocked

Who's the player? Every commander needs to know their IGN to not welcome them into their alliances under any circumstances. Sheesh what timing indeed.
And yeah while you can get a 4or cover much easier and with less hassle through personal progression or personal placement, it ducks that a whole group's efforts were thwarted by one person.

Unknown

I guess, a well sorted solution can as well be, that the points, player A creates in Alliance A, stay in alliance A, even if player a leaves to alliance B. For the rest of the Season, the points player A farms will then go to alliance B.
That way, running away for the last day will most likely not occus, as most alliances wont free a slot of a low performing player close to season end, for a player who might not earn any or only a few points.

Can be implemented quite easy, if you introduce a separate counter for the alliance, where all points, any player earns during the season, are added separately , than just taking the total of all players single scores.

Mikaveus

It sounds like the commander and alliance was wronged in this scenario with a player leaving last minute without chance at a replacement.

However, let's say a toxic environment drives a player away from an alliance. Overbearing commanders, as an example. Why shouldn't that player be allowed to take their points to an alliance where they are appreciated?

This really is a tricky issue.

over_clocked

Mikaveus wrote:

It sounds like the commander and alliance was wronged in this scenario with a player leaving last minute without chance at a replacement.

However, let's say a toxic environment drives a player away from an alliance. Overbearing commanders, as an example. Why shouldn't that player be allowed to take their points to an alliance where they are appreciated?

This really is a tricky issue.

In what universe is it okay to fail 18 innocent people to take it out on just one?