This moves you from genially clueless to something less so

Unknown

I don't know man...I think what will solve all your problems is to just stop playing. I did. I guess people reach it faster than others but realizing that you are literally grinding away your life for a digital cover is asinine. I love spending time on video games too for entertainment but much like I hated those mmos a while back that just required so much grinding...it just isn't fun or entertaining. Think about it...I know you feel it...just walk away...the joy is gone...its work now not a game...when it gets to that point it's outlived its purpose cause guess what? I'm not getting paid for this, and why in the world would I pay these clowns money for this awful experience.

Colognoisseur

Okay some sleep and perspective allows me to be a touch more rational.

First we went through this pattern before starting with the anniversary events and when asked about it in one of the Q&A's they said that was a one off kind of event and we would be back to the every two weeks release schedule. They seemed to realize this was what was healthy for the game and for the players. This is what I meant when I said in my OP that the devs tried something they received feedback and they changed. There are way more examples of this happening than the opposite. It is why I have continued to support the game because I feel like when they make a good intentioned change which has unintended consequences they try and fix it.

This is why I was so upset last night. To do this same thing where they release two new characters back-to-back in PvE making one required that they did back in the fall is the same bad move it was back then. The difference is this time they should know it is a bad move and they are still doing it. This could be interpreted that they just don't care and it was my initial response last night. How often this happens in the future will determine whether they are just trying to wring the most out of a player base and a game which they don't expect to have longevity.

As to not having to play. I have already decided not to play for first in this one. I am going to get off my self-imposed treadmill when it comes to PvE. I will play enough to finish in the covers just not all three. now you might see this as a good thing and maybe it is. But as I become less engaged with the game that is one less whale spending money. If this is a pattern among others who spend money then these kind of moves will be problematic for the long term health of the game. It might just be me, it might be more than me, who knows? As with everything time will tell.

Raffoon

Ad-hominem attack on developers gets enough upvotes to turn green. **** are they doing. I think Bush had better approval ratings. (I upvoted too)

Unknown

Obviously trying to get as much money from the player base as possible before burning this game down completely.

Just stop giving them money until they (hopefully) change direction.

Yasuru

Colognoisseur hit the nail on the head with his second post. After the chaos of the anniversary, the playerbase basically begged for the devs to slow down the release cycle. They said, they understood and would return to a 2-week release cycle. That promise lasted about 5 months, now we have the same situation. No only is it back to back grinds, but it's 850hp back to back (gotta catch 'em all) provided I can place in the (compressed) top 50. They basically managed the hat-trick of player annoyances. As for the people who are saying "just don't play", if you miss a new character, you miss out on essentials on the next PvE which can cause a snowball effect that is hard to recover from.

Yas

GrumpySmurf1002

Yasuru wrote:

As for the people who are saying "just don't play", if you miss a new character, you miss out on essentials on the next PvE which can cause a snowball effect that is hard to recover from.

This isn't nearly the issue people claim it to be, at least for the veterans. Back to backs don't help, but I'm pretty confident that you didn't need to beat the Gauntlet to have Blade for your essential in this PvE. Similarly, the next event will award an older character, which means the event after you're back to a high likelihood of having the essential again.

As for topic at hand, I understand the frustration, but not the rage.

Kiamodo

Honestly there are few things that can derail vets! Most could take months off the game and be fine! We just were comfortable with the rate of play for so long. We just don't want to see more people leave through frustration and burnout.

orbitalint

GrumpySmurf1002 wrote:

Similarly, the next event will award an older character, which means the event after you're back to a high likelihood of having the essential again.

Are we sure about that?

I was frustrated yesterday and today I'm apathetic. They finally beat the life out of me and I'm yelling uncle. This is the last 4* release I'll be busting my butt for, mainly from a request from the alliance.

As I thought about it more, mpq is in a weird place right now. Their distribution model for 4* is 5% and a fraction of that for all 3 covers. Yet, the whales only really have a use for more 4*'s who probably don't have much of an impact on the meta anyways. I doubt we would've seen this many 4* releases if they addressed the shield hopping issue about 6 months prior. They simply let out too many God tier 4*'s through it and now the development of 4*'s is the only content that whales might see as worth their time or investment, generally speaking (I recognize IF).

I dunno, it just seems like they are burning out the high-end player base in an effort to keep the whales happy with new relevant content but don't have a model that facilitates development of new whales with such stringent 4* distribution events. Lucky token pulls aside, it is honestly wait 6 months for your first XF covers through daily resupply and then you have the option of spending to become more successful. That's a long time to wait for people who are more inclined to spend their way to success.

I don't see this lasting for D3 as a business model. The casual player has 0 incentive to pay any money into the system and whales will eventually burn out with no one to replace them.

[Ramblings over]

Unknown

As one of the more competitive players up until the last two seasons I can say pretty confidently now that once the game stops being fun, stop playing.

Easier said than done. Much, much easier... but the less I play (down to about 30 mins a day!) the more I've come to appreciate that it was only my desire to be competive and 'collect em all' that gave me pleasure and the actual events themselves just aren't varied enough and FAR FAR too time intensive to be enjoyable in their own right.

Unknown

Kiamodo wrote:

Honestly there are few things that can derail vets! Most could take months off the game and be fine! We just were comfortable with the rate of play for so long. We just don't want to see more people leave through frustration and burnout.

Amen K. I went totally PVE casual after the Blade release event. Now, i join events very late and grind very hard for a short, concentrated period. This strategy generally nets me 2 covers and less than 1 day of stress.

But i run with a several players (Colog among them) in my crew that are elite hard-core devoted PVE grinders. When THOSE guys start to talk about not playing an event or saying that it's too much, i too fear that burnout and "retirements" will follow shortly. That isn't good for my crew specifically and it isn't good for the game.

I have no faith in D3's ability to make decisions that are good for the player base (haven't for some some time)...this repeated pattern of poor decisions and lack of communication has been the norm for a a long time.

My best advice for burnt out players is: 1) Don't expect D3 to do things to benefit or please you, 2) Don't be surprised when they continue their well established pattern of behavior, and 3) Most importantly, However they change things up on you, adapt and find a way to play this game so that you can still have some fun with it.

Good luck to all of those that are grinding for Kingpin.

easy...marc

simonsez

GothicKratos wrote:

I wanna know what competitive scene just plops to a stop for the holiday?

I don't think anyone is asking them to do that. What we're asking them is to stick to the insane "1 character every two weeks" schedule they PROMISED, and not this psychotic schedule we've seen in the past 2 weeks.

kensterr

Guys I'm not gonna say much here except that if you think Colog spending money on Stark Salary to max out covers is considered as being a whale then...



This is the type of players that D3 is looking for right now. Not Colog or any of the veterans who play the game grinding to get covers then maxing them out with HP, but players who straight up buy cover packs. Welcome to the era of the super whales.

GuntherBlobel

Colognoisseur wrote:

As to not having to play. I have already decided not to play for first in this one.

Colog, you're a very reasonable person. I understand why you got upset and I'm glad I read both your posts.

I just want to add that even the 2-week release schedule is too fast for some of us. But, I don't think the Devs should slow down just because I can't "keep up". Picking and choosing which Events to play is a good thing. I know it will wreck your goals of maxing every character, but I'm sure that's just one goal that you have in your life. Here too, you've got to pick and choose. The MPQ goal may not be the most important one this week.

GuntherBlobel

kensterr wrote:

Guys I'm not gonna say much here except that if you think Colog spending money on Stark Salary to max out covers is considered as being a whale then...

This is the type of players that D3 is looking for right now. Not Colog or any of the veterans who play the game grinding to get covers then maxing them out with HP, but players who straight up buy cover packs. Welcome to the era of the super whales.

This is true! And many of these people don't have the patience or love of the game that Colog does. After dropping $1000's on Kingpin, they'll bore of the game or freak out each time they feel forced to pay $1000 for a 4*. I tip my hat to every whale that loves the game as much as I do. Thanks for supporting the game!

Some whales, on the other hand, make me worry for their sakes.

simonsez

Colognoisseur wrote:

But as I become less engaged with the game that is one less whale spending money.

If I'm running my business with any sort of rational thoughts in my head, when one of my best customers says he's become "less engaged", I'd be **** my pants and scrambling for ideas to fix it.

rednailz

Raffoon wrote:

Ad-hominem attack on developers gets enough upvotes to turn green. **** are they doing. I think Bush had better approval ratings. (I upvoted too)

Don't really think that's fair considering Colog has been in touch with and worked with the person he addressed the post to and in OP even mentions Will ASKED Colog to direct critisism towards him. I dont' see it as an ad hominem attack, more like honest personal feedback on agreed upon terms.

scottee

It's still possible every two weeks is the default pattern and this was a one time thing that marvel requested. We won't know until the next new character. If that's one week later, we know the pattern changed. If two weeks later, we know it was a one time thing. If three weeks later, that would actually average out to the twice a month they promised.

Unknown

scottee wrote:

It's still possible every two weeks is the default pattern and this was a one time thing that marvel requested. We won't know until the next new character. If that's one week later, we know the pattern changed. If two weeks later, we know it was a one time thing. If three weeks later, that would actually average out to the twice a month they promised.

If Marvel asked them to do this, they could have very easily planned the schedule ahead of time to accommodate it. Simply releasing Kamala Khan in place of Professor X and keeping Professor X back as the next 4* would have taken care of things easily enough.

jojeda654

rednailz wrote:

I dont' see it as an ad hominem attack, more like honest personal feedback on agreed upon terms.

Ehh...I'd say it is. The title of the thread is basically " I thought you were stupid before but NOW..." but with a little more flourish.




Hope I don't get another warning for paraphrasing...

kensterr

scottee wrote:

It's still possible every two weeks is the default pattern and this was a one time thing that marvel requested. We won't know until the next new character. If that's one week later, we know the pattern changed. If two weeks later, we know it was a one time thing. If three weeks later, that would actually average out to the twice a month they promised.

If this is true then we are in deep trouble when Age of Ultron comes along. Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, The Vision and Ultron. How's that for 4 weeks of continuous back-to-back releases?