Update on the Trial of the Planes Event (3/9/17)

Brigby

MightyKrakyn wrote:

I'm sure that is what you feel like taking away. Again, it feels like the complaint portion was ignored. You don't understand that you feel like an enemy right now, do you?

A free try feels like a distraction, like a free gift to sign up with a savings account with no protections. A snip to my post and focusing only on the part where I'm trying to preserve any goodwill feels like an insult. If you want us to work together, you NEED TO LOOK DEEPER. We as players feel devalued with this update. Not just in general, but by Hibernum. We feel like we were lied to and taken advantage of. If you want me to give you constructive advice, I will.

If you look at an economic situation and see that you're clearly getting the better deal, you're doing wrong by us. It should be ambiguous who's better off because we're both getting such great values.

Apologies if it feels like I ignored the major concern of your post. I did snip a large portion of it, but the reason I did that is because it talked about an aspect of design choice of which I neither have the in-depth knowledge nor the jurisdiction to discuss.

That is why the main topic I addressed was the event, and why I asked for feedback on it in the future. Areas like game-play mechanics, rewards, and player progression, are places I can take feedback from and relay to the team in order to facilitate improvements.

Mainloop25

Brigby wrote:

Mainloop25 wrote:

Yeah you should have....

Please show some consideration. Lakestone usually handles all the difficult, back-end details (which quite frankly, can be tedious and boring, but needs to be done for stuff like the forum or social to exist), but he wanted to take the time to bring some clarity and communication to the community in order to help answer some of the players' concerns. There was no need for that quip.

Seeing as how a lot of complaints about the new update might have been avoided by simply making that known at the same time as the new event being made available, I think someone should have did it. It was a quip made out of frustration, but it wasn't flippant.

Brigby, you're doing a good job communicating with us here. The in-app communication is severely underused, however.

Brigby

Mainloop25 wrote:

Seeing as how a lot of complaints about the new update might have been avoided by simply making that known at the same time as the new event being made available, I think someone should have did it. It was a quip made out of frustration, but it wasn't flippant.

Brigby, you're doing a good job communicating with us here. The in-app communication is severely underused, however.

Considering that tensions are high all around, that's certainly understandable. I appreciate the explanation, and I know that your comment was not out of malicious intent.

In-app inbox is certainly an avenue of communication that we could take advantage of more. Continuing with the sentiment of working together, and constructive feedback, what sort of notifications do you feel players would like to see provided through the inbox?

MightyKrakyn

Brigby wrote:

Apologies if it feels like I ignored the major concern of your post. I did snip a large portion of it, but the reason I did that is because it talked about an aspect of design choice of which I neither have the in-depth knowledge nor the jurisdiction to discuss.

That is why the main topic I addressed was the event, and why I asked for feedback on it in the future. Areas like game-play mechanics, rewards, and player progression, are places I can take feedback from and relay to the team in order to facilitate improvements.

I'm sorry about my frustrated tone. This explanation was very helpful. I did not realize jurisdiction played a part. I feel like all the players are moving in the same direction regarding their frustrations, so perhaps we can create specific threads. I'll leave this thread to be on topic for the event only. Again, apologies.

Brigby

MightyKrakyn wrote:

I'm sorry about my frustrated tone. This explanation was very helpful. I did not realize jurisdiction played a part. I feel like all the players are moving in the same direction regarding their frustrations, so perhaps we can create specific threads. I'll leave this thread to be on topic for the event only. Again, apologies.

No need to apologize. Based on the community's current sentiment, I can see that it's a frustrating time for players right now, so I completely understand. I could've responded more tactfully too, so my apologies as well.

Creating specific threads targeting individual aspects would be fantastic. It would really allow our team to focus in on specific pain points, in order to address the key issues one by one.

madwren

Brigby wrote:

Mainloop25 wrote:

Seeing as how a lot of complaints about the new update might have been avoided by simply making that known at the same time as the new event being made available, I think someone should have did it. It was a quip made out of frustration, but it wasn't flippant.

Brigby, you're doing a good job communicating with us here. The in-app communication is severely underused, however.

Considering that tensions are high all around, that's certainly understandable. I appreciate the explanation, and I know that your comment was not out of malicious intent.

In-app inbox is certainly an avenue of communication that we could take advantage of more. Continuing with the sentiment of working together, and constructive feedback, what sort of notifications do you feel players would like to see provided through the inbox?

Premature ending of events needs to be communicated to those who aren't on the forums. It wasn't reasonable for your average mobile player, who doesn't use the forums, to assume that RatC would end when there was 20% life left.

__Adam

You added a new crystal sync to the game. (<-- this isn't the issue)

You reduced the buying power of crystals. (<-- this is absurd)

You reduced the ability to earn crystals. (<-- this is absurd)

These all hurt the customer; of course the reaction is negative.

Mainloop25

Brigby wrote:

Mainloop25 wrote:

Seeing as how a lot of complaints about the new update might have been avoided by simply making that known at the same time as the new event being made available, I think someone should have did it. It was a quip made out of frustration, but it wasn't flippant.

Brigby, you're doing a good job communicating with us here. The in-app communication is severely underused, however.

Considering that tensions are high all around, that's certainly understandable. I appreciate the explanation, and I know that your comment was not out of malicious intent.

In-app inbox is certainly an avenue of communication that we could take advantage of more. Continuing with the sentiment of working together, and constructive feedback, what sort of notifications do you feel players would like to see provided through the inbox?

Every pertinent update to an ongoing event, for example. I don't recall if an inbox notification was sent out to everyone to let them know that the latest RatC event was going to be terminated before 0% but it would be nice for everyone who doesn't frequent the forum to know.

Brigby

To avoid cluttering this thread with off-topic discussion, I've gone ahead and created a post to discuss Inbox Notification ideas: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=60908

Dropspot

My suggestion to solve all this problems is quite simple. Just admit you made a mistake and go back to what we have before.

You can introduce gems and masterpieces, I think everybody is OK with that, but keep the events rewards as they were and keep the big boxes and fat packs as they were.

voodoo_gremlin

Alve wrote:

Is $100 really a reasonable price for a bunch of pixels? I'm trying to think of all the things I could buy for a hundred bucks and, well, there are a lot of them. Most of them also won't become obsolete in a few weeks.

Well said!
You know what I can spend $100 on...groceries for a week.

SpaceDuck

Dropspot wrote:

My suggestion to solve all this problems is quite simple. Just admit you made a mistake and go back to what we have before.

You can introduce gems and masterpieces, I think everybody is OK with that, but keep the events rewards as they were and keep the big boxes and fat packs as they were.

--Adam wrote:

You added a new crystal sync to the game. (<-- this isn't the issue)

You reduced the buying power of crystals. (<-- this is ****)

You reduced the ability to earn crystals. (<-- this is ****)

These all hurt the customer; of course the reaction is negative.

These two sum up the situation pretty well.

Houdin

I'm sure I won't get a response but this will now be the third place I've posted this in the forums.
Brigby, I'm a whale and I'm OK with it. I work hard and this game has been my only distraction for well over a year now.
In anticipation of this update which I was so prepared to be awesome I bought yet another crystal dump for $99.
I was a little upset when I saw how much the masterpiece special pack required and the fact that it contained a majority of just regular Mythics that I already have, which goes directly against what you said in the update discussion. That we would be able to choose if we payed to get a single rotating masterpiece.
However I thought OK well the new packs contain them as well so at least I can spend my money that way and go for masterpieces and Mythics I need at the same time.
We were promised that the dupe rate was being fixed right?

12 mega packs
562 cards
0 masterpiece
0 mythic
0 new cards

What I did get was 3x or 4x cards in every single one of those reduced dupe rate mega packs.

Can you see why myself and so many of us feel lied to today?
Can you see why we feel betrayed?

I realize you are the community manager, which you have really stepped up your game on today and believe me I really appreciate it.
I realize you need to take these issues back to the design team.
However you really need to stress to them the fact that they are literally on the brink of bankrupting this game. They are already in the same place on marvel puzzle quest. You really need to help them realize that the customer base, both paying and otherwise are the reason they have a job to go to everyday. If the games crash out there isn't much need for a development team anymore, is there?

I'd really hate to see that. I love this game bit you really need to work with us and fix this fast. This was way over the line.

nateo13

Brigby wrote:

Mainloop25 wrote:

Yeah you should have....

Please show some consideration. Lakestone usually handles all the difficult, back-end details (which quite frankly, can be tedious and boring, but needs to be done for stuff like the forum or social to exist), but he wanted to take the time to bring some clarity and communication to the community in order to help answer some of the players' concerns. There was no need for that quip.

MightyKrakyn wrote:

Thank you for attempting to adress the negative feedback arising from this update, but I feel you are once again overlooking the core of our issues to focus on surface details.
-snip because long-

I think if there is anything to take away from this, it's the second-to-last section of the post. This is our first shot at this type of event, and it may need fine tuning. Some things we may hit the mark, and some things we may miss completely. Having said that though, we value your feedback, which is why we are giving out the 100 Mana Crystals so players can give it a free try. Let us know what you think after completing an event!

Like you said, let's work together. Let's combine our efforts into figuring out what is successful, and what falls short.

i dont think YOU, THE DEVS are taking away what WE, THE PLAYERS are trying to say. I think i can speak for most players when i say. You made this a Pay-2-Win by nerfing all event rewards great idea, lets make an event everyday that costs 60 mana crystals so players HAVE to pay in order to play the mana crystal event, because YOU NERFED OUR REWARDS IN OTHER EVENTS. Bring back Big Boxes, these new card packs are terrible, you halfed the price, great! but you reduced the amount of packs to 5 instead of 7 which if anything it should have been if you were halfing the price. make more options. 3 pack purchase, 7 pack purchase, and 14 pack purchase. No-one buys singles unless they are new to the game and need the cards quick, i think they would be fine saving up 150-180 crystals to purchase 3 packs. Now to my own personal feelings. I think an event like this is a decent idea, but the rewards have to reflect. I also understand that masterpieces are supposed to be really rare, but you need to understand, that i will lose interest in the game if i have to farm 6+ months for ONE card, that MIGHT be a masterpiece, and i can just pull a DUPE mythic. I do not want to have to farm these jewels for 6 months (maybe more for those that cant or dont play everyday.) for a dupe mythic. I would however be more than happy to play and have a chance for one every 2 ish weeks or so.

TL;DR- i think you're really missing that players are mad about EVERYTHING you guys changed not just the new event.

majincob

LakeStone wrote:

Hi Everyone -

We are plowing through the overwhelmingly negative feedback coming in based on the Trials of the Planes event. We hear your complaints about the rewards and maybe should have taken a little more time to explain some things from the outset. Please read to the bottom!!!

Okay, let's get to it.

LakeStone wrote:

For starters, Masterpiece cards are the most valuable cards in the game, and we have made them a rare commodity, both to give our most advanced players something new to play with, but also to keep them from introducing power creep that will make the game harder for beginners. They should be the furthest thing from common and earning Mana Jewels to get boosters from the Masterpiece Collection is something that will take players some time.

There are other ways to get Masterpiece cards and other ways to earn Mana Jewels, but we want them both to be something that is earned over time and encourages people to play in various events.

I can get behind this sentiment, but 400 is going to take a very long time to accumulate only to get a slim chance of actually getting a Masterpiece. Since drop rates aren't published it's not even clear that Masterpieces have the same odds of being drawn as the mythics in there diluting the pack. Not to mention the chance of drawing a dupe mythic/Masterpiece.

Suggested fix: Remove Masterpieces from regular packs, remove mythics from Masterpiece Packs, make Masterpiece packs guarantee no dupes (across whole collection). Make a Mythic pack that costs 200 with no-dupe guarantee. Spending half a month collecting the resources to get a dupe is ridiculous.

Alternately leave the Masterpiece packs as is and change the cost to 40 so people have a realistic chance at multiple pulls to get the cards they actually want instead of dupes/garbage cards.

"Power creep that will make the game harder for beginners" only applies to PVP events, which means only a relative handful of players collections matter due to the way matchmaking works. And it is known one of the prime suspects in platinum already drew a Masterpiece from a pack.

LakeStone wrote:

Some people are upset that there are better rewards to be earned in the higher tiers, but for the same entry price. We did intend the initial rewards to offset the cost of entry, but we know that for a lot of you these boosters are offering a lot of dupes. We are working on a solution to duplicates to give them added value in the future! We try to balance the rewards to be relevant to those tiers of play. Those in Platinum have put in a lot of time to earn those higher rewards and we want to honor those players. On top of that, the higher rewards are intended to allow them better access to cards that are relevant to their level of play.

If you’re one of those electing to stay in lower tiers with really powerful decks, thus making it harder for new players to compete, we do hope this will encourage you to take the step into your next tier.

"We did intend the initial rewards to offset the cost of entry" - The problem is that a booster pack is worth much less than its face value and the rewards don't provide sufficient reward for time spent. At minimum resources spent should be recoupable by going perfect in the event.

Solution: rebalance the cost/reward, there are many options:

Reduce the cost to participate to 10

Make the final tier prize 60

Allow paying entry fee with an unopened pack

Alternate

entry fee

Scale the entry fee for the different tiers

"We are working on a solution to duplicates to give them added value in the future!" - Good, I've never converted cards because the value assigned to them is insulting. Note: forcing me to convert them all at the current rate is a bad move, I've been hoarding since the beginning for just such an occurrence. If you've converted your dupes already, you've agreed to the value that has been assigned to it.

LakeStone wrote:

Also, please keep in mind this is our first shot at this type of event and we will be evaluating the amount of Mana Jewels players are earning after this event. In an Activity Hub message in-game that will go out before the event starts, you will receive 100 Mana Crystals to try out this event. So please take this 100 Mana Crystals, use it to try the event out, and give us your thoughts here on the forums so we can improve it.

We appreciate all the feedback you have provided and even though we are unable to respond to each message, please be sure to know the team is reviewing the feedback to make a fun game experience for everyone.

I'm sure the event is fun, it sounds like the best event so far. I don't need to play it to see that, but as a mostly F2P player I'm unable to sustainably participate in an event that costs 60 every weekday (especially with reduced payouts in events) and I'm not interested in chasing the Masterpiece packs at 400 for a good chance at a dupe/garbage card. So I'll take those say "thanks" and pass on the daily events until they are tweaked.

DSidey

I'm boycotting spending crystals on anything until I see the prices return to normal and mana jewel events become more player friendly. I encourage others to and post about it.

Phase

Really appreciate the participation from PQ staff here.

A long term trickle resource to get some new mythics is a great idea. But the numbers are tuned very aggressively against the players and it's fairly obvious. Your team should be able to find a balance here that is more agreeable so we don't feel like sheep in a wolf den here, particularly with the trial event.

The big thing that has come out of this is enfranchised players NEED something compelling to do with duplicate content. You know what happens in the paper game when I open a card I already have (EDH player)? I sell it and take another spin. No harm no fowl. In this game? Just feel bad about it and slam the convert button to get that stupid banner out of the way. I think that this update has brought the issue directly to the forefront by introducing the idea that a super premium currency could be spent on nothing. I hope this is a top priority for the devs.

I'm not quitting quite yet... but for these guys with 80% of all rares trying to get new cards, why should they stick around when progression feels so hopelessly disappointing? These are your greatest advocates for the game! Give them, give US, something to earn by playing that doesn't leave heads hanging in defeat.

gruntface

Phase wrote:

You know what happens in the paper game when I open a card I already have (EDH player)? I sell it and take another spin. No harm no fowl.

Sounds like a poultry return to me.



Sorry.



I'm so sorry.

Feyda

gruntface wrote:

Phase wrote:

You know what happens in the paper game when I open a card I already have (EDH player)? I sell it and take another spin. No harm no fowl.

Sounds like a poultry return to me.



Sorry.



I'm so sorry.

Dont egg them on.....

Lagartha

Feyda wrote:

gruntface wrote:

Phase wrote:

You know what happens in the paper game when I open a card I already have (EDH player)? I sell it and take another spin. No harm no fowl.

Sounds like a poultry return to me.



Sorry.



I'm so sorry.

Dont egg them on.....

Egg hoo on?