Why I gave D3 499.9 Dimes today

bk1234

I came back this week after taking a month off of the game (for real life, not because I was pissed) and it seekms tornadoes have ravaged the land of MTGPQ and the masses are angrier than ever. 

Coming back to a new set and big changes after largely ignoring everything for a month has given me a really interesting vantage point to observe the current state of the game--

1. Standard format: As an alliance leader, I'm just going to tackle the elephant in the room. Personally, I like Standard format, it adds a new challenge and I enjoy trying to get some synergy out of my Origins cards which I frequently ignore. BUT I'm an original player (downloaded first week) and top 10 player so I have a huge collection. That being said, there's some huge issues with the decision to make ALL coaliton events Standard format. First -- a lot of loyal players (me included) have dropped tons of dimes on BFZ and SOI -- by excluding these sets D3 has basically devalued the loyalty of a huge niche market of people who play this game for the social / coaliton aspect. There are also implications to the entire player community -- while I have just described the insult to top / long time players, I think this decision affects mid and new level players even more. When  getting started most mid level players (wisely) put more money into obtaining SOI cards as this gave them the best competitive advantage -- as with top level players, blanket Standard format devalues the money they have spent on the game. The greatest injury, however, is to new players. Basic boosters are still pulling BFZ and SOI cards 3:1 so they can't even get usable cards for coaliton events without soaking money into the game. Here's a tip -- set up new players to be successful without dropping tons of money -- and offer enticing special offers that give a competitive advantage to spend money. As the biggest factor is players of all levels leaving the game there is a simple solution -- don't make ALL coaliton events Standard. I would LOVE to have a go at the new PVE event with all of my cards -- because the quest has been taken out or MTGPQ (i.e. Story Mode) there is no medium for me to go at the Amonkhet mechanics with my Arlinn wolfie deck or other set specific theme decks I've made in the past. Where is the fun in that? 

Drop Rates: 5 mythics and 15 rares on 2 Amonkhet Premium packs and about 20 Amonkhet, Kaladesh and Origins boosters in 11 days. I have no complaints about this. Not even on my dupe Sandwurm. 

Support: Still sucks -- the biggest problem with support is the way they write responses. Having worked in communications for 20 years, I feel I have some expertise in this matter -- quite honestly everything comes off as dismissive, rude and disrespectful. Many a player has quit this game simply over the disrespect support shows in the tone of their responses. @Brigby we should talk more about this offline. I've thought A LOT about this since I've been gone. 

Matchmaking and Tie-breakers: Bravo guys!!

Overall I think I've come back to a game that has continuously reinvented itself over the past year and a half and will continue to do so. When the day is done, I like building decks and matching decks. I LOVE TeamReckless and ThePower9. 

As of today I am no longer "not another dime" --
this game continues to engage me and is still fun -- and I should support it  

andrewvanmarle

you lucky minx, your drop rates are horribly good! ;-)

it'd be nice to have some legacy coalition things, other than that make nissa3 mine!

bk1234

I would love to to after Zeal in legacy -- but like I said-- more so I can play my legacy decks against the Amonkhet mechanics. 

bk1234

Also the new forums suck on mobile. Just saying. 

GrizzoMtGPQ

@bken1234 agreed. I am out of the not.another.dime club. Standard is cool. Amonkhet is pretty cool. This game has had a couple phases - the early days (story only), the introduction of QB (first events), BFZ/OGW (the glory days and first coalitions), SOI/EMN (the halcyon period), KLD/AER (the decline) - this was the worst of times, repeated events, nerfing rewards, mass exodus, AMK (the new standard). I long for the old days of BFZ/OGW and SOI/EMN but the new times are good too.

speakupaskanswer

I agree too. I enjoy this game more now than I have for the last couple of months. The set is really good, the events are better and I actually like Standard events more than non-Standard events because playing against the usual suspects (Olivia, Pig, etc.) just brings back the fatigue of the past. I even somewhat think the idea of releasing cards in several batches is good because it really keeps up the interest.

The only frustrating thing is that many coalitions (including mine) still suffer from the horrible mistakes of the past, so that participation is at a low. My excitement is mostly diminished by having one third of coalitions not willing to join in again. I can understand the frustration and it really shows much D3 has mistreated their player base. I just hope this will improve but I'm not sure how.

Overall, I really enjoy the game again and if they don't screw it up, the promised dupe system could bring it to a new high.

bk1234

GrizzoMtGPQ said:

@bken1234 agreed. I am out of the not.another.dime club. Standard is cool. Amonkhet is pretty cool. This game has had a couple phases - the early days (story only), the introduction of QB (first events), BFZ/OGW (the glory days and first coalitions), SOI/EMN (the halcyon period), KLD/AER (the decline) - this was the worst of times, repeated events, nerfing rewards, mass exodus, AMK (the new standard). I long for the old days of BFZ/OGW and SOI/EMN but the new times are good too.

@GrizzoMtGPQ

As always  

babar3355

Welcome back @bken1234

I really have enjoyed standard although I know a lot of people have not.  I don't understand turning FiRF and EmO into standard events, although I wholeheartedly agree with making ToA and ToS standard. I am mixed on ToZ as the third node battles are insanely strong and newer players are really struggling. If you haven't seen ToZ (the PvE event) I think you are going to be impressed with the difficulty level (assuming you don't get plenty of help from your TR crew).

Drop rates are identical to prior sets according to masses of data collected by Volrak and others here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JUeuf0BcOlNHpt3dA7SQ838ws7AOlWMEz-4AAG2dYrE/edit#gid=545160007  Your 5 mythics had a 0.01% chance of happening and assuming you are counting your two guaranteed rares in your 15 count, your odds of getting 13 from 50 cards was 0.000000008%.  The odds of both happening would more than add 2 zeroes in the rares probability.  In other words, you just won the freaking lottery.  Congrats and I hate you... I have opened 1 this set

I had two crashes in ToS which was hard to swallow... first monthly PvP event I haven't won top prize since they started these with IF. So stability can be an issue. Also, lots of lag and maintenance in the past few weeks.

And finally on not.another.dime I jumped off the wagon to buy Heart of Kiran right after standard was announced as it seems like too good of a creature to pass on in a restricted block. Also, I was happy with the direction and some of the changes.  So, don't blame you a bit for pulling out your wallet. 

I am curious why you decided to do it with N3 though?  She seems pretty marginal to me where I think she is outclassed by Kiora in every loyalty skill (even for cycling oriented decks).  Her only advantage seems to be a bonus mana on green.  I was actually dreading having to blow crystals and runes on her for a presumed upcoming monthly event. 

Well, let me know how she plays when you get to test her out and welcome back to the fold!

Grognak

I think that the game still needs some work.  Specifically in the timining and intensity of events-- zeal requires so many rounds to make progression rewards that it's just not worth it compared to training grounds and trial of planes.  Also Im finally sick of being penalized for my time zone.  I know that the game is worldwide and the pacific coast isn't the center of the world, but after a year of missing nodes because the final refresh is at 4 am and things like that have taken their toll.  Bken can attest that for a long time I was a serious player, and I love the game, but now I'm burnt out.  My coalition was top 10 and now almost nobody gives a kitten.  I don't know if there's a way to resolve this, but going forwards the developers need to think of ways to make the game less of a burden on players who love it.

bk1234

babar3355 said:

Welcome back @bken1234

I am curious why you decided to do it with N3 though?  She seems pretty marginal to me where I think she is outclassed by Kiora in every loyalty skill (even for cycling oriented decks).  Her only advantage seems to be a bonus mana on green.  I was actually dreading having to blow crystals and runes on her for a presumed upcoming monthly event. 

Well, let me know how she plays when you get to test her out and welcome back to the fold!

Hi @babar3355

Always lovely to "see" you 

I actually didn't get her to have N3 -- I got her because the unobtainium is ridiculous and also for the green pack (which I haven't opened yet -- might hold for crafting). 

So far I really like her. I wish I had New Perspectives -- that would make her insane. As of now (at level 34) I'm pretty sure she will replace Kiora as my go-to U/G PW -- I've been only playing standard with her, but can't wait to open her up in Story Mode and training grounds in Legacy. 

I give her one and a half thumbs up (not two because she isn't leveled -- I've got 100K runes to grind out). 

PS: I pulled Kiran the day they released Amonkhet. I'm deploying it with Gisela and AOI in everything white and Legacy.  Ridiculous. 

bk1234

Grognak said:

I think that the game still needs some work.  Specifically in the timining and intensity of events-- zeal requires so many rounds to make progression rewards that it's just not worth it compared to training grounds and trial of planes.  Also Im finally sick of being penalized for my time zone.  I know that the game is worldwide and the pacific coast isn't the center of the world, but after a year of missing nodes because the final refresh is at 4 am and things like that have taken their toll.  Bken can attest that for a long time I was a serious player, and I love the game, but now I'm burnt out.  My coalition was top 10 and now almost nobody gives a kitten.  I don't know if there's a way to resolve this, but going forwards the developers need to think of ways to make the game less of a burden on players who love it.

Hi Shane -- sorry I haven't had a chance to catch up since I've been back. 

This is a very good point and I'm thinking through another post for this. The timing was bad at the end of Kaladesh -- but it's insane now. On top of it the elimination of QB and continued failure to add Story Mode makes grinding individual events a repetitive necessity. It seems (from what you all have told me) that they can't seem to time Trial of Zeal right, either (hint to devs -- engagement has been cut in half so cut the boss health in half -- simple math) so events are starting within 30 minutes of each other. 

My question is why with more than 10 created events from prior sets are we still playing the same events over and over?

The last time I took a break from this game was a month before coalition play begin -- and I came back just to be part of TeamReckless (now REcklessBORN) -- coalition play is still my (and many of my teammates) driving factor in staying in the game -- but it is BORING. I would love to see TBT events where we play legacy Old NOP or Terrors -- or even AM for 24 hours on Thursday and then a Standard Amonkhet event starting late Saturday or early Sunday. 

That would be tight. 

Sorin81

@bken1234 it's good to have you back. 
Always find your post insightful and/or informative whether I agree or not.
I'm still not ready to open my wallet for D3. 
Generally I feel that the experience of new players is one of a difficult struggle unless they are willing to drop large sums of cash on the game. 
When I began the game, before Zendikar and events, there was not a great deal to it. MTGPQ was.... well simple. I found the game extremely enjoyable. I could play casually and still advance without too much difficulty.
The game has become much more complex and while I like and appreciate the complexities I feel it has come at the cost of making the game more restrictive for new players/free-to-play players.
Personally the loss of QB without a suitable alternative, the abandonment of story content, the nerfed rewards, the reduction of pack sizes, and the lack of long term viability and value of cards in the game leaves a bitter taste in my mouth and a lock on my wallet.

Volrak

Welcome back bken.

babar3355 said:

Your 5 mythics had a 0.01% chance of happening and assuming you are counting your two guaranteed rares in your 15 count, your odds of getting 13 from 50 cards was 0.000000008%.

I read it as 5 mythics and 13 rares (15 less 2 guaranteed rares) from 150 cards (2x PP + 20x 5-card packs).  For 150 cards, 1.42% of people would get 5+ mythics, and 0.86% of people would get 13+ rares.  Still a very lucky result!

Brigby

@bken1234
Thanks for the feedback, and welcome back! Not sure what you mean by speaking offline, but feel free to send me a message if you'd like to provide your feedback regarding Customer Support.

babar3355

Volrak said:

Welcome back bken.

babar3355 said:

Your 5 mythics had a 0.01% chance of happening and assuming you are counting your two guaranteed rares in your 15 count, your odds of getting 13 from 50 cards was 0.000000008%.

I read it as 5 mythics and 13 rares (15 less 2 guaranteed rares) from 150 cards (2x PP + 20x 5-card packs).  For 150 cards, 1.42% of people would get 5+ mythics, and 0.86% of people would get 13+ rares.  Still a very lucky result!

Oh, yea I totally misread that.  Your correct.  Still a very nice haul.

Waschecht

andrewvanmarle said:

you lucky minx, your drop rates are horribly good! ;-)

it'd be nice to have some legacy coalition things, other than that make nissa3 mine!

@bken1234: can only echo your statement about the continuous reinvention. You drop rates are extraordinary good though. I purchased 4 premium packs, no mythic and 4 dupes out of 7 rares. Quite a sobering experience:(