The new patch and the new meta

Raithnor

I want to preface I'm not affiliated with D3 and I'm also someone who has spent more money on this game that I should've. Pre-patch I had about 7500-8000 trophies and level 18 HQs on each side.

I see why this patch was necessary, let me explain:

The current model wasn't sustainable.

So we kept going from event to event. Sometimes we had a new character, sometimes not. If someone came the game later they'd have to wait for the event to be run again or be a secondary prize in another event. Right now there are least 6 new unreleased trophy levels. (Colonel, Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, General, and 5-Star General) I fully expect Major Bludd, Tunnel Rat, Cover Girl, Zartan, and the Iron Grenadiers (and whatever the guided missile thing is) to be unlocks as those levels are unlocked. The problem is that some in the current player base has trophy counts that would have made those levels moot. Leading to....

The Trophy Reset.

I'm going to get flak for saying this but here it goes: Trophies are not currency.  You cannot directly buy them, otherwise what is the point of the game. You can buy cargo, you can buy units, you can buy other currencies to allow you to upgrade your base and your units.  At the end of the day, D3 is not going to take any of that away. They might re-balance them if a unit has on out sized effect on the game, but they are releasing newer units that change the meta and the cycle continues. Trophies are just a way to keep score and like other PVP based games season come and go. The game, thankfully, keeps track of the highest so even though you don't have the total you still have the bragging rights.

Now, some people are upset they spent gems getting battle cargo. If I had spent cash to get gems just to spend on battle cargo I'd be mad too. (I'm not crazy about it as a mechanic in general and it's a little antiquated for a modern mobile game.) 

That's something I'd say to D3, have someone really examine your store and what you're monetizing, because you can make money without alienating large portions of your player base like you are now. I think EA and Battlefront 2 proved that you could mess up monetization to the point where governments get involved, no one want that. With Trophies out of the way it's time to address the new changes to the game especially...

The hit point boost to HQs.

I see why this was done. Let's be real, if you were able to destroy a base's defenses the Headquarters could often be destroyed in less than 10 seconds. For people watching their base getting destroyed that wasn't fun either. However, there has to be a balance between the people who want to destroy bases for loot and people defending base resources and trophies. Boosting HQ also force a new element to attack strategies: Sustained DPS. Before a base could be destroyed in 10-30 seconds, after a point where everything else on the map had been wiped out. So most likely you were attacking the HQ with all units deployed and a full energy bar for reinforcements.  Now an HQ can reliably destroy your entire team and the reinforcements beside. So...

New strategies with underused tools.

Serious question, did anyone reliably use the Cobra Stimulants command on a regular basis? I'm guessing probably not, usually the stims came tool late to be useful or your units had to be micro-managed to be affected by them. Now you have a situation where your units are just going to stand in one place where they might need healing. (Which is not Cobra's strong suit) A new decision has also been added to the game: Do you get the 3-star victory with the Battle Trophies and Cargo or do you settle for a 2-star victory and go for that intelligence in the far corner. The new HQ is like a raid boss, you'll need units that can deflect damage and heal damage to troops and vehicles. However, with defenses getting boosted something had to be done about...

The stall in leveling units

So after putting a significant amount of time in the game the average level of a common unit is 9-10, a rare unit 5-7, an epic unit 4-6, and a legendary unit 2-3.  Each level required more and more cards, while the average reward stayed the same.  20 cards for a new unit is 2-3 levels, in the late game it required hundreds of card to get to the next level. Player who feel the game is a grinding chore is really bad for the game. It's even worse when a player realizes that even if they spent hundreds of dollars, they still wouldn't get out of said grind. Players who do no perceive value from your game will not spend money on it. So..

The increase in cargo rewards and alliance interaction

Not being able to level units during events because they require hundreds of cards to upgrade was not fun. Being only able to trade 20 cards at a time was not fun. The increase of cards from cargo is appreciated. Now being able to get those last 2-3 levels in our lifetime will help high level play. There are still units that could stand to be looked at as the under perform  As well as certain base defenses that over perform. (*cough Drones *cough*) I also know that has to be done holistically since force multiplication exists.

Also, the old late game challenge bases might need to be reworked, after the last batch of changes some were ridiculous.

TL;DR The Trophy thing blows, but welcome to Season 2 scoring. The HQ is a raid boss now, act accordingly. At least the loot is worth getting for the amount of trouble the HQ is now. Late game play might still need some tweaking.

Raithnor

I know it wasn't much relative to what you spent., but they gave every a Platinum cargo for the reset. Usually when they end a season PVP, other games offer more substantial rewards.

Treat this like an end of event. What should people in the top 1-50% receive for being in the top 1-50%?

I agree making us pay for battle cargo was a bad idea. Hopefully, every battle cargo you bought resulted in a 3-star victory in PVP for battle cargo. If you're just grinding for trophies on campaign missions you already beat the only worthwhile thing you'll get is intel and trophies. The problem with trophies is, past a certain point, it's just bragging rights. You can't spend them on anything tangible they just gated content.