A different perspective - non F2P player

atomzed

This is a post from a non F2P player.

Since there have been many posts on F2P, I thought I should share my non F2P experience. Many have assumed that f2p players have it good... but I assured you that it's not. Each phase of transition has been difficult... but I learnt to manage my expectations.

Background

I'm currently on my 81 day and have 3 141 character (lazy cap, pun and hulk). My patch is around 110 and will be my 4th 141 character.

Expenditure

I spent way more than I should have (never realised how much I spend until I did a tabulation).

How much did I spend? Way in excess of $200. I did not purchase any iso, and health packs and HP-boosts only once.

Most of the money was spent on buying covers packs during my 2* to 3* transition. That was the time when 10 packs feature only 1 hero, and the percentages were at 20%. I wanted to build up my lazy cap, hulk pun and falcon, so I purchase a few of those 10 packs. Pretty soon I realised it's cheaper to buy the packs individually rather than buying the 10 packs.

Once they change the packs to a max of 6%, I have not bought any of the 10 packs any more. Will only consider upgrading it directly.

Playing experience

Having spent so much money on my rosters, at first I assume that it would be an ease in my playing.

I was wrong. The game is always challenging throughout my 1* to 2* to 3* experience.

1* - I have so much iso and not enough covers. My characters quickly die to prologue nodes and I just can't play them quick enough. I listened to the forum advice and only pay for rosters. That helped... but only a little. I ended up using my iso to purchase the standard tokens and was happy whenever I get any 2* tokens.

2* - this was before they revamp the pvp system to give random 2* characters. This was a frustrating phase because the covers took so long to gather. My OBW was stuck for a long time.

Add on the monotony of fighting the max 2* and sometimes even a 141(!) In pvp, it's gets more frustrating. (Note:This was before they change the sharding)

This was the phase which most of my expenditure occur. Buying packs to improve my 3*, and also happy to receive 2* tokens.

3* - Ah promised land reached with my Pun and Lazy cap at max level.

Or so I thought.

The game didn't get easier. On some occasions I can still lose to a Obw cascades (when I go into the match without full healed). On other occasions, I am matched up with opponents with 3 141 characters (like the recent patch and BP pvp).

It was frustrating trying to climb the pvp and falling out of reach of the progression rewards as many people hit you along the climb. Even with a max hulk and lazy capt, people are not deterred from attacking me. Shields are mandatory to reach top 50. boosts are almost essential to overcome similar strength 3* teams. (Note: I don't tank but I heard that those who tank have it easier)

Summary

In short, regardless of my expenditure, the game is always able to curveball me. That can be frustrating throughout all phases.

But I like to put things in perspective. In a sense, the game is able to be constantly challenging me. In 1* phase, I'm learning the ropes. In 2* phase I'm learning how to beat the 1x 141 team with my obw and thor. In 3* phase, I'm learning how to time my push, shield hop and using of boosts.

While I no longer want to spend money on this game, I am still enjoying it. I try to push for top 50 and sometimes top 10 with multiple shields. The HP are now spend on shields only as it is a reliable source of covers. Being in a top alliance helps;5 deadly alliances are good in getting those alliance covers.

My advice for both F2P and non F2P players is to manage your expectations. The game will keep it challenging for you. If you find yourself getting burnt out, play at a lower pace and switch to a smaller alliance. There is no need to try to get all rewards.

It seems to me that d3 is planning to make pve mainly for newer players (grinding essential, and greater hp rewards. Last pve was 500hp!). And pvp will be for players who has the HP for shielding. (Shielding and boosts are essential in pvp)

Unknown

By individually do you mean the daily deal for a single one? Back when there were the 'only 1 3*' type available, those are better than the 10 pack but the drawback is that you can only buy 1 a day so you can only buy 3 of them per event. If you're allowed to buy 10 of them at once they're indeed a better deal than the 10 pack because the discount from 400 to 200 chops the price to half and you're not getting double the chances for buying the 10 pack.

I think they should bring back the 'only 1 3*' deals, but as long as their metrics indicate people rather buy the current '6% chance for featured guy' there's really no much hope for that. Short of massive education I think this is a lost cause. I've no reason to believe D3 would lie because from their point of view whatever type of pack sells more is the one they want to sell. While I've a hard time imaginging why people are buying those 3800 10-packs, I'd have to assume they're indeed selling quite well or they would've chopped the prices or changed them up.

atomzed

Phantron wrote:

By individually do you mean the daily deal for a single one? Back when there were the 'only 1 3*' type available, those are better than the 10 pack but the drawback is that you can only buy 1 a day so you can only buy 3 of them per event. If you're allowed to buy 10 of them at once they're indeed a better deal than the 10 pack because the discount from 400 to 200 chops the price to half and you're not getting double the chances for buying the 10 pack.

I think they should bring back the 'only 1 3*' deals, but as long as their metrics indicate people rather buy the current '6% chance for featured guy' there's really no much hope for that. Short of massive education I think this is a lost cause. I've no reason to believe D3 would lie because from their point of view whatever type of pack sells more is the one they want to sell. While I've a hard time imaginging why people are buying those 3800 10-packs, I'd have to assume they're indeed selling quite well or they would've chopped the prices or changed them up.

Yes, I was referring to the "only 1 3*" pack. Though I remember the individual packs percentage was lower at 10% and the 10 packs bump up the percentage to 20%. So I figured it's a better deal to purchase the 10 packs as odds are higher. If I get 3 rare, I would have break even and it would be for the heroes I like. And 2-3 rares is the avg frequency I believe.

I will hope that they bring back those featured packs too.1 benefit to the current arrangement is that the tokens are never "wasted", even if I have a a max hulk now, the thick as thieves packs are still useful as I have a chance to get other heroes I lack. (Which still makes th is arrangement sucks)