AQ - Where The Game Is Headed

AmirtosAmirtos Member Posts: 41
edited March 2019 in General Discussion
First off, I want to make it clear that this is not a rant but rather feedback that is positive and negative to an extent. I will begin by saying that this is truly one of the best mobile games out there without a doubt. It is so for the content it provides, the competitive nature it hosts, and the communities it helped create. Alliances and their structures even taught many the art of cooperation,
the art of leadership, the practice of submission to leadership, the encouragement of peers and teammates, and so on. Many made real friends, real life-lasting friends. Some (I know of) even found love through this game. It has provided a bunch of its players a platform on social media for them to express themselves, play the game, and make a living doing both. In turn, those players kept many more players interactive with the game in a sense. There is no question that it has a generally thankful player base that acknowledges it has been a positive journey overall. Given all this, we thank you and we wish you even more success.

This is not to say, nonetheless that things didn't, or don't, go wrong a little more than occasionally. We understand that this game has become such an intricate entity with all its complex content and coding. Therefore, we understand that chaos is bound to show its ugly face sometimes. There have been occasions when the game became almost unplayable. It was extremely frustrating at times, and even cost some of its summoners their devices due to overheating for example. Yet through all this thick and thin, there has been a loyal fanbase that has stuck by the game and the company no matter what. It is a truly magnificent occurrence and I am sure that every company would love to be the receiver of such loyalty and passion.

Now please hear me well for this coming part because it is very important and it is crucial that you regard it as such. Over a long time, I assume, the company has been working on a new piece of content specifically created for Alliance Quest. That piece of content was released to us recently as MAP 7. MAP 7 promised and delivered a truly challenging revolution to Alliance Quest. It is tough, complicated, beautiful, at times frustrating, but surely rewarding. Nevertheless with all the excitement surrounding this new dynamic for alliances MAP 7 also inevitably exposed a truly terrifying phenomenon in the game. The costs of MAP 7 have proven to be very high which was to be expected. But these costs have surpassed most expectations in terms of their economical impact on the player base. This game has an underlying value in its claim that it is a free-to-play game. That is, technically, players are supposedly able to partake in any content of the game without having to pay any fees.That is still true by the letter of the game, though not so much by the spirit of the game. For so long, many players have been purchasing units (and consequentially currency exchange badges) to be able to cover Alliance Quest costs in terms of gold, battechips, and loyalty in different alterations. Some have been able to "grind" in the Arena long enough to cover their expenses in gold and battlechips. The players that are free-to-play (players that still inherently retain the same sovereignty of paying players) were forced to play Arena for about 4 to 3 hours a day to cover these costs of competitive Alliance Quest and other expenses such as for rank up or cache offers perhaps. The free-to-play logos of the game maintains that even the most competitive side of the game must somehow still be accessible freely. Again, by the law of the game, it is but by no practical means whatsoever. That is no longer the state of Alliances, that for the sake of their competitive nature, must participate in MAP 7 for five days a week. These alliances by no means are recipients of that common law of free in-game affairs. This in no way begs the argument that since players have been putting up with this paradigm, they should somehow do so even more now. It was never right from the beginning but again, as a testimony to the loyalty of your users, they remained relatively silent. Now set aside these paying players, the catastrophe mainly impacts your free-to-play players. In addition to invalid arguments, the notion that free-to-play players that want to remain competitive must find themselves in the Arena for, now, 7 hours perhaps is not logical. It is technically possible but not so much practically, especially given the current dull state of the Arena as well.

Please understand that I do not necessarily know what the solution is. After all, though this might be just a game, its economical structure is very complex. However, that is also not an excuse to not debate and propose potential answers to this problem. Simply put, the issue is that the incredibly increasing costs of MAP 7 (and consequentially playing competitively), accompanied by the static rate of income from content and Arena has become an intolerable burden to your players, especially your free-to-play ones including those who are even willing to daily dedicate hours on hours to this game. One can infer that potential accommodations could include increasing gold overlay from solo content and Arena crystals, introducing battlechip earnings from weekly Alliance Quest Rewards, raising earned loyalty from Alliance War activity, and so on goes the list. Reducing the costs of MAP 7 is a very viable proposal but I assume that is not ideal for the company. Regardless, there is a real problem and it requires attention immediately. Now if there already is a clear solution that your players are missing, then you can may be make a statement or "tutorial" on how to manage in-game expenses and meet the required costs of being competitive in a practical manner that does not violate the free aspect the game or that does not cast the spirit of its players.

All that is not to say that we do not want you to be profitable and successful; we do. The more profitable you are the more you can pay your staff that develops and maintains awesome content for us but it is truly sad when there no one left able to be excited and passionate about this awesome content. You will be much more profitable when you raise the spirit of your player base. There has to be a compromise that keeps both sides satisfied, a compromise the allows new players to fall in love with the game and old players to rejuvenate their passion for it as well. We have seen the passion you have for this amazing game and want to keep ours. Help us do so. Thank you for all that you do and I hope this appeal somehow finds its way to listening ears.

NOTE: I personally am not a free-to-play player; I have spent a lot on this game. This discussion is not on behalf of myself only but rather many players who fear the direction in which the game seems to be headed.

Comments

  • SnizzbarSnizzbar Member Posts: 2,216 ★★★★★
    TL;DR - Map 7 costs too much for F2P
  • EpistriatusEpistriatus Member Posts: 1,251 ★★★★
    Snizzbar said:

    TL;DR - Map 7 costs too much for F2P

    Thank you
  • winterthurwinterthur Member Posts: 8,135 ★★★★★
    Where is Brian Grant?
  • DarthHaasDarthHaas Member Posts: 385 ★★
    I think making map 7 the true passing lane that map 6 was supposed to be is part of this. I personally am fine still doing map 5x5 with the occasional map 6. Glad they reduced the costs for the other maps and let the big boys pay for map 7.

    Well put! Let’s see what if they make a change
  • Mitchell35Mitchell35 Member Posts: 1,897 ★★★★
    Snizzbar said:

    TL;DR - Map 7 costs too much for F2P

    You are a lifesaver sir
  • DonkillaDonkilla Member Posts: 161
    Big up too all the mandems and gyaldems
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