Do they even care about their playerbase?

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Comments

  • DNA3000DNA3000 Member, Guardian Posts: 19,846 Guardian
    Kabam Jax said:

    When discussing economical balance within the game, the game team has to manage a cost associated with attempting to gain rewards. A cost in the form of units, energy, consumables... Time isn't on that list, because it is not an in-game item and the game team doesn't have control over it. So, making the argument that Summoners are "spending" their time, doesn't qualify as a cost. That is the only context in which I explained time doesn't count as a resource. In the literal sense. When discussing the in-game economy.

    Just to offer a bit of a clarification here. It is true that the game economy designers do not account for player time as a "cost" in the economic sense, because player time is not an in-game resource that can be managed. However, it is important to state that the game economy team does consider player time spent on activities when considering certain kinds of activities. Arena grinding, for example, is balanced in part relative to time spent (I was one of the players contributing testing feedback during the arena refactor process, and time spent was an explicit consideration).
  • DNA3000DNA3000 Member, Guardian Posts: 19,846 Guardian

    Kabam Jax said:

    Gaborrrrr said:

    Actions speak louder than words… it’s clear Kabam wants money which they can get from 1% who they cater content for. Everyone else can get lost… “time is not a relevant resource” = creating a fun game is not the goal, well congrats Kabam in this you have succeeded!!

    Man, I'm glad my words resonated so loudly within the community. But I don't think I've ever been quite so terribly misquoted before. I never said "your time wasn't valuable", as many have claimed...

    When discussing economical balance within the game, the game team has to manage a cost associated with attempting to gain rewards. A cost in the form of units, energy, consumables... Time isn't on that list, because it is not an in-game item and the game team doesn't have control over it. So, making the argument that Summoners are "spending" their time, doesn't qualify as a cost. That is the only context in which I explained time doesn't count as a resource. In the literal sense. When discussing the in-game economy.

    Feels a lot like a high school teacher trying to stop the kids in the class from making fun of them for the one thing they've stuck to, and I'm sure it'll just cause the same kids to flare up and get louder and bolder, but I just felt I'd set the record straight.
    You've been meme'd. It will never go away. You will wear this like a tattoo forever, and all of the context (which is spot on, by the way) will be lost to the recesses of the internet.
    It'll be a very effective tattoo.
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  • RookiieRookiie Member Posts: 4,821 ★★★★★
    Kabam Jax said:

    Gaborrrrr said:

    Actions speak louder than words… it’s clear Kabam wants money which they can get from 1% who they cater content for. Everyone else can get lost… “time is not a relevant resource” = creating a fun game is not the goal, well congrats Kabam in this you have succeeded!!

    Feels a lot like a high school teacher trying to stop the kids in the class from making fun of them for the one thing they've stuck to, and I'm sure it'll just cause the same kids to flare up and get louder and bolder, but I just felt I'd set the record straight.

    *proceeds to flare up and get louder and bolder*
  • ahmynutsahmynuts Member Posts: 7,785 ★★★★★

    Kabam Jax said:

    Gaborrrrr said:

    Actions speak louder than words… it’s clear Kabam wants money which they can get from 1% who they cater content for. Everyone else can get lost… “time is not a relevant resource” = creating a fun game is not the goal, well congrats Kabam in this you have succeeded!!

    Man, I'm glad my words resonated so loudly within the community. But I don't think I've ever been quite so terribly misquoted before. I never said "your time wasn't valuable", as many have claimed...

    When discussing economical balance within the game, the game team has to manage a cost associated with attempting to gain rewards. A cost in the form of units, energy, consumables... Time isn't on that list, because it is not an in-game item and the game team doesn't have control over it. So, making the argument that Summoners are "spending" their time, doesn't qualify as a cost. That is the only context in which I explained time doesn't count as a resource. In the literal sense. When discussing the in-game economy.

    Feels a lot like a high school teacher trying to stop the kids in the class from making fun of them for the one thing they've stuck to, and I'm sure it'll just cause the same kids to flare up and get louder and bolder, but I just felt I'd set the record straight.
    You've been meme'd. It will never go away. You will wear this like a tattoo forever, and all of the context (which is spot on, by the way) will be lost to the recesses of the internet.
    Well to be fair miike. Most people (as of 3/18/2024) know the context and are memeing it with that context in mind. I will guess that within a few months the context will disappear and it will devolve into the Cyclops meme though if it hasn't already
  • DNA3000DNA3000 Member, Guardian Posts: 19,846 Guardian

    The best example is RAID, it was released, the community hated it and complained you listened, nerfed it along with what was said and now everyone loves it, it's a requirement for allies and a demand from new recruits because you listened.

    Realistically if changes weren't made it wouldn't be played. The same needs to be applied War, BG and stores. Listen to the player base and doing something

    This is oversimplified to the point of being wrong. There were many issues with RAIDS that were not just based on players complaining, there were evidence-based issues with direct solutions. The notion that every problem is like that is false.

    Let's take Battlegrounds. One of the biggest complaints is "unfair matchups." How would you fix that? Do you expect Kabam to listen to "the playerbase?" It was listening to the playerbase that caused them to change it to what it is now in the first place. So what now? Do they listen to the other players and change it back?

    There is no "the playerbase." How many times does this need to be said before it is properly acknowledged? Maybe if fewer people believed the nonsense that there is a "the playerbase" to listen to, problems might get solved quicker, because more players would understand just how complex the trade offs in any solution actually are and incorporate that into their feedback.

    Whenever I see someone say "listen to the playerbase" I always substitute the word "me" for "the playerbase" and reread it. Rarely do I see any difference in the apparent message being delivered.
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  • DNA3000DNA3000 Member, Guardian Posts: 19,846 Guardian

    Did I say the match ups are unfair? No, the matches are literally based off the band you're in, if you get into Quantum and are up against bigger rosters then your skill has carried you as far as it can and now you need to focus on roster progression... matchups isn't the issue, motivation to earn poor rewards is the issue and the reason why participation is so low; a year ago match up complaints were still around but rewards were worth it and people played, now they're not worth it and people don't play... pretty simple deduction really.

    In March of 2023, people were complaining that BG rewards were so high, they were demanding that rewards everywhere else needed to be buffed just to catch up. For example: https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/330395/aw-aq-rewards-are-underwhelming-compared-to-bg-rewards

    By September, people were complaining that BG rewards were now outdated, in part specifically *because* those rewards were buffed. For example: https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/347927/will-battlegrounds-rewards-get-buffed-next-season

    And you think the problem with Battlegrounds is there's not enough incentive to play it? Just exactly how much resource inflation do you think is healthy for MCOC? That's not a rhetorical question. I feel a "I'm just saying" type response, but if you want to make the case that Kabam is ignoring Battlegrounds and you think they should be listening to "the playerbase" which apparently you've decided you're a legitimate representative of, you should be able to state how much rewards Battlegrounds should have, and what will happen to the rest of the game economy when it is added. Because this worked so well the first time around.
  • DNA3000DNA3000 Member, Guardian Posts: 19,846 Guardian

    Did I say the match ups are unfair? No, the matches are literally based off the band you're in, if you get into Quantum and are up against bigger rosters then your skill has carried you as far as it can and now you need to focus on roster progression... matchups isn't the issue, motivation to earn poor rewards is the issue and the reason why participation is so low

    Also, you say the devs should listen to the players, and yet even though there are lots of players who complain about unfair match ups, you seem to disagree. So when you say Kabam should listen to the players, you don't mean those players, the ones making complaints about things you disagree with. You mean the other players the ones you happen to agree with. Because if a player complains about unfair match ups and decides to quit, that's not the real problem. It is the players who quit because the rewards are too low that are the real problem.

    The people complaining about "unfair match ups" want nothing more than to have the rewards for Battlegrounds buffed, because *that* will help their situation out. Why think it is impossible to win, when you can think it is impossible to win and miss out on even better rewards?
  • KazoraxKazorax Member Posts: 24
    edited March 18
    When I started this thread, my hope wasn't memeing, or to not have this taken as real feedback, yet pretty much all I'm seeing is no changes and jokes on what I feel is an important topic for the health of the game for non valiant players. You have a big part of your playerbase that wants to enjoy these contents, and turning a blind eye to that want doesnt seem right to me. Meh. I tried.
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  • DNA3000DNA3000 Member, Guardian Posts: 19,846 Guardian

    DNA3000 said:

    Did I say the match ups are unfair? No, the matches are literally based off the band you're in, if you get into Quantum and are up against bigger rosters then your skill has carried you as far as it can and now you need to focus on roster progression... matchups isn't the issue, motivation to earn poor rewards is the issue and the reason why participation is so low

    Also, you say the devs should listen to the players, and yet even though there are lots of players who complain about unfair match ups, you seem to disagree. So when you say Kabam should listen to the players, you don't mean those players, the ones making complaints about things you disagree with. You mean the other players the ones you happen to agree with. Because if a player complains about unfair match ups and decides to quit, that's not the real problem. It is the players who quit because the rewards are too low that are the real problem.

    The people complaining about "unfair match ups" want nothing more than to have the rewards for Battlegrounds buffed, because *that* will help their situation out. Why think it is impossible to win, when you can think it is impossible to win and miss out on even better rewards?
    Not at all, but 'unfair matchups' doesn't exist, I'm Paragon with a fairly sizable roster, my deck is mostly r2/r5 with about 10/12 r4 and I get into GC within a week or 10 days, get stacked against decks with full r3/r2/r6 and its hard, I out play and our draft them and win with a smaller deck because my skill and game knowledge carries me through. Do I need to get to GC and contend against some of the top players in the world? No, do I do it to push myself? Yes.

    The reality is, BG allows small accounts to access the same rewards as big accounts and you have to earn it. Just because you've been playing for 3 years and just got Paragom does not mean you automatically deserve to make it all the way through VT fighting people of the same level and get to avoid people like me... that's like saying I should be able to contend with people of my skill level/ability and win gold medals at the Olympics, screw those that have dedicated 10× more time, effort and are naturally good at it I should get the same rewards competing against people that aren't as good... no, you improve and learn as you play and grow your roster; therefore Kabam CAN'T do anything to change it, that's the whole idea of the game mode
    Don't tell me, I've been saying that for as long as roster matching has existed. Tell it to the players complaining about it, and explain to them how you do in fact care about them, but because they are wrong there's nothing you can do about their problem.
  • DrZolaDrZola Member Posts: 9,168 ★★★★★
    DNA3000 said:

    Kazorax said:

    Kabam

    .
    I'm going to run with this "we" thing a bit, because I actually think it is the most important thing in the entire thread.

    PS: @DrZola, this is a DNA-length post.
    Yep…1,767 words to Jax’ minuscule 749, by my count.

    Dr. Zola
  • ahmynutsahmynuts Member Posts: 7,785 ★★★★★
    DrZola said:

    DNA3000 said:

    Kazorax said:

    Kabam

    .
    I'm going to run with this "we" thing a bit, because I actually think it is the most important thing in the entire thread.

    PS: @DrZola, this is a DNA-length post.
    Yep…1,767 words to Jax’ minuscule 749, by my count.

    Dr. Zola
    Jax needs to step it up. Those are rookie numbers in this racket
  • Suros_moonSuros_moon Member Posts: 483 ★★★★
    Kazorax said:

    Like.. at all? Literally all I see is unfair match ups in bgs, horrible events, cash grab offers that put whales years beyond everyone else, and incredibly mediocre rewards for actual content. Like seriously? I've seen nothing but posts about how bad the content and bgs are in 3-4 months and yall legit have no good response? I've seen more "I'm done" posts in the past 3 months than in 7 years because of the bad content and bg B.S


    Humor me, if they came out and said “no”, would that, in any way, change how you interact with the game? This is purely for personal curiosity
  • ArmoredGhostArmoredGhost Member Posts: 222 ★★★
    edited March 19
    Kabam Jax said:

    "Do they even care...?"

    So, back on track, let me ask the difficult question: how do we show Summoners we care? Well, that's a tough one to consider, as everyone has their own standards and we circle back to not being able to please everyone. But! There are constant internal conversations about community sentiment, a consistent feedback loop between the community team and the game team to discuss how everyone is feeling and (everyone's favourite!) data! These conversations happen outside the eye of the community, but there are always people advocating for the community needs. At the end of the day - and this likely isn't the first time you're seeing this - sometimes what the community wants conflicts with what the game needs.

    Outwardly, we communicate as effectively as we can. But that doesn't mean we hop into every thread in the forum to provide one-on-one consolation with every issue, especially when they're about larger concepts/gripes with systems such as Battlegrounds matchmaking. That's just not what the forums are for. The forums are one of many factors that contribute to the previously mentioned internal conversations. Yes, we hop into conversations where we're able, and address bugs when they happen. And we always see the call for constant updates, even to just say "we're still working on it" - but that's just an unrealistic expectation to set, because we're doing a lot of things (like telling the gameteam about conversations and trends on behalf of the community!) and there are limited number of hours in a day.

    At the end of the day, I love our livestreams and events like Battlerealm Brawl most because they allow us to connect with all of you in a much more engaging, live setting. I know not all of our forums-folks love the livestreams, and not everyone can fly to attend a live event, and that's okay. But it is our way of reaching out and showing the community we care. We care enough to not only communicate, but to connect and share a laugh and bond over a mutual love for this game and this community.

    Thank you for reading this borderline nonsensical monologue about how we care about you. It might not always be in the way you want, but we're humans and we're doing our best.

    TLDR - We care. We try to show it by: communicating when we're able, advocating for the community internally and connecting with you all through livestreams and events (and more).

    The message that you at Kabam care about the community is getting very muddled by a few things.

    1)Certain bugs have been in the game for a very long time without being so much as acknowledged (i.e. galan missing 2 incinerates for over a year and it hasn't even been mentioned or put on the trello board)

    2)The defenders are definitely becoming way too harsh. We have had hard defenders before. A great example would be Peni. She was really difficult at first but the community learned to hit into her block to reduce her shields so that she wouldn't autoblock and powerdrain you. Also, technically any champion can beat her. Additionally she was a rarity, a once in a while really tough defender.
    By contrast, these new defenders are unfair with unblockable AND undexable specials AND deal automatic damage just for being near them. Photon, Kindred, Maestro, Bullseye, Onslaught, Dust, Destroyer, Serpent, 8 nearly back to back crazy defenders with no time to learn them before the next obstacle smacks you in the face. Additionally it's forcing you into a vicious cycle of making OP attackers to compensate and then you need to make more OP defenders and the whole things starts over again.

    3)There is the push for more energy consumption on the players part. It started with EQ which while it definitely costs less to complete something like thronebreaker difficulty, it costs way more to explore the lower levels which used to be a great source of units. Then there is WoW costing 10 energy per attempt. Now the AW Showcase is 5 energy per tile. I can assume that this trend is only going to continue or even get worse in the future. The current decreased energy refill time is much appreciated but is only temporary.

    4)Taking away a good resource of revives from players and replacing it with a much more inferior but approved version and then doing all the above which requires more revives than ever before

    5)AQ and Arena are frustrating slogs of content that players still need to do to compensate for losses and to advance with resources and contribute to alliances. AW is becoming much worse with all these very difficult nodes that is just making it frustrating and unfun. I've had quite a few alliance members quite because they are now so frustrated by these nodes. BG is also becoming very unfun with all these new defenders.

    6)The recent carina challenges were definitely overly difficult while the rewards are not worth it.

    7)AW showcase you specifically placed the most annoying combination of nodes and champions. Having photon as the boss when she is clearly bugged at the moment is not cool. And that red skull is a pain. How was this designed to get players who specifically don't play war interested in playing war. If anything they are probably glad that they don't do war now.

    I don't deny you have done some great stuff recently.
    1)Necropolis was fun and had really good rewards especially in regards to becoming valiant and the effort feels well worth it.
    2)Raids - extremely awful start but it became much better and actually is very fun (still miffed watching my alliance members pull 20,000 titan shards or a 7* ultron for doing very little work and I pull 1/4th of a t6cc while doing most of the work)
    3)That valentines calendar was great
    4) I really like how much easier it is to get specific 7*s with all the different methods for acquisitions in different areas. (I still don't think it's good enough yet though since it is still rng and you might not get the one or two champions you really want. Personally the only champion from the incursions crystal I really wanted was Hulkbuster but I've already got Ronin, Angela, CapIW, and Namor, none of which I ever use aside from Angela once in a while)
    5)The international women's day challenges were really fun even though they were very tuned down in terms of rewards. But the effort felt worth the rewards

    Just can we have a better balance than the heavily skewed way it currently is?
  • KazoraxKazorax Member Posts: 24

    Kazorax said:

    Like.. at all? Literally all I see is unfair match ups in bgs, horrible events, cash grab offers that put whales years beyond everyone else, and incredibly mediocre rewards for actual content. Like seriously? I've seen nothing but posts about how bad the content and bgs are in 3-4 months and yall legit have no good response? I've seen more "I'm done" posts in the past 3 months than in 7 years because of the bad content and bg B.S


    Humor me, if they came out and said “no”, would that, in any way, change how you interact with the game? This is purely for personal curiosity
    Literally yes. It would. I would know this game isn't for me and I would move onto other things, as I don't like the current direction.
  • DemonzfyreDemonzfyre Member Posts: 22,367 ★★★★★
    Kazorax said:

    When I started this thread, my hope wasn't memeing, or to not have this taken as real feedback, yet pretty much all I'm seeing is no changes and jokes on what I feel is an important topic for the health of the game for non valiant players. You have a big part of your playerbase that wants to enjoy these contents, and turning a blind eye to that want doesnt seem right to me. Meh. I tried.

    To be fair, you didn't provide any real feedback so there wasn't any danger of that happening.
  • mmartin5817mmartin5817 Member Posts: 95
    I’m getting tired of the game. I play 20-30hrs a week. They have been so focused on getting people to sign in daily it is such a drag and I already sign in daily. Even for things I’ve already paid for like the fast track. I can’t even collect it on my own time I have to wait ( when it first came out it wasn’t like that). I have to login every day and remember to collect rewards ( serpent giveaway arena). You can’t complete all the content in the game they are asking us to play. I understand they want us to choose but it’s just too much. Side quest and eq should be simple, but they are some of the most time consuming things each month, mostly because I have to wait everyday until 10am. They’ve let relics die, you can’t even find t4 genetic materials for relics in the game to do rank ups.

    I like how much time was brought up in Jax post. Spenders save time in game acquiring resources, the game team doesn’t have enough time in a day. Well, neither do the players. We don’t have enough the time that is expected of us to play all your new content. I wish our time in game was valued more. Acknowledge that TIME is thee major resource by all summoners in this game, cuz we spend a ton of it ingame. Daily rewards are nice but the game is getting less fun to play because all this content that you say isn’t mandatory actually is, because it’s relevant currently for rewards ( deathless groot pieces, wow, etc.). It’s no longer as fun.
  • RO53TT1RO53TT1 Member Posts: 323 ★★
    No they don’t unless you spend a lot of money.
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