The Year of 12.0
Lurker
Member Posts: 196 ★
I can't help thinking back to how much I enjoyed the game at this time last year, before they dropped 12.0.
I have never been a top tier player or a whale, but I spent money, played all the content voraciously, and looked forward to every reward/crystal opening. I had about 11 5.50s including all the god tier champs except SL. LoL was the only thing I hadn't completed but was working on getting an r4 worthy of trying. I went into every difficult fight with confidence but if I screwed up, I spent heals/revives and never felt like I was being milked, never felt frustrated (even when I lost), and quitting was the furthest thing from my mind.
Now.... completely the opposite, well, one thing remains the same... I still don't have a LoL worthy 5* (out of 20+ pulls), finally duped CM but her sp2 bug ruins her. I had stopped spending after 12.0 but started again after uncollected was introduced but stopped again when I realized I was only spending to compensate for bugs or the way they have manipulated the controls to make content harder.
There have been some great additions to the game. Kabam added some great events, some great characters, December was a fun month, and uncollected was an inspired idea. They've had some misses ... AW (hahaha), lots of unavoidable damage, bugs! my god the bugs! ... but I don't feel like those are the reasons that I find it hard to motivate myself to play anymore (well, maybe the bugs).
When 12.0 dropped and we all got upset at the changes, kabam said they realize that they changed too much too quickly and fixed some of our complaints. I remember the insane block damage was one issue and I think they removed crits from proc'ing high block damage(?). I remember thinking at the time, "too much, too soon" just means they are going to start dribbling all the stuff we complained about back in so we get used to the changes more gradually and can't organize behind our outrage. Is it just me or have they brought the insane block damage back as part of the "difficult" content?
I feel like the reason I barely enjoy playing anymore is I always feel like I am being kabam'd. Every 5* opening feels like a kick in the nuts. I stopped playing Act 5 because at the end of every fight, I felt cheated. I barely play AW anymore because the bugs make it impossible for me to play without spending. AQ seems like a chore when you get busy, but I still enjoy it and master quest most of the time. I guess I have just reached the end of the free to play content even though I have spent thousands on the game.
Why do I still play? (besides all the money I have spent) I still play because the game COULD be so much more fun. I know it can, I played before we were cursed with the Year of 12.0.
I have never been a top tier player or a whale, but I spent money, played all the content voraciously, and looked forward to every reward/crystal opening. I had about 11 5.50s including all the god tier champs except SL. LoL was the only thing I hadn't completed but was working on getting an r4 worthy of trying. I went into every difficult fight with confidence but if I screwed up, I spent heals/revives and never felt like I was being milked, never felt frustrated (even when I lost), and quitting was the furthest thing from my mind.
Now.... completely the opposite, well, one thing remains the same... I still don't have a LoL worthy 5* (out of 20+ pulls), finally duped CM but her sp2 bug ruins her. I had stopped spending after 12.0 but started again after uncollected was introduced but stopped again when I realized I was only spending to compensate for bugs or the way they have manipulated the controls to make content harder.
There have been some great additions to the game. Kabam added some great events, some great characters, December was a fun month, and uncollected was an inspired idea. They've had some misses ... AW (hahaha), lots of unavoidable damage, bugs! my god the bugs! ... but I don't feel like those are the reasons that I find it hard to motivate myself to play anymore (well, maybe the bugs).
When 12.0 dropped and we all got upset at the changes, kabam said they realize that they changed too much too quickly and fixed some of our complaints. I remember the insane block damage was one issue and I think they removed crits from proc'ing high block damage(?). I remember thinking at the time, "too much, too soon" just means they are going to start dribbling all the stuff we complained about back in so we get used to the changes more gradually and can't organize behind our outrage. Is it just me or have they brought the insane block damage back as part of the "difficult" content?
I feel like the reason I barely enjoy playing anymore is I always feel like I am being kabam'd. Every 5* opening feels like a kick in the nuts. I stopped playing Act 5 because at the end of every fight, I felt cheated. I barely play AW anymore because the bugs make it impossible for me to play without spending. AQ seems like a chore when you get busy, but I still enjoy it and master quest most of the time. I guess I have just reached the end of the free to play content even though I have spent thousands on the game.
Why do I still play? (besides all the money I have spent) I still play because the game COULD be so much more fun. I know it can, I played before we were cursed with the Year of 12.0.
4
Comments
The new content can be difficult, but at least it's not cheap. Safeguard? give me a break. That was the most gimmicky node kabam ever created and it was specifically made to stop thor. Block erosion everywhere? Yawn. Nodes with +600% attack? Don't see those anymore either.
To me it seems this game is much more popular now than it ever was pre 12.0. It can easily be seen by the increasing cut offs in AQ and AW. The competition is much stiffer now because there are a lot of up-and-comers out there.
Was 12.0 a disaster? Yes absolutely. Kabam even acknowledged they handled it badly. We had a few months of adjustment, but this game has seriously hit it's stride right now.
They changed the node buffs and some are fun and some are not, just like before. No complaints about anything but unavoidable damage. We can leave that debate for another day.
For me, maybe the fun was diminished when I stopped spending. I am certainly behind the champ curve now (my 5* roster is pitiful), whereas, I was riding it before. If there is some content that is only for spenders, no problem, user's choice but it's not fun when the luck of pulls over a full year means that you get left behind and can't do the same content, for the same price, as people who pulled the right champ. It's also not fun if you happen to be one of the many that seem to be affected by the bugs (intentional control changes) more than others.
I can't fully explain why it's not as much fun even though I still love the game. I keep thinking that if they fix the controls, or I get 5* blade, or ... at some point I'll to give up and admit that the F2P experience isn't as fun.
that's a good analogy. We have our good days and bad days and we are fighting the good fight, but we know that if we don't find a cure ... it's only a matter of time.