This is it. Goodbye competitiveness.
Hello. You don't know me, I'm a nobody in the community. The only people that know something about me are the players I met in the few different alliances I've been with from the day I started playing. I'm just posting to express my feelings and thoughts mainly about the recent big changes.
I'm a big F2P loyal player, maybe I'm one of the biggest F2P in the game, in terms of time/effort spend, I wouldn't know. I have never spent money on the game and I never will, I also don't accept in-game gifts from other players. I certainly don't believe that a game should be straight forward pay to win. I also believe that hardworking loyal players should be rewarded more than others simply because they invest so much more time and effort, and they should be allowed to be as competitive as the big spenders.
I don't have my own YouTube channel and I don't post in forums. I play the game for 2 years and a couple months.
Currently I'm at 720k rating and have completed labyrinth 100% a week ago (although I could've done it way before if I didn't preserve as many resources as possible). I don't have the best skills, but certainly not the worst either. I'm not in any of the top alliances, but I'm in a nice alliance that tries to stay at Platinum 3 bracket. I consider myself as a pure legitimate player who fights his way through using his high will to overcome failures and obstacles.
But with the recent changes it seems more like a dead road than obstacles when it comes to competitiveness. I always thought that there's a slight hope, a glimmer of light for hard working F2P like me to be competitive, but unless we're already in one of the top alliances with high prestige, there's not. The game is heading only to 1 direction and that is pay to win which is already here and is more than confirmed lately. Here's some of my views of why this is true:
How It Got Enhanced
This is only speculation but I believe that all of these big and little changes that keep happening come from 1 major point of the game, the Blade crystal openings. Kabam has created an unwanted situation where there was no immediate solution for them that would benefit the company, especially when Apple came pushing with new regulations. So they had to play around with this new situation slowly but steady evolving the game in the opposite direction while also making small changes and indirect nerfs abruptly (intentional or unintentional) where there would be reactions but no real solution or some kind of compensation around them. At the same time a pay to win schedule was rolling in all in favor of the big spenders instead of the hardworking loyal players.
AW Season Crystals
The rewards from them are so diverse without any logic behind them and I strongly believe that methods like these are what divide the community. I've seen hardworking players, leaders, officers, putting so much effort and time in AW only to get disappointing rewards while other players who won't or can't put as much effort get more than 2x the rewards. The most active, the most dedicated hardworking and loyal players should be the ones to get the most rewards for their efforts.
July 4th Offers
Those right there are the last nails in the coffin of competitive game. 1x t5B that you can only get with insane amount of money? All the non big spenders and hardcore F2P like me are in due to a huge disadvantage in any alliance modes.
AQ Ranked Rewards
As loyal hardworking players, how did we ever let this happen to the game?
If you're not in the top 20-30 alliances then say goodbye to any competitive and progression play you have in mind. The new rewards create such a huge gap with the rest alliances that will never be reached. No matter how much effort and time you put in, no matter how good skills you have, if you don't have a high prestige you'll never be accepted into one of these top alliances and you'll never be able to catch their progress. And these big rewards will keep coming week after week. The same alliances, the same players up there will simply stay locked there until they get bored and quit the game. The rich will get richer, the big will get bigger. This is irreversible and when it starts happening there's no turning back really, it's simply game over for the players below that wish to be competitive.
AW New Difficulties
As if it wasn't already difficult and stressed enough. These changes in difficulty should only be applied to Tier 1 and 2 where all the big spenders/players are already in who will also have so many resources by that time to overcome anything. Not to mention the cheaters that keep getting away, we all know what's going on and will keep happening in the future as well without any punishments. Really how does it feel every time you see the same top alliances up there?
YouTubers
They have a huge influence over the community, sometimes acting like leaders, and ultimately hold the power of how the game shapes. Don't get me wrong, they usually put great content for the rest players to enjoy or learn more about the game.
But despite that, your popular YouTubers may not always be what they tell you and how they want you to see them as. Before judging them, before agreeing with them and before sharing your strong opinions with them, you have to remember, that is basically their job it's how they make money even if it's fun along the way.
They will do and say many things in order to keep as many subscribers/views/comments as possible and in any case they will never want to lose their established fan base. 1 day they will say nice things that you might agree with or just enjoy hearing, and the next day a complete 180 turn to their stance while also working on a way to keep your trust and interest in them.
Others, if not most of them, will avoid to address how top rewards create a huge gap between the top alliances (if they're in 1 of them) and the ones right below them (middle class). That's why we all should learn to be cautious when we interact with them whether it's a comment or just a video view. Try to see through false statements and potential reasons behind them and you'll see them differently.
In my opinion people like them who have thousands of followers and supporters they hold a big responsibility and power over how the game will work and how a big part of the community can act. But usually, they will put their job above all and avoid seeing problems that are being created to the rest of the player base, if those problems do not have a direct effect on themselves.
The Aftermath And The Cheaters
I've seen big cheaters go completely unpunished, I've seen cheaters getting a 7 day ban only to return back without any consequences, just because they're the big spenders the ones that practically hold the game's income and sometimes can influence the community. How's that even remotely fair for the rest of the legitimate players?
I've seen game lifetime friendships only to be lost to the ways and methods of the game. People that you would never believe they would quit the game (or at least immediate quit) they are already out because of all of these situations going on. The unnecessary pressure that alliance events create is unreal resulting to all those unethical methods and attitude corruptions. What should be a fun game, often becomes a stressed job to most people.
Why did I spend time to write this big post? I love the game, I really love how it used to be months ago or a year. But that's no blind love. Of course I love Marvel more than this game and I believe most players do too. I just wanted to find a way to express my views as a hardworking loyal player who doesn't make money of this game.
