Another day, more deals, still no T1A despite offering LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE.
But CoatHang3r and his buddies will continue to rail on...
IKR it’s as if Kabam is sayin your t1a availability is right where they want it to be. Or maybe they have other things in the pipeline for it. Who knows but I’m sure you’ll keep us updated on how you are not taking advantage of all sources of t1a to rank 3/45s regularly.
So, in other words, "rabble rabble Kabam knows best and their players concerns are meritless"
It's getting more and more tired every day.
Pretty much, Kabam did design the game, has an idea of how fast they want players to progress and also has all the data on ranks ups and material acquisition.
So, it is intentional to be forced to hoard T4C, as one simply cannot progress their champions by a bottle necked T1A?
By your math, I shouldn't be in this position.
But guess what? I am. As are atleast 2 dozen alliance mates. As are pretty much everyone in every 5.5k+ recruit channel, or top 100 AQ alliance.
There literally is not enough ways to obtain the T1A needed.
@RagamugginGunners right you do have to wonder when all these t4b and t4c resources in the deals are getting offered but no alphas, are they oblivious or intentionally leaving alphas as a lot of people's bottleneck, with this company it's actually hard to know
Another day, more deals, still no T1A despite offering LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE.
But CoatHang3r and his buddies will continue to rail on...
IKR it’s as if Kabam is sayin your t1a availability is right where they want it to be. Or maybe they have other things in the pipeline for it. Who knows but I’m sure you’ll keep us updated on how you are not taking advantage of all sources of t1a to rank 3/45s regularly.
So, in other words, "rabble rabble Kabam knows best and their players concerns are meritless"
It's getting more and more tired every day.
Pretty much, Kabam did design the game, has an idea of how fast they want players to progress and also has all the data on ranks ups and material acquisition.
So, it is intentional to be forced to hoard T4C, as one simply cannot progress their champions by a bottle necked T1A?
By your math, I shouldn't be in this position.
But guess what? I am. As are atleast 2 dozen alliance mates. As are pretty much everyone in every 5.5k+ recruit channel, or top 100 AQ alliance.
There literally is not enough ways to obtain the T1A needed.
Now put it in context with your roster. Until then it’s an incomplete data set as you very well could have
A complete set of 2/35 while neglecting taking anyone beyond that which will drain your alpha and leave you with a lot of b and c.
Furthmore yu may have 19 crystals but you also have 18 available spaces for that t4c. Hardly hoarding.
Another day, more deals, still no T1A despite offering LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE.
But CoatHang3r and his buddies will continue to rail on...
IKR it’s as if Kabam is sayin your t1a availability is right where they want it to be. Or maybe they have other things in the pipeline for it. Who knows but I’m sure you’ll keep us updated on how you are not taking advantage of all sources of t1a to rank 3/45s regularly.
So, in other words, "rabble rabble Kabam knows best and their players concerns are meritless"
It's getting more and more tired every day.
Pretty much, Kabam did design the game, has an idea of how fast they want players to progress and also has all the data on ranks ups and material acquisition.
So, it is intentional to be forced to hoard T4C, as one simply cannot progress their champions by a bottle necked T1A?
By your math, I shouldn't be in this position.
But guess what? I am. As are atleast 2 dozen alliance mates. As are pretty much everyone in every 5.5k+ recruit channel, or top 100 AQ alliance.
There literally is not enough ways to obtain the T1A needed.
Now put it in context with your roster. Until then it’s an incomplete data set as you very well could have
A complete set of 2/35 while neglecting taking anyone beyond that which will drain your alpha and leave you with a lot of b and c.
Furthmore yu may have 19 crystals but you also have 18 available spaces for that t4c. Hardly hoarding.
Your point at "you may have a bunch of 2/35 while neglecting taking anyone beyond" is confusing, as that is the entire point, and argument you seem so adamant to go against.
The issue is pretty clear - we have the T4C to progress. We are still bottlenecked at the T1A that you are heart-set on defending. Sure, I *could* open the T4C. But when I can't even use the existing due to lack of T1A, why would I add to the problem?? That would be highly illogical.
To be clear, my choices for progression or rank, are as follows:
4* Stars:
- I can Rank 4 useless people, for no purpose other than to drain resources (3X T4B, 1X T1A)
- I can Rank 5 existing rank 4 (5X T4B, 3X T4C, 2X T1A)
5* Stars:
- I can Rank 3 existing (4x T4B, 3X T4C, 5X T1A)
The math is pretty consistent. I will need 2 T1A for every 3X T4C to rank 5 a Four Star; 5 T1A, for every 3 T4C for 5*
To Rank 4* to Rank 5:
For the 30 T4C in my inventory, I will need 20 T1A to use them
for the 19 T4C in crystals, I will need 12 T1A to use them.
To ONLY rank 5, I will need 32 more T1A to get caught up to where I am right now.
To Rank 5* to Rank 3:
For the 30 you see in inventory, I will need 50 T1A, to use them.
For the 19 you see in crystal form, I will need 30 T1A, to use them.
To ONLY rank 3 my 5*, I will need 81 more T1A to get caught up to where I am right now.
Another day, more deals, still no T1A despite offering LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE.
But CoatHang3r and his buddies will continue to rail on...
IKR it’s as if Kabam is sayin your t1a availability is right where they want it to be. Or maybe they have other things in the pipeline for it. Who knows but I’m sure you’ll keep us updated on how you are not taking advantage of all sources of t1a to rank 3/45s regularly.
So, in other words, "rabble rabble Kabam knows best and their players concerns are meritless"
It's getting more and more tired every day.
Pretty much, Kabam did design the game, has an idea of how fast they want players to progress and also has all the data on ranks ups and material acquisition.
So, it is intentional to be forced to hoard T4C, as one simply cannot progress their champions by a bottle necked T1A?
By your math, I shouldn't be in this position.
But guess what? I am. As are atleast 2 dozen alliance mates. As are pretty much everyone in every 5.5k+ recruit channel, or top 100 AQ alliance.
There literally is not enough ways to obtain the T1A needed.
Now put it in context with your roster. Until then it’s an incomplete data set as you very well could have
A complete set of 2/35 while neglecting taking anyone beyond that which will drain your alpha and leave you with a lot of b and c.
Furthmore yu may have 19 crystals but you also have 18 available spaces for that t4c. Hardly hoarding.
Your point at "you may have a bunch of 2/35 while neglecting taking anyone beyond" is confusing, as that is the entire point, and argument you seem so adamant to go against.
The issue is pretty clear - we have the T4C to progress. We are still bottlenecked at the T1A that you are heart-set on defending. Sure, I *could* open the T4C. But when I can't even use the existing due to lack of T1A, why would I add to the problem?? That would be highly illogical.
The point of showing your roster is to show what you do with your rank up materials. This is part of the equation as if you take every 5 to r2 without rotating in r3/r4 it creates an imbalance in your rank up materials due to distribution. Such an imbalance would end up looking very much like your inventory btw.
And what’s the point of r2ing your 5s anyways as they have no substantive benefit to anyone who has enough 5s to impact their rank up materials.
I was pointing out that your t4c hoard is not much of a hoard given you have space for those catalysts in your inventory. Leave em sit it’s the smart move but it is not like you are being forced either way. Also I wouldn’t be buying that t4b with glory if you are maxed out as you can roll that int next week for another alpha.
Another day, more deals, still no T1A despite offering LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE.
But CoatHang3r and his buddies will continue to rail on...
IKR it’s as if Kabam is sayin your t1a availability is right where they want it to be. Or maybe they have other things in the pipeline for it. Who knows but I’m sure you’ll keep us updated on how you are not taking advantage of all sources of t1a to rank 3/45s regularly.
So, in other words, "rabble rabble Kabam knows best and their players concerns are meritless"
It's getting more and more tired every day.
Pretty much, Kabam did design the game, has an idea of how fast they want players to progress and also has all the data on ranks ups and material acquisition.
So, it is intentional to be forced to hoard T4C, as one simply cannot progress their champions by a bottle necked T1A?
By your math, I shouldn't be in this position.
But guess what? I am. As are atleast 2 dozen alliance mates. As are pretty much everyone in every 5.5k+ recruit channel, or top 100 AQ alliance.
There literally is not enough ways to obtain the T1A needed.
Now put it in context with your roster. Until then it’s an incomplete data set as you very well could have
A complete set of 2/35 while neglecting taking anyone beyond that which will drain your alpha and leave you with a lot of b and c.
Furthmore yu may have 19 crystals but you also have 18 available spaces for that t4c. Hardly hoarding.
Your point at "you may have a bunch of 2/35 while neglecting taking anyone beyond" is confusing, as that is the entire point, and argument you seem so adamant to go against.
The issue is pretty clear - we have the T4C to progress. We are still bottlenecked at the T1A that you are heart-set on defending. Sure, I *could* open the T4C. But when I can't even use the existing due to lack of T1A, why would I add to the problem?? That would be highly illogical.
To be clear, my choices for progression or rank, are as follows:
4* Stars:
- I can Rank 4 useless people, for no purpose other than to drain resources (3X T4B, 1X T1A)
- I can Rank 5 existing rank 4 (5X T4B, 3X T4C, 2X T1A)
5* Stars:
- I can Rank 3 existing (4x T4B, 3X T4C, 5X T1A)
The math is pretty consistent. I will need 2 T1A for every 3X T4C to rank 5 a Four Star; 5 T1A, for every 3 T4C for 5*
To Rank 4* to Rank 5:
For the 30 T4C in my inventory, I will need 20 T1A to use them
for the 19 T4C in crystals, I will need 12 T1A to use them.
To ONLY rank 5, I will need 32 more T1A to get caught up to where I am right now.
To Rank 5* to Rank 3:
For the 30 you see in inventory, I will need 50 T1A, to use them.
For the 19 you see in crystal form, I will need 30 T1A, to use them.
To ONLY rank 3 my 5*, I will need 81 more T1A to get caught up to where I am right now.
So, depending on how you view things.. 19 crystals, on an 8 Day AQ cycle (5 days on, 3 days off), is 152 days, or Sunday, July 2nd (approximately). I am between 32-81 T1A shy of being able to utilize the resources I have earned through AQ. Additionally, the T4B received a short-term inflation recently from the deals that were being offered, else, are in a similar shape.
To use the T4B, consistent with my T4C, I would need the following:
4* -> R5 80 T4B
5* -> R3 64 T4B
TL/DR: The T4C in the picture would require 32-81 T1A to use, and 64-80 T4B to use.
Call it a surplus of T4C, or a shortage of T1A/T4B. Either way, playerbase doesn't look to be happy.
You are never going to get enough materials to take full advantage of that t4cc as it would shut out everyone player lower on the totem pole from ever competing with you in the one pvp area of the game, the arenas. We’ve identified your problem, you think a surplus of items demands availability of others to make use of it. That’s not a shortage it’s a limitation. Next.
You are never going to get enough materials to take full advantage of that t4cc as it would shut out everyone player lower on the totem pole from ever competing with you in the one pvp area of the game, the arenas. We’ve identified your problem, you think a surplus of items demands availability of others to make use of it. That’s not a shortage it’s a limitation. Next.
Correct. Hence its a surplus and shortage relationship.
"A surplus is used to describe many excess assets including income, profits, capital and goods. A surplus often occurs in a budget, when expenses are less than the income taken in or in inventory when fewer supplies are used than were retained. Economic surplus is related to supply and demand."
You are never going to get enough materials to take full advantage of that t4cc as it would shut out everyone player lower on the totem pole from ever competing with you in the one pvp area of the game, the arenas. We’ve identified your problem, you think a surplus of items demands availability of others to make use of it. That’s not a shortage it’s a limitation. Next.
Kind of funny that you are taking that stance, seeing your profile and place on the valor leaderboard. You've got an impressive profile and I can see you spend a lot of time in arena.
The thing is, there are a lot of us in the same situation, we need t1a to progress. I have everything but alphas for 4 rankups, and I'll still have class cats left over for 8 more. We all want to maximize our points in arena and get more points in fewer rounds. There are already a lot of players with rosters that are much higher than most that we are trying to catch.
It almost sounds like you want to prevent anyone from catching up or passing you.
I think this problem was discovered due to the upper tier of the player bases focus turning from 4-Star rank ups to 5-star rankups. Just comparing 4-star Rank 4 & 5 to 5-Star Rank 2 & 3, it takes the same amount of T4C, 2 less T4B and 7 more T1A. If kabam were to appropriately recognize this shift, they should have also proportionately shifted rewards to accommodate the change. The ratio change for T4C 1:1, T4B 4:3, T1A 3:10 (or possibly 4:10 if ranking from rank 1).
Based on this T4C availability should remain the same (although you could argue for more than before due to R4 & R5 needs). T4B could actually go down but again you could argue for more due to R4 needs. The most drastic change was T1A either from 4 to 10 or 3 to 10. That's at a minimum 250% increase over what was needed to max out a 4 star versus only taking a 5 star to rank 3. If you also include taking a 5-star to rank 5 than its a 550% increase (4 T1A to 22 T1A's).
To compare the other resources based on maxing out a 4-star versus 5-star. T4B needs went from 8 to 12. T4CC went from 3 to 13. The T4CC increase doesn't bother me as much because that is a rarer resource and should be at least one of the bottlenecks. Still its only a 433% increase. Still less than the T1A increase.
I'm all for bottlenecks and limitations. But they should be on the rarest materials such as T2A's or even T4CC's.
It’s not like Kabam listens anyways. T4b’s & t1a’s have been scarce the last year or so. We constantly come here & say this.... has anything been done about it? Nope & won’t be because they’re beyond greedy & wanna over charge us for these simple items & make them scarce so we actually buy them. Their greed will be their downfall, we’ll all eventually get sick of it & quit. I understand they wanna make as much money as possible, it’s a business, I get that but there’s a fine line between making money & being down right greedy
I'm afraid you're being irrational here. There's no practical way to buy T1A with cash, so accusing Kabam of greed doesn't make sense.
Whenever someone doesn't like something Kabam is doing, someone always accuses them of being greedy. Its the easy thing to slam them with. Not that long ago someone accused Kabam of being greedy because they don't sell T2A.
If you could prove the numbers demonstrate a critical problem with resource earning, I'd certainly listen. But the numbers I look at show that T1A might be unbalanced relative to T4B rank up costs for 5* champs, but they are not in short supply and aren't even less available than AQ season 3. They don't drop *automatically* as often, but the glory we currently get is enough to account for more T1As than we used to get in S3 on top of buying more everything else than in S3, except possibly for the absolute top alliances - like single digit top.
It might currently be the bottleneck many players are running into, but I don't see a quantitative explanation for why the bottleneck is an unreasonable one.
Not 24/7 you can’t buy these items but once a month or so they release cache/Units deals with these items so they sell
The math is pretty consistent. I will need 2 T1A for every 3X T4C to rank 5 a Four Star; 5 T1A, for every 3 T4C for 5*
Let's focus on this. Question: about how many T4CC do you earn in a month, altogether? Not how much you open or use. How many T4CC do you earn through all sources in one month via fragments, crystals, etc. Presumably you are not buying any with glory, but regardless do not count T4CC you could buy with glory. Just what you earn through gameplay.
You are currently talking about your bottleneck, but there's no way to know how that bottleneck was reached. It can be through resource unavailability or it can be through player inefficiency. But what your current earning capability for T4CC is can be compared with what your T1A earning capability is and your situational burn ratio to see, under ideal conditions, which one is the bottleneck and by how much.
You are never going to get enough materials to take full advantage of that t4cc as it would shut out everyone player lower on the totem pole from ever competing with you in the one pvp area of the game, the arenas. We’ve identified your problem, you think a surplus of items demands availability of others to make use of it. That’s not a shortage it’s a limitation. Next.
Correct. Hence its a surplus and shortage relationship.
"A surplus is used to describe many excess assets including income, profits, capital and goods. A surplus often occurs in a budget, when expenses are less than the income taken in or in inventory when fewer supplies are used than were retained. Economic surplus is related to supply and demand."
Cool you identified they should stop with the t4c you fn ruined it for the rest of us, thanks jerk. Seriously though a surplus does not denote a shortage. You made no logical connection between the two with what you just put forth.
I think this problem was discovered due to the upper tier of the player bases focus turning from 4-Star rank ups to 5-star rankups. Just comparing 4-star Rank 4 & 5 to 5-Star Rank 2 & 3, it takes the same amount of T4C, 2 less T4B and 7 more T1A. If kabam were to appropriately recognize this shift, they should have also proportionately shifted rewards to accommodate the change. The ratio change for T4C 1:1, T4B 4:3, T1A 3:10 (or possibly 4:10 if ranking from rank 1).
Based on this T4C availability should remain the same (although you could argue for more than before due to R4 & R5 needs). T4B could actually go down but again you could argue for more due to R4 needs. The most drastic change was T1A either from 4 to 10 or 3 to 10. That's at a minimum 250% increase over what was needed to max out a 4 star versus only taking a 5 star to rank 3. If you also include taking a 5-star to rank 5 than its a 550% increase (4 T1A to 22 T1A's).
To compare the other resources based on maxing out a 4-star versus 5-star. T4B needs went from 8 to 12. T4CC went from 3 to 13. The T4CC increase doesn't bother me as much because that is a rarer resource and should be at least one of the bottlenecks. Still its only a 433% increase. Still less than the T1A increase.
I'm all for bottlenecks and limitations. But they should be on the rarest materials such as T2A's or even T4CC's.
The ratios have no context without the rate of acquisition for players doing those different levels of rank ups. People focusing on 5* are likely able to acquire t1a at a faster rate and make up the difference with glory.
It makes perfect sense to have t1a as the limit as it allows the bottom to catch up to the top to maintain the tops viability due to attrition and needing to pull recruits of lesser stature than themselves.
The ratios have no context without the rate of acquisition for players doing those different levels of rank ups. People focusing on 5* are likely able to acquire t1a at a faster rate and make up the difference with glory.
What I was attempting to point out was that if Kabam was trying to maintain the same continuity with regards to both balance of resources as well as timing of progression when switching from 4 stars to 5 stars, they missed the mark. Thus the reason I showed the various ratios. Showing my own acquisition of resources is subjective and would differ from a top 50 alliance. Although my guess would be those in a top 50 alliance would have even more disparity between T4CC and T1A.
It makes perfect sense to have t1a as the limit as it allows the bottom to catch up to the top to maintain the tops viability due to attrition and needing to pull recruits of lesser stature than themselves.
If this is true then it would indicate a change in Kabam's strategy. It certainly was not the case in AQ season 3. I remember there was a widespread prestige push in alliances so you could earn weekly T4CC as that was the main bottleneck to ranking up your top champs.
Is it also possible that these ratios and differences of situations on rank up materials have to do with being in a transitional phase? When you switch priority from 4* to 5* ranking the ratio of needed resources changes doesn't it?
I don't have many 5* and will still rank up some 4* that will be used for the content I haven't completed yet.
For others, who may be complete with that content and looking toward the much harder stuff, they will likely drop 4* ranking altogether in which case the t4c/b and t1a ratio needs are different.
If you are right in the middle of needing 4* rank ups plus obtaining new 5* roster then you are switching between two ratios.
Are we not all at least partially in that transition right now with the announcement of 6*s?
It makes perfect sense to have t1a as the limit as it allows the bottom to catch up to the top to maintain the tops viability due to attrition and needing to pull recruits of lesser stature than themselves.
Any bottleneck in progression serves that purpose, but I don't think T1A is a good one to use. As you yourself point out, there are ways around it if you play efficiently. If it is intended to be a designed bottleneck, a necessary requirement is that no amount of efficient play should be able to work around it.
T4B actually makes more sense because you essentially always spend T4B and T4CC at t he same time, and you tend to earn them at the same time. That makes it difficult to shift effort from one to the other or convert earning power from one to the other except through the one very constrained gateway of glory purchases. If I had designed the system, I would have made T4B the top tier bottleneck for that reason. In fact, one of the design purposes to the glory store would have specifically been to create a "high friction" path between the two.
Friction, in the game design sense of the word, is the best way to control your top tier players. It is better than hard caps, and it presents a little bit of the illusion you can work past them. You can, but only to a point. But it gives people something to do. Heck, the glory caps for the highest tier stuff like T4B and T4CC don't really need to exist. Just increase the cost per repetition exponentially. That's the difference between friction and capping.
The comment was made within the scope of what it takes to rank up relatively competitive champions. If t1a is the one resource that allows you to rank 4* faster than 5* and everyone can only earn x t1a no matter what, that will allow newer or more casual players to grow their power index at a faster rate. A faster rate allows casuals and newer players to maintain their position or become relevant to the “end game”.
This could be why we regularly see t4 being given away from calendars and other areas, at what appears to the top, to be a faster rate than t1a, but that’s what glory does for the top closes the t1a t4 gap.
It all allows players to continue growing but throttles the rate of power gain at the top so others can catch up.
If you look at what it would take to buy all the t4b with glory, it’s impossible to do within an AQ cycle.
Yep. This thread has gone crazy off the rails. I'm gonna close it down now, but I want to let you know we've talked to the team about this, and they are aware of your feelings about the availability of Tier 1 Alphas, and storage space for other Catalysts.
Comments
So, it is intentional to be forced to hoard T4C, as one simply cannot progress their champions by a bottle necked T1A?
By your math, I shouldn't be in this position.
But guess what? I am. As are atleast 2 dozen alliance mates. As are pretty much everyone in every 5.5k+ recruit channel, or top 100 AQ alliance.
There literally is not enough ways to obtain the T1A needed.
A complete set of 2/35 while neglecting taking anyone beyond that which will drain your alpha and leave you with a lot of b and c.
Furthmore yu may have 19 crystals but you also have 18 available spaces for that t4c. Hardly hoarding.
Your point at "you may have a bunch of 2/35 while neglecting taking anyone beyond" is confusing, as that is the entire point, and argument you seem so adamant to go against.
The issue is pretty clear - we have the T4C to progress. We are still bottlenecked at the T1A that you are heart-set on defending. Sure, I *could* open the T4C. But when I can't even use the existing due to lack of T1A, why would I add to the problem?? That would be highly illogical.
To be clear, my choices for progression or rank, are as follows:
4* Stars:
- I can Rank 4 useless people, for no purpose other than to drain resources (3X T4B, 1X T1A)
- I can Rank 5 existing rank 4 (5X T4B, 3X T4C, 2X T1A)
5* Stars:
- I can Rank 3 existing (4x T4B, 3X T4C, 5X T1A)
The math is pretty consistent. I will need 2 T1A for every 3X T4C to rank 5 a Four Star; 5 T1A, for every 3 T4C for 5*
To Rank 4* to Rank 5:
For the 30 T4C in my inventory, I will need 20 T1A to use them
for the 19 T4C in crystals, I will need 12 T1A to use them.
To ONLY rank 5, I will need 32 more T1A to get caught up to where I am right now.
To Rank 5* to Rank 3:
For the 30 you see in inventory, I will need 50 T1A, to use them.
For the 19 you see in crystal form, I will need 30 T1A, to use them.
To ONLY rank 3 my 5*, I will need 81 more T1A to get caught up to where I am right now.
And what’s the point of r2ing your 5s anyways as they have no substantive benefit to anyone who has enough 5s to impact their rank up materials.
I was pointing out that your t4c hoard is not much of a hoard given you have space for those catalysts in your inventory. Leave em sit it’s the smart move but it is not like you are being forced either way. Also I wouldn’t be buying that t4b with glory if you are maxed out as you can roll that int next week for another alpha.
Your point at "you may have a bunch of 2/35 while neglecting taking anyone beyond" is confusing, as that is the entire point, and argument you seem so adamant to go against.
The issue is pretty clear - we have the T4C to progress. We are still bottlenecked at the T1A that you are heart-set on defending. Sure, I *could* open the T4C. But when I can't even use the existing due to lack of T1A, why would I add to the problem?? That would be highly illogical.
To be clear, my choices for progression or rank, are as follows:
4* Stars:
- I can Rank 4 useless people, for no purpose other than to drain resources (3X T4B, 1X T1A)
- I can Rank 5 existing rank 4 (5X T4B, 3X T4C, 2X T1A)
5* Stars:
- I can Rank 3 existing (4x T4B, 3X T4C, 5X T1A)
The math is pretty consistent. I will need 2 T1A for every 3X T4C to rank 5 a Four Star; 5 T1A, for every 3 T4C for 5*
To Rank 4* to Rank 5:
For the 30 T4C in my inventory, I will need 20 T1A to use them
for the 19 T4C in crystals, I will need 12 T1A to use them.
To ONLY rank 5, I will need 32 more T1A to get caught up to where I am right now.
To Rank 5* to Rank 3:
For the 30 you see in inventory, I will need 50 T1A, to use them.
For the 19 you see in crystal form, I will need 30 T1A, to use them.
To ONLY rank 3 my 5*, I will need 81 more T1A to get caught up to where I am right now.
So, depending on how you view things.. 19 crystals, on an 8 Day AQ cycle (5 days on, 3 days off), is 152 days, or Sunday, July 2nd (approximately). I am between 32-81 T1A shy of being able to utilize the resources I have earned through AQ. Additionally, the T4B received a short-term inflation recently from the deals that were being offered, else, are in a similar shape.
To use the T4B, consistent with my T4C, I would need the following:
4* -> R5 80 T4B
5* -> R3 64 T4B
TL/DR: The T4C in the picture would require 32-81 T1A to use, and 64-80 T4B to use.
Call it a surplus of T4C, or a shortage of T1A/T4B. Either way, playerbase doesn't look to be happy.
Correct. Hence its a surplus and shortage relationship.
"A surplus is used to describe many excess assets including income, profits, capital and goods. A surplus often occurs in a budget, when expenses are less than the income taken in or in inventory when fewer supplies are used than were retained. Economic surplus is related to supply and demand."
Kind of funny that you are taking that stance, seeing your profile and place on the valor leaderboard. You've got an impressive profile and I can see you spend a lot of time in arena.
The thing is, there are a lot of us in the same situation, we need t1a to progress. I have everything but alphas for 4 rankups, and I'll still have class cats left over for 8 more. We all want to maximize our points in arena and get more points in fewer rounds. There are already a lot of players with rosters that are much higher than most that we are trying to catch.
It almost sounds like you want to prevent anyone from catching up or passing you.
Based on this T4C availability should remain the same (although you could argue for more than before due to R4 & R5 needs). T4B could actually go down but again you could argue for more due to R4 needs. The most drastic change was T1A either from 4 to 10 or 3 to 10. That's at a minimum 250% increase over what was needed to max out a 4 star versus only taking a 5 star to rank 3. If you also include taking a 5-star to rank 5 than its a 550% increase (4 T1A to 22 T1A's).
To compare the other resources based on maxing out a 4-star versus 5-star. T4B needs went from 8 to 12. T4CC went from 3 to 13. The T4CC increase doesn't bother me as much because that is a rarer resource and should be at least one of the bottlenecks. Still its only a 433% increase. Still less than the T1A increase.
I'm all for bottlenecks and limitations. But they should be on the rarest materials such as T2A's or even T4CC's.
Not 24/7 you can’t buy these items but once a month or so they release cache/Units deals with these items so they sell
Let's focus on this. Question: about how many T4CC do you earn in a month, altogether? Not how much you open or use. How many T4CC do you earn through all sources in one month via fragments, crystals, etc. Presumably you are not buying any with glory, but regardless do not count T4CC you could buy with glory. Just what you earn through gameplay.
You are currently talking about your bottleneck, but there's no way to know how that bottleneck was reached. It can be through resource unavailability or it can be through player inefficiency. But what your current earning capability for T4CC is can be compared with what your T1A earning capability is and your situational burn ratio to see, under ideal conditions, which one is the bottleneck and by how much.
It makes perfect sense to have t1a as the limit as it allows the bottom to catch up to the top to maintain the tops viability due to attrition and needing to pull recruits of lesser stature than themselves.
What I was attempting to point out was that if Kabam was trying to maintain the same continuity with regards to both balance of resources as well as timing of progression when switching from 4 stars to 5 stars, they missed the mark. Thus the reason I showed the various ratios. Showing my own acquisition of resources is subjective and would differ from a top 50 alliance. Although my guess would be those in a top 50 alliance would have even more disparity between T4CC and T1A.
If this is true then it would indicate a change in Kabam's strategy. It certainly was not the case in AQ season 3. I remember there was a widespread prestige push in alliances so you could earn weekly T4CC as that was the main bottleneck to ranking up your top champs.
I don't have many 5* and will still rank up some 4* that will be used for the content I haven't completed yet.
For others, who may be complete with that content and looking toward the much harder stuff, they will likely drop 4* ranking altogether in which case the t4c/b and t1a ratio needs are different.
If you are right in the middle of needing 4* rank ups plus obtaining new 5* roster then you are switching between two ratios.
Are we not all at least partially in that transition right now with the announcement of 6*s?
Any bottleneck in progression serves that purpose, but I don't think T1A is a good one to use. As you yourself point out, there are ways around it if you play efficiently. If it is intended to be a designed bottleneck, a necessary requirement is that no amount of efficient play should be able to work around it.
T4B actually makes more sense because you essentially always spend T4B and T4CC at t he same time, and you tend to earn them at the same time. That makes it difficult to shift effort from one to the other or convert earning power from one to the other except through the one very constrained gateway of glory purchases. If I had designed the system, I would have made T4B the top tier bottleneck for that reason. In fact, one of the design purposes to the glory store would have specifically been to create a "high friction" path between the two.
Friction, in the game design sense of the word, is the best way to control your top tier players. It is better than hard caps, and it presents a little bit of the illusion you can work past them. You can, but only to a point. But it gives people something to do. Heck, the glory caps for the highest tier stuff like T4B and T4CC don't really need to exist. Just increase the cost per repetition exponentially. That's the difference between friction and capping.
This could be why we regularly see t4 being given away from calendars and other areas, at what appears to the top, to be a faster rate than t1a, but that’s what glory does for the top closes the t1a t4 gap.
It all allows players to continue growing but throttles the rate of power gain at the top so others can catch up.
If you look at what it would take to buy all the t4b with glory, it’s impossible to do within an AQ cycle.