Friday, November 3, 2017

Letting the Cranky Roo out!!

My martini glass is always half full.  I drank what was left in it last night!!


Most people that know me in the game and on the various FB pages know that I try to see the positive side of change. I look for ways changes will help players in the long run. I am always willing to WAIT to see the said changes before I go off on any sort of tirade and even then, I can usually find a positive to balance any negatives. That is until the FM cockup.

My initial thoughts on the FM were that it was a positive change


Kix listened.....Players have long talked about the time it takes to get to the hallowed tokens. No more frustration when Kix would add 3 new prizes to T5 in the FM after a raid.  No more facing the daunting task of having to play catchup if God forbid you took a two week vacation and didn't do your FM while you were out enjoying a life away from the game.

Tokens help a player stay current and build raid fleets that let them progress even further. They are CRITICAL to staying current. If you do not get the tokens you are not going to have, the now required, TWO fleets for a raid.

Another positive, players could catch up in one week, claiming as many prizes as they could claim in the order that would help THEIR needs and not be stuck in a queue of having to clear items that they don't need. Wow, they could EVEN claim tokens after claiming just one prize if they were not caught up!! 

Players had 6 days to grind the FM and do this. No more stuck with 3 days or rushing to finish it if real life got in the way.

Yes, the token amounts were lower and we gave unanimous feedback to Kix and they compromised with adding chests that gave the potential for more bonus tokens. They also increased the time of the Structure and Research Tokens. Not the best solution but it was a start.

I was concerned, (as we all were) about the damage we were going to see and the time it would take to do the targets. Based on our initial math it was going to take more than twice the amount of targets to get to the same point.  But I was willing to wait and see what the targets were like.

So they loaded the FM changes  


Wait, wot???  The tokens have an expiration to redeem???  WTF!! There goes all the extra time to do the FM. 6 days to do the FM??....not so much.

Hmm, okay maybe these new targets won't be so bad. Let me take a peek at a target maybe this will be quicker than expected, even with the extra targets needed.

Challenge Accepted!!  Hold my Martini guys while I go try a new 115 target......

(Editor's note: At this point I can clearly hear a sexy Aussie accent filing the room up with expletives that even a sailor would appreciate!)

Errr... Houston we have a problem.

What goober thought it was a good idea to put "Assault Class Rhinos from Hell" in a Garrison target???  Kixeye I am looking at you.  YOU made the target classes. It is  right there on that handy dandy info screen on the target itself.

It says "Garrison".  Not "Garrison with a super-sized side order of Assault".

You  stated when you released the target types that the ships would be stationary or slow moving.  No where in that description (below) when you released the target types does it state that I will need a damn Assault class ship to kill Rhinos from Hell in a Garrison Target.








I expected to take more damage. I knew I was not going to do the FM for instant repair. I knew that there would be a learning curve. I did NOT expect to be blocked from completing the FM.

There is no learning curve when you take massive amounts of damage from a fleet of stupid over powered ships that do not belong in the FM targets.

When a tank with three...yes I said THREE Charged M armors, 4 x phalanx 4 anti missile and 96% Pen damage protection as well as 69% evade looses a quarter of its health and most of its armor charge from ONE set of ships then we have an issue.  There is nothing I can do to improve these numbers.  Oh, and by the way, the only reason I could get to that point was because I spent $$ on speeding up a Hunter build to clear my shipyard and I happened to have Zelos tokens in my inventory.  My original fleet that did the FM with no issues (unless operator error) disintegrated to ONE set of ships. You can be the best driver in the world but nothing is going to mitigate that damage.

Again, I am not going to use a second incorrect target type fleet to clear the ships in a basic chore target that should not eviscerate my top of the line FM fleet in targets that were not supposed to change until July 2018 (Your schedule of map target changes not mine).

Enough of the 115. Okay, so the 103 is the same.  I guess I could give up any sort of real life and grind them for 5 days to get my weekly done. Goodbye getting anything else done it the game if it takes 5 days to grind out the FM.

Surely the 89 cannot be that bad?  Whoah....a Gauntlet.  I guess that hoses anyone with a citadel fleet.  I guess that is why we keep seeing offers for monos and IceBreakers (which by the way were illegal builds and die in the targets as well but I digress).  The 88 was the bread and butter for lower levels.  Not any more. They are reduced to hitting even lower targets for more time and less points. But wait, those lower targets changed as well.  Hang on, why did the 82 and the other lower targets change?  You explicitly stated the only changes were the re-balance of the 88 and 113. Did someone load the incorrect targets??  Hellloooooo??? What happened here?

At this point I just give up. There are no positives to this change. If a player cannot do the FM they cannot get the tokens, they cannot progress and there is no longer any point in playing the game.

This is not a challenge to beat the targets and get the points down.  There is no way anyone can get their FM done in the short amount of time required to get the tokens unless they coin or they use multiple fleets. You monetized the FM. This is the ONE thing that you HAD to leave alone.

If the 78 pages (at the time of this rant) of complaints and the feedback from ALL the shows and ALL the pages is not enough to convince you of this monumental fail then go run a query of how many points players have. (Editor's note: Exclude the psychos trying to help the community that ran up points trying to figure out how to mitigate this cockup.)  Go run a query of how many bases have been scrapped in the 48 hours.  Go count the amount of posts all over the place from people at all levels that have quit.

These are not just casual players, a lot of these are coiners and some of them coin massively.  People are walking away.

I don't know how to make this any clearer. If you are losing revenue and players, forcing those that remain to coin is NOT a solution. All you do is alienate those that remain. You are driving more players away and on a much larger scale than ever before. The game cannot sustain itself if it continues to lose players.

Most of us are reasonable, if you tell us you are listening and will be making adjustments then most of us probably will wait and see what they are.    Don't just respond with "we are listening to your feedback".  That tells me and other players nothing and just infuriates us even more. FFS, stop listening and start talking. It is pretty dam obvious this is screwed up. Get on the forum and tell us what you are doing to fix it!!

Solution??


I know you cannot roll the code back at this point. I know the data has changed and would be an absolute nightmare to back out and return the original FM. I know we are committed to this format.

What you CAN do, is between this FM and next, adjust the targets.  Next week is the raid (if anyone even bothers) You have a little extra time. If you cannot put the 113 back into play then remove the ships from the 115 (or make them what they should be, an easy kill with a garrison fleet and have them deal low damage).

Return the lower targets to what they were before the change, just adjust the points like you have on the 103's.

I am not sure if you realize just how bad this is. You have just over a week to fix this.....If you do not respond accordingly and make adjustments you WILL lose the game. The ball is in your court.


Cranky Roo.





54 comments:

  1. Excellent, and spot on - thanks for sharing

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  2. Expresses exactly what I am thinking and feeling. Thank you!

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  3. Soon even the heavy coiners will say "hey this is costing way to much for a game" and they will have no Pirates to Battle, hence the name Battle Pirates, I didnt start playing because I wanted to spends hours gathering twigs for the fire.....I joined to BATTLE other players everyday not once a week. the game is so boring now I have been hit once in 2 months...maybe more, and that was through 2 bounty events, give us back the short repair fleets we used to battle with for hours, refit and battle again the next day.......Bored as hell.

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    1. Well said...look at this point also, big coiners don't fight other big coiners they like to smash mid to no coiners...well when kix drives out all the no coiners, and it already takes a stupid amount of time to find other mid level bases for ap monday's...then just the biig coiners chasing down the mid coiners left...mid coiners drizzle away then just big coiner wars? haha i don't think so cause the big coiners like to watch there ships coast through not have to be coined a dozen times to beat another big coiner....hence is why they NEED free to mid coiners...i hear alot of talk about the "little players" but not from US little new players...i started 4 months ago to build a zelo an cit flt in that time just got to doing the 88's breezy in 5 or so mins an that 4 months is out the window...I only had the 1 fleet an 2 stupid puns...now i will spend 4 months to build IB's and by then they'd be no good...TY if it wasn't fun to just sit an BS with the alliance ur in I bet ur not playing the game anymore cause thats all thats holding this game together is other players not the makers, mappers or scriptors...

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  4. I share everyone's displeasure in the rapidly changing nature of the game. More chores, more events, the deluge of new tech and the endless grind, all of which are paths that lead to 1 thing: spending coins...

    That being said, it appears that Kixeye is on an extensive witch hunt to eliminate the free players, non coiners, and those who heavily rely on others to get their things done. But this also seems to be affecting a great majority of coiners whether they are light, moderate, or heavy coiners.

    Think back to when the scourge were first introduced a couple years ago and how unbearably difficult the game had become. That was the first time when kix actually listened and took action on the complaints be replacing their design team for their unrealistic ideas. It is obvious that the current design team is headed the same direction as the previous design team. What I don't know is if kix will actually make the same set of corrections in favor of the players this time around.

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  5. Cranky Roo should have been on the show weeks ago. She'd much more on point the the generally pc panel that are nit near firm enough.

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  6. My son could do the 88s with a zelos/cit fleet, but now is relegated to hitting the 82s. Even the damage from the rhinos in that are outrageous. It appears that the damage has been tuned down a bit now, so it looks like Kixeye might be quietly adjusting. Let's hope the pendulum swings a bit back towards the players.

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    1. Problem with the 82's is they take 4 times longer to finish than the old ones. maybe 5 times. I could blitz them with Ices for nearly zero damage, now i have to use Zelos monos and it drags out.

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  7. spot on roo l just hope they liston

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  8. Here here, thanks for doing all that typing, very eloquently put. I've heard so much bad press about the fm, i havent looked at it. I consider myself lucky as i only put 6 years into it. I took a break from it a while back as it was getting stupid. I want to play a game, the game i started playing 6 years ago, not have to research dps, damage dots n mathematical calculations etc etc etc. Its become unrealistic to even consider keeping up, even with the coins i spend. Its all sorted though, my next door neighbour has agreed that if i give him the tennner a week he will gladly kick me in the knackers and give me a smile whilst he does it.

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  9. The killer for me right now is STRESS. With the exception of being able to slide my Fangs through old Uranium targets (which will obviously disappear in a few months), there is nothing to be played that isn't a tense "one mistake costs you hours of repair" kind of drive. Kix needs to grasp the idea that for a game to be fun there needs to be a point when someone spends enough to have a top fleet and that top fleet can do SOME stuff really easily, without nail-biting edge-of-your-seat driving. And for (pick a) God's sake, stop requiring so many 'stages' and repetitions of targets to get there. This does not encourage coining. People either quit or they develop an attitude where the "win" in this game is to deny Kix any forced coin.

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  10. Well said and if this will make a difference....tbis is a game that I look forward to playing. Coming home from work first thing BP .off days majority of my time is BP.Raids 4 or more days and nights of BP. I really and truly hope y'all listen please.. there is a lot of dedicated people that play.thank you BAMA

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  12. Thank you, excellently presented... only major point I think might have been missed was the horrific "lag" in existence. If they are aware (as they have said responding to tickets) that this lag is an issue due to player volume and additional content... then UPGRADE the servers! Otherwise, BRAVISSIMO!

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    1. Steph H, I agree 100% it is about time kixeye upgraded their server instead of blaming us for slow internet & slow computers, they have certainly taken enough coin off us to give this small morsel back in return.

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  13. It REALLY started going down hill when the forsaken council guys had the guy on from kixeye who makes the game. And everyone stated that they wanted the game to require MORE skill. Of course, as always, kixeye yook it too far and penalizes for the slightest mistakes now. For a game I use to spend hours and $$$ on, I now spend five minutes. Your loss kixeye.

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  14. Ditto, well said and written, Roo, thanks for stating the view of most players i know.

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  15. Well said...

    There is a better chance of Hell freezing over than there is of Kixeye listening or even caring...

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  16. Well said - if Kix do not listen then I shall depart the scene too; my coin is far better being spent on my family requirements (and more of them) than this cash cow which will surely die if nothing is addressed.

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  17. My old Mono fleet that been fearfully for so long keep getting run down in 115, 89 ad 82. The Rhino don't go after the base they go after your fleet. Takes me over 30 second to kill those four hull then appear another group from the north and then east. What kick me they took away everything that was free you have to pay. They must of all voted for Thump, they thinking we are all Mexican and then building a wall. Give them hell when they put another survey. Don't hold back and tell them to stick it. I could not do the raid last month because I can't build a fleet fast enough. Without the token it take me 5 months each fleet and they be so out dated. I been in this game since the Dark ages. You know how you feel when a closed friends or family member dies that what this feel. Coiner don't give me bull, we play the game the right way.

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  18. The only thing I see you might have missed is the shelf-life of the fleets we are currently using... By saying we had a year with these fleets I felt comfortable using extra coins before the last garrison cycle making sure I had the fleets to do it. 12 months, I determined, was a good ROI.

    But Kixeye sold me a bill of goods - It hasn't been SIX months and the fleet is obsolete past the point of a simple refit. If they offered a 'warranty' like tangible retailers had to we would be in line demanding our money back for 'broken' products.

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  19. I love you roo,but I think I love cranky roo even better lol..

    Nice article well written ;)

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  20. top diagnosis of how they killed the game

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  21. Well said. Very well said. Even if they got rid of the flac evade on the rhinos it would make a huge difference. As for the lower level targets, bring back the old versions so lower level players have a chance.

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  22. nice written, ive been back n forth on whether or not im gonna continue to play this game for about 2 yrs now, and i think this is the final straw, if i decide tos tick around i will not spend any more money, ust getting to tier 5 on the fm i started catching up, between this n the base parts change it was difficult for even medium levels and some high levels to even get base parts for upgrades, so with this crazy change, theres really no reason to play, 12-13 hr repair for 1 zelo n mono flt to do 1/4 of the 115 is not worth it any more, so now im goin back to do ONE chore and let my ship repair n i may come back the next day n do one more chore n repeat, hopefully they make some major changes for the players for once, bc i feel this may be the end, such a tragic ending to a promising love story lol i dont love this game any more, the funs gone its now a coiners game and its probably not even fun for them, bc who are they gonna show off their new ships too?

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  23. Best dame post I've seen on here that get rid of the assault fleets in the 115 that will make it easier they out run the IB fleets also they need to have the cuts damage middle target like the 113 did hard to maneuver in 115's to the middle island

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  24. Maybe this post should get an add on. Rampage just added more to the, E-Bible concerning the changes and is insisting that the 82s (i do not hit) have not changed. The changes they made due to "hearing us" fixed everything that was not broken. BEEL

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  25. Its insulting that kix is trying to call this a " rebalance " LOL far from it This is the launch of Whale Wars v 2.0 this is a redesign Kix does not care about the low level or light coiners.This game is now dead as we know it. Its redesigned for the heavy coiners only This change was planned for a long time kix is willing to let all the non coiners and low coiners go acceptable losses they figure they will focus on bringing out alot of new crap because they realize the whales will buy the newest latest and greatest tech and then brag about it in comms and race to be the first to post a hot new video of the new fleet on youtube ...wow so impressive

    There will be no rollback of the FM to what it was. Kix does not care you either coin heavy to keep up or get lost and thats what they want to maximize profits im sick of being lied to im sick of this new format I refuse to be squeezed and forced to coin or play this game any longer

    I looked back on what I spent on this game for the past 6 months and took that amount out of the bank and invested it in some hot stocks and gold. Im 90 days I will withdraw the profits and go to Vegas for a long weekend. Ill sip some single malt scotch take advantage of the warm weather and the hot tub while playing pool side bikini blackjack I will kick back while enjoying the results of my investments and toast all the Whales for their investments in making little tiny pixels on a computer screen go boom !


    Cheers

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  26. Very well written Roo and like others i feel same way you do. Have been playing daily (even on vacation) since last couple months of black water days, but this is getting ridiculous now. All the fun is gone.........if thing don't change so will i be. Been searching web for another game have found few maybe time to buy them and stop supporting this Dictatorship of a game!! Side note question how long before TFC runs out of time to help community with there shows like BV has, because there is no time for it because the so called fun game is now a 2nd job that they don't get paid for. Sad to see committed players get such a raw deal. sigh................

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  27. You can not say it any better than that, Kixeye just learn and put things right.

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  28. thank you Roo, personally I have watched 23 players scrap their entire base within the last two days, yes, the FM changes are the main culprit for these actions, but more importantly, 14 of the 23 told me they were tired of Kixeye lying to the player base, this change was just the final straw. So again, personally I feel, Kixeye as a company, has to earn each and every customers trust back, that in itself with their history, WILL NOT BE EASY NOR WILL IT HAPPEN OVERNIGHT, this game is in trouble for sure now and they better act and act fast.

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  29. Absolutely hit the nail on the head. My interpretation of the GM changs is Kixeye DNGAF about the game nor the players. They are draining what they can out of the game before they shut it down. Seriously how can so many errors be made and still they want us to think they are legit. Legit team of morons I say. It's even worse since the new guy came on board and there is no logic in any of the changes except money driven. I won't spend days grinding a weekly fm when everything is reduced. Off to play Seacraft at least they treat their players good. I have 580 free gold in my account from doing simple chores that take no time at all. Seacraft is anou2t to teach Kixeye a big lesson on how to do it right.

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  30. Haven't people already figured out how to hit the 115s for minimal damage?

    The learning curve was literally under a day.

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    1. If you can do the 115 for minimal damage in one go using a garrison fleet that does not contain an assault ship, then please, share away.

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  31. I am no longer interested in this either. They have ruined the game!!

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  32. well said roo all to true about what kix are doing all they need to do is make build times no longer than 7 days then no need for tokens and just let people chose what nthey want to and have the old system back of fm

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    1. WELL said...I vote 4 you for CEO..i aint got time 4 that shtt...and even tho they went from 100 thou players plus per day..gown to 30k...their servers still lag ass

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  33. Damn Skippy was thinking of stopping and getting a charge back anyway after the game implodes

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  34. Kix Eye has finally sucked the very last piece of anything that was fun in this game, right out of it. The game is on a suicide path to a fast, watery grave.

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  35. I hope they can read

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  36. game was fun when u need only one ship to do every thing and that ship was used for a long time

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  37. Excellent article thank you. One point though...
    "Return the lower targets to what they were before the change, just adjust the points like you have on the 103's."

    If targets can be restored, the whole FM can be restored/rolled back. They are simply templates/restore points of block code Kix will have on hand should they choose to use all or any of them .... not holding my breath for either.

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  38. Could not of said it better myself..., very well written..

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  39. Nice roo, well thought out ..But some one has left the barn door open, an all the little critters have left the farm ..

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  40. Excellent. The only question is whether Kix is doing this with the precise intention of losing players so they can validly close the game as they perceive it has run its life.

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  41. well said with a couple exceptions: 1). Ive yet to have a raid require 2 fleets. Fangs worked just fine, didnt need a hunter at all..even when i tested that need. 2). Yes, im getting an hr dmg per target to the 1 Ice i added to my zel/3emps (which are ir repair based on driving/lag/etc). But, i have a fleet so can rotate them out and all goes well get 10-11 115 b4 total need to stop and repair, so im working it on 1 mixed fleet. Most i c are using 2. 1 for the base 1 for the ships. Hope that helps and yup...this is a spot on review.

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  42. I miss the days ( last week) where 3.5 113’s got you tier 1-4 tokens and a t5 prize. Finish that left over partially dead 113 and you get t1-4 tokens again after a reset. I will refit my zelos to what I THINK I will need to kill them. But 5-6 115’s will only get me 1 t5 prize. Too much work, when all we want is the tokens and the uranium. I like many may quit if my refit doesn’t work well.

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  43. I agree with everything that was said, now, having said that, my fm flt that i was using in the 113s, is doing the 115s for 27 min damage, thats without any refit, I can live with that, and for those that want to build them, you need 4 of them https://www.dahippo.com/bp/ship/#!J00I0434343434234034E726A2A1B57002P2P2P2P2P2P282828280ZZ0ZZ0ZZ0ZZdD enjoy

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