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Post by SGT D00M! on Nov 26, 2017 15:47:56 GMT -5
Very nice article. However, in hindsight it seems clear that the matchmaking change was in no way designed to fix "clubbing", but the first step of the strict new monetization scheme, forcing players to upgrade towards a "meta" hangar and spend RM. Just think of it, we all would still enjoy War Robots if we still had the old matchmaking, wouldn't we? Maybe, maybe not. Number one complaint on these forums and FB prior to the matchmaking change? Matchmaking. The old system had plenty of problems that if you didn't know the "tier" cutoffs could be very frustrating and rapidly land you in a place where it felt like winning was impossible. The Hangar glitch almost made the game unplayable for a full year. The concept of the league system was sound, the implementation however....... |
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Post by frunobulax on Nov 26, 2017 15:56:04 GMT -5
Let's say the concept of leagues was not outlandish, as it's done in other games. But rewards have to be strongly tied to the league ranking, otherwise there is an automatic tanking problem.
But Pixo never even reacted to any negative comments on the matchmaking. They wanted to prevent players running their 5/7 medium hangars forever. The day I lost trust in Pixo was actually when I listened to the round table recording, because it became clear (to me) that Pixo will never fix the matchmaking. Their stereotype answer to all problems was "ah, so you want custom matches, right?". Of course, NO, that's not what we wanted.
The old matchmaking could have been easily improved, and Pixo received plenty of suggestions for that.
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Post by ᕲΣΣᕲƧ on Nov 26, 2017 18:44:11 GMT -5
Very nice article. However, in hindsight it seems clear that the matchmaking change was in no way designed to fix "clubbing", but the first step of the strict new monetization scheme, forcing players to upgrade towards a "meta" hangar and spend RM. Just think of it, we all would still enjoy War Robots if we still had the old matchmaking, wouldn't we? Maybe, maybe not. Number one complaint on these forums and FB prior to the matchmaking change? Matchmaking. The old system had plenty of problems that if you didn't know the "tier" cutoffs could be very frustrating and rapidly land you in a place where it felt like winning was impossible. The Hangar glitch almost made the game unplayable for a full year. The concept of the league system was sound, the implementation however....... The old MM was a lot of fun because you could make changes and sort of manipulate what level you were at. This was a lot of fun because it was much easier to squad with other. People who played top tier hangars normally and had over a year of experience could toss in a some geps and play with someone who was only a month or two into the game. There isn't an ethical way to do the same now. The tiers were well documented. Anyone who cared at all could find the information they needed to control their progression. FWIW it worked both ways too. Squads of geps could just as easily play up in the "trash gold" tier as they could play in silver. I actually think "whale clubbing" helped me a lot. Intentionally allowing your squad to be outmatched and using superior tactics and teamwork teaches you skills that advance with you. I dislike the league system compared to hangar based MM. Even if I liked the idea of league based MM, I wouldn't like how Pixonic did. I think they are saying the right things now, but based on my experience I expect a nasty twist at the last minute. Giving higher leagues better prizes should have been part of leagues from day one. I still like the game more than I dislike it, but the line keeps swinging the wrong way. I understand Pixonic is a business and their goal is to earn a profit. I would describe Pixonic's actions over the last couple months as price gouging not attempting to earn a profit. If nothing else, I've learned 2 things. I can never trust Pixonic again. And because I can never trust Pixonic, the only thing I can give War Robots is my time. Even that is a risk. I can't invest real money in a game that intentionally releases over powered, over priced content with the understanding they will be turned down every couple months until they are obsolete. The reality is Pixonic knows what they are doing. Everything that happens in War Robots is carefully planned. As easy as it is to dismiss Pixonic as incompetent, they aren't. They are cold, calculated, premeditated, and deliberate. In a lot of ways, it would be easier to excuse all the recent insanity with Pixonic if they were simply inexperienced. You could tell yourself it was a mistake, they didn't know better but they do know and will never make that same mistake again. But Pixonic deliberately follows the same course repeatedly. It took pitchforks and torches for us to be taken semi seriously. Pixonic will never change. They don't expect to make a fair profit. They will just invent new ways to conceal their true colors. |
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Post by T34 on Nov 26, 2017 18:58:02 GMT -5
Excellent contribution Dredd77 Really good work!
Some feedback about points raised in the article:
1. MK2 – By embarking on another upgrade journey I can see how this feature may stimulate the veterans. However, it does not make sense when new items are being released at a very fast rate (that need upgrading). But the worst part of the Mk2 situation was that Pix didn’t fix the match maker to try and segregate players with Mk2 gear but in actual fact it gaveMK2 players seals to club. I would argue that’s where trust was lost and Pixonic’s benevolent claims vanished in relation to the reason for MK2.
2. Special half price dashes for new players – I wrote to Pix regarding this matter some time ago and asked why am i not getting the special dash offers while new players are. Pix responded. Basically they said, rest assured these type of offers will be available for everyone soon (along with other mechanisms). And two months later here they are. This suggest to me a very well thought out release cycle which probably took into account the possible overall negative sentiment and the loss of parts of the user base. That is the reason why they are not listening. The release cycle is now obvious. I’d say the price of dashes will be 14,000 Au in some months time and the price will stay until the release of the new meta bots. With the in game inflation things just became harder to grind (another intended outcome to prevent people from hoarding/acquiring resources and having to use RM).
3. Royale – its heavily weighted to release the better prizes towards the end of the spin cycle but gives an impression of prizes dropping randomly. That basically means its rigged. However this was the first mechanism where a player could buy a particular dash using gold (lots of gold at an over inflated price). Just another release mechanism moving towards that 14,000 Au buy now price. But what I cant comprehend is why they had to rig it. They could have allowed for the random dropping of prizes by increasing the number of available prizes. That is 24 instead of 12 and the average cost of the bots would have remained the same. Really is beyond me unless they intentionally tried to deceive people and by doing that making more money. And that’s the most likely reason.
Where do we go from here? Well, I don’t think we are going anywhere. This is it. Things have changed and are here to stay. What Pix has done is by careful design. They are basically trying to find an optimal monetization position. At the optimal monetization position they will most likely take into account revenue vs user base related parameters.
User base disgruntlement is subdued by give aways, special offers and tweaks to the MM.
The MM is of huge importance in this scheme. It is obvious they can change allocation parameters on the fly. This MM is a very sophisticated and well designed mechanism. There is nothing wrong with it. I am of the opinion it can function exceptionally well provided the appropriate allocation parameters are keyed in (eg silvers 2s matched with Silver 2s only vs privates mixed with golds – No extra queens as per bronzeknee ). What parameters Pix puts in depends on the player sentiment/user base health at the time. People are pissed off but keep playing despite a broad MM allocation – the MM stays as is. User base diminishes due to suspected mismatches – MM allocation is tightened. Pixonic can play this game as long as there are sufficient quantities of players picking up the game.
But at the end of the day the game will remain pay 2 win and deceptive ingame elements will probably proliferate to take advantage of some because deception is a powerful tool for the transient elements of the user base. The veterans now know what to expect.
Welcome to the new world. Trust will have less relevance because it is no longer about a consistent loyal user base but just a numbers game on the internet. Whales will pay either way.
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Post by T34 on Nov 26, 2017 19:58:21 GMT -5
The old MM was a lot of fun because you could make changes and sort of manipulate what level you were at. This was a lot of fun because it was much easier to squad with other. I still like the game more than I dislike it, but the line keeps swinging the wrong way. I understand Pixonic is a business and their goal is to earn a profit. I would describe Pixonic's actions over the last couple months as price gouging not attempting to earn a profit. The reality is Pixonic knows what they are doing. Everything that happens in War Robots is carefully planned. As easy as it is to dismiss Pixonic as incompetent, they aren't. They are cold, calculated, premeditated, and deliberate. In a lot of ways, it would be easier to excuse all the recent insanity with Pixonic if they were simply inexperienced. You could tell yourself it was a mistake, they didn't know better but they do know and will never make that same mistake again. But Pixonic deliberately follows the same course repeatedly. It took pitchforks and torches for us to be taken semi seriously. Pixonic will never change. They don't expect to make a fair profit. They will just invent new ways to conceal their true colors. You can trust Pixonic to be calculative, deceiving, highly motivated by revenue, rigging so called games of chances, careful release planning, having an overall strategy for the game, enshrining P2W and not being idiots.
Not trying to be nasty but that is them and their business strategy.
But, if you read between the lines the following is what they are saying to veteran players and whales. This is very important.
• We are more focused on revenue now.
• We will try and advance the game but you will have to pay more for it
• If you are a whale we will give you an advantage straight away for monies spent with us and maintain that advantage as long as tolerable by the masses
• Same goes for medium sized whales but you will have to wait a bit
• If you are a small whale or a non paying customer (grinder) your turn will come after the large/medium whales. In the mean time, you should understand how to take advantage of the in game mechanisms and dynamics to advance yourself much faster. By now you should have worked that out. We will tolerate resource farming, game skipping, and just about anything as long as you play, wait and are patient.
• You know our casinos are rigged. Work out the worst outcome and that’s about what the pay out will be. If you like the offer take it up. If you don’t than don’t.
• P2W will stay. We are not backing off, please work with us. We are trying not to piss you off too much but again you need to understand where you are in the pecking order.
• Understand that we will tweak the MM from time to time. Bear with us during the rough times. If you really don’t like it you know how to adjust your league position. We will not penalise you for it. Ah, and its ok to let us know when you are not happy. We will listen to you and when the voices are very loud we will do something.
• You want to fight with silver gear. We have given you custom battles. Maybe not as good as what it was before but that’s the best we can do in line with our strategy. We have tried. Cant waste any more resources in further developing it.
• This game is becoming more and more complex. You as vetrans should know the optimal path. Use it and we will provide an advantage to you.
• We will provide every interested veteran with special items from time to time. We gave you 3 tempests, 2 scourges, a kumiho and many other stuff. If you want your bulgie, hover bot, shocktrain, storm…. You know how to get it in a week. We set the task requirements so high that only a very few without short cuts will be able to achieve it. But you vetrans can do it easily in a week.
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