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Post by frunobulax on Oct 2, 2017 3:28:35 GMT -5
I had 20 minutes to kill on my way to work this morning, thought I could do my dailies, and realized that I just don't care anymore. Much for the same reasons that Lloyd Le-Mar noted: The game has gotten away from tactical play and went toward a "point and click, enemy dies" route. Domination is no completely dominated by snipers, I tried counter-sniping and almost fell asleep. Beacon rush is now just a matter of the better material, and as I don't own any KBots on Android and only (only?) 2 Lancelots I'll lose that battle. I used to be able to compete against TT hangars with my sub-level 10 hangar in domination, but not in beacon rush.
So I guess it's bye-bye for me too. Selling robots for $300 (and yes, I already got discounted offers for $100 a K-Bot) is only adding insult to injury, but the injury is seems terminal already.
Still, gotta share this nugget anyway. Got a guy who was flying in an invincible Natasha in fb gameroom. He managed to fly from one far beacon on Canyon to the other in less than 2 seconds. (A video was posted here some time ago, it was the same bug.) Went even submarine and flying high in the air.
Reported the guy, with screenshots (didn't had a capture tool ready at the time so no video), only automated response. Saw the guy again, reported again, no response at all. All of this well before the 3.2 release.
Ah well. It doesn't matter anymore. But it did prompt me to change the rating of the game to 1 start on google play. Maybe that will catch Pixos eye of many of you do this, more than any protest mails.
Edit: Until a year ago, War Robots maintained a nice balance between f2p and spending - making it possible to enjoy top tier play with a limited amount of money. With daily tasks you could earn say 80 gold a day even if you were a casual player, which translates into basically 30k gold over a year. That was enough to give you a top tier hangar. Probably getting premium to earn the silver for the upgrades made sense. I figure they even could have skimmed a bit more off the top without upsetting game balance too much, in the form of rare robots (that were not OP), more/better skins, maybe some gimmicks. Some creativity would have been required to give players an incentive to continue spending after they reached level 12 with their hangar, but this could be done easily. The introduction of new weapons like Dash bots, Tempest, Scourge, Inquisitor and such would all have been OK with better balance.
With a good PC client (allowing users to share hangars across platforms, including facebook gameroom, might have been huge for that) that game would have had the potential to attract a huge player community. And why not make it a subscription model? Scrap VIP and allow playing beyond a certain point (say 100 wins) only with a subscription, say 5 bucks a month for basic playing and 15 bucks with a few gadgets thrown in. Without that, you're allowed a limited number of games per week, so you can check out if it is worth spending those 5 bucks (again). And you can continue to upgrade if you want, in case you don't have time to play or don't want to spend for a while.
If you have a million players spending 5 bucks a month, you don't need to worry too much about the whales. That will still find ways to spend money, like fast upgrading and purchasing skins. I started gameplay in this "reasonable" period and spend probably around $100 to $150 over the first 3-4 months to get VIP, some extra gold and event tokens. I'm sure there are plenty of players like me.
All this changed when Pixo was sold to mail.ru of course.
Maybe BoT will become this game. But then, maybe not. We'll see (in my case I'll have to be patient, as I own no iOS device).
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Post by BLYTHE on Oct 2, 2017 3:36:09 GMT -5
We lost another good one...good luck to you, frunobulax.
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Post by llama4president on Oct 2, 2017 3:40:55 GMT -5
Sad to hear that Frun.
Last week i started looking for new games. I mostly don't play alone anymore, just playing because it's the only game for now that i can play with a RL friend.
What can i say, good luck and remember that for US, it's just a game. One of many.
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Post by carnage on Oct 2, 2017 3:50:26 GMT -5
Sad to hear that Frun. Last week i started looking for new games. I mostly don't play alone anymore, just playing because it's the only game for now that i can play with a RL friend. What can i say, good luck and remember that for US, it's just a game. One of many. Sad to say, but I started looking too. Would be curious to try a tank game for instance.
AFAIC, the line I will not cross is clear : I can deal with overpriced robots, I can more or less deal with questionable updates (buff to Spydras, nerf to Thunders ? Stupid...), and even with the BM. What I will not deal with is if I start facing too many Dashes, or worse, MkII with my level 8/9 hangar. They would potentially do twice more damages than me and that's not something I would go through.
A situation where I would face MkII would leave me with only two solutions, tanking to drop in lower Diamond and hoping to see less of them, or leaving the game. And since I don't see much pleasure in tanking, I guess I would leave the game. We're not there yet though, I still have some hope Pix will get its act together somehow.
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Post by ezekielcrow on Oct 2, 2017 3:52:12 GMT -5
Sorry to hear that. Best of luck to you.
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Post by frunobulax on Oct 2, 2017 3:58:29 GMT -5
Sad to say, but I started looking too. Would be curious to try a tank game for instance.
I won't look for another f2p/mobile game. All of the good ones went this route - once a game attracts a certain number of devoted fans, the dollar signs invariably pop up in the eyes of the executives. I played 2 other games that I really liked (Monster Legends, Dragonsoul), they all went exactly the same way - introduced some new expensive OP stuff that would outdistance whales so far from "moderate spenders" (let alone f2p) that playing was no fun anymore. I think I'll treat myself to a playstation or something like that for Christmas and have a look what's out there. Or maybe check out which PC games fit my playing style - multiplayer, but more strategy and not all reflexes (and spending). There's plenty of time until Christmas
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2017 4:05:26 GMT -5
Very sorry to see you go but completely understand your reasons. Thank you so much for the bot analyses you have done in the recent past. They were quite insightful and helpful. Good luck in your future gaming endeavours.
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Post by llama4president on Oct 2, 2017 4:34:13 GMT -5
Sad to hear that Frun. Last week i started looking for new games. I mostly don't play alone anymore, just playing because it's the only game for now that i can play with a RL friend. What can i say, good luck and remember that for US, it's just a game. One of many. Sad to say, but I started looking too. Would be curious to try a tank game for instance.
AFAIC, the line I will not cross is clear : I can deal with overpriced robots, I can more or less deal with questionable updates (buff to Spydras, nerf to Thunders ? Stupid...), and even with the BM. What I will not deal with is if I start facing too many Dashes, or worse, MkII with my level 8/9 hangar. They would potentially do twice more damages than me and that's not something I would go through.
A situation where I would face MkII would leave me with only two solutions, tanking to drop in lower Diamond and hoping to see less of them, or leaving the game. And since I don't see much pleasure in tanking, I guess I would leave the game. We're not there yet though, I still have some hope Pix will get its act together somehow.
I just bought a 500gb SSD which will arrive in a few days. It's time for me to get acquainted with some big single player titles for pc. Right now got in my hands Total War warhammer.
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Post by Sybill on Oct 2, 2017 6:25:00 GMT -5
Good bye and farewell, your posts were always worth reading. Sad to see another valuable contributor to our community leave.
Hope to meet you again when BoT is out on Android one day!
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Post by arakos on Oct 2, 2017 6:38:26 GMT -5
Good bye and farewell, your posts were always worth reading. Sad to see another valuable contributor to our community leave. Hope to meet you again when BoT is out on Android one day! ^ Exactly this. Goodbye my friend I'll probably be leaving when the promotion system sees the light. That might be the Whale Finale of this game Until then I still have hope... Arakos
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novena
Destrier
Posts: 56
Karma: 29
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Post by novena on Oct 2, 2017 6:40:36 GMT -5
poor kid , who invited you to play anyways !!
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Post by K A Z on Oct 2, 2017 6:42:09 GMT -5
frunobulax ehhh...sad to hear. I left the game but I still follow the forums on more casual basis. Maybe you sometimes can stop by too? Heck...maybe I'll even jump in app sometimes, to express my inner troll..."hydrasing" the whales lol
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Post by Koalabear on Oct 2, 2017 6:52:43 GMT -5
When a game is no longer fun, and becomes more 'work' than 'game', then yes, I agree, it's time to go. I've enjoyed reading your posts here. Maybe we'll see you on another forum one day.
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Post by frunobulax on Oct 2, 2017 7:28:15 GMT -5
frunobulax ehhh...sad to hear. I left the game but I still follow the forums on more casual basis. Maybe you sometimes can stop by too? Heck...maybe I'll even jump in app sometimes, to express my inner troll..."hydrasing" the whales lol I might hang around for a while, maybe do what I did when I took a break for the last time: Play a game now and then, upgrade a bit low level stuff, just to see if I can rekindle my fun for the game. But with the looming Mk2 changes this feels more permanent than the last time, where it was "just" frustration with matchmaking and tanking.
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Post by K A Z on Oct 2, 2017 7:35:54 GMT -5
Sad to say, but I started looking too. Would be curious to try a tank game for instance.
I won't look for another f2p/mobile game. All of the good ones went this route - once a game attracts a certain number of devoted fans, the dollar signs invariably pop up in the eyes of the executives. I played 2 other games that I really liked (Monster Legends, Dragonsoul), they all went exactly the same way - introduced some new expensive OP stuff that would outdistance whales so far from "moderate spenders" (let alone f2p) that playing was no fun anymore. I think I'll treat myself to a playstation or something like that for Christmas and have a look what's out there. Or maybe check out which PC games fit my playing style - multiplayer, but more strategy and not all reflexes (and spending). There's plenty of time until Christmas That's +/- what I did and went for PS4 with Horizon Zero Dawn. That's my 1st console ever and the 1st console game to it as well (I've been a PC player for 2.5 decades by now). In short: the game is simply unbelievable. The complexity of world, game play, fight, tactics, story/lore, characters and most of all graphics - really breathtaking in detail of the world and creatures inhabiting it... Each time I look at it the "effort" behind this game makes me wonder how such detailed scenery could have been brought to life. The combat encounters are really cool and demanding. You can get the job done in various ways and tactics may depend on surroundings, time of day, location, etc. I'm no fan of games where protagonist is wielding a bow, but here it's totally different thanks to lore and story being uncovered by the player. And then again, after a 4h session with HZD I took a look at the "complexity" of War Robots and it struck me that the whole thing looks and works like an afternoon side-work of a less-than-talented intern, when compared with e.g. mentioned HZD. In short - crude, tiny maps, mechanics primitive like hammer+anvil (now especially), complete lack of diversity and (partly due to nature of pvp) complete lack of lore or any other aspect to get the player attached and give some immersion. These are 2 worlds: console vs mobile game, Single vs PvP, etc....but at the end the goal is, or rather should be, the same - fun. Now...for waaay less than a single, unarmed inquisitor (*) would cost me, I got a beautiful set of working hardware (PS comes with warranty unlike on inquisitor lol), one that can give me access to numerous games (some good ones just for few $$) plus a game that is obviously an art of work. Any comparison of game like HZD to dwarf app like War Robots (**) makes me giggle. It's not even comparing a new BMW to a pair of in-line skates; it's more like comparing an actual car to a piece of a ticket for a lotery to win an entry ticket to skate park...a park that can be closed tomorrow. [edit - and yes, following the metaphor here, I did like this park once, when it was considered a skate park not a price equivalent of a car] In short, frunobulax - go for it! It can get only better! Cheers! * = {rant mode on} ?firetruck?ing hell are you kidding me??? It's a virtual gizmo with no value whatsoever, a piece of joke to be thrown left and right by dev depending on their mood...something to be rendered totally useless in 3 or so updates from now...what type of 「slow」 ?firetruck? with zero self esteem one must be to spend $$$ or $$$$ (yeah...just consider a full hangar with zappers/flamers on it) on a ridiculous ?Cow Chips? like that {rant mode off} .... errr...didn't mean to insult anyone...really lol
** = dwarf, ugly little app - that is what exactly is left of War Robots, once it got stripped of tactics and team play (as mentioned by OP and in detail by Lloyd Le-Mar) - point>shoot...whoohooo, mommy got me better upgrades...
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Post by _psychø on Oct 2, 2017 8:00:41 GMT -5
I agree with most of your points except the monthly subscription thing, as a big number of players is not willing to spend money or just Can't do that for whatever reason, so it would be better if the game was paid but balanced. I also agree with someone else (don't remember the name) saying it's not a problem of income, pixo just wants to get as much money as possible, otherwise you'd see ads in the game, I personally don't mind seeing ads as long as they're not so annoying, it'd also give them some money so they don't have to seek for whales.
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Post by frunobulax on Oct 2, 2017 8:03:16 GMT -5
Thank you so much for the bot analyses you have done in the recent past. Which reminds me - I just changed my Dash analyses a bit to reflect the new pricing...
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Post by frunobulax on Oct 2, 2017 8:21:43 GMT -5
I agree with most of your points except the monthly subscription thing, as a big number of players is not willing to spend money or just Can't do that for whatever reason, so it would be better if the game was paid but balanced. I also agree with someone else (don't remember the name) saying it's not a problem of income, pixo just wants to get as much money as possible, otherwise you'd see ads in the game, I personally don't mind seeing ads as long as they're not so annoying, it'd also give them some money so they don't have to seek for whales. You could make it subscription, and alternatively ask players to watch ads, or impose some limits. Other games have a "replenishing stamina", like you get 1 point of stamina every X hours and each game costs 1 point of stamina - if you give stamina every 8 hours, that would mean 3 free games a day. Watching an ad could give an additional point. A subscription gives you unlimited stamina. These are just rough ideas, details can be worked out. Judging from the people I got to know in the War Robots community, it seems that most players are a bit more - let's say "seasoned" with a regular job, often family, people who could certainly pay 5 bucks a month for a game they like, and knowing that this both covers costs for Pixo (servers, traffic, customer support) and allows Pixo to keep the game balanced. This would have also allowed to bring back the old matchmaking, which allowed you to run with 6/7 Boas and Pattons forever. Pixo has blocked this (and removed a big part of the variety and fun from the game) in order to force players to develop their hangars the way Pixo wants, including the purchase of premium robots. But if you can generate revenue in a different way, this would not be necessary anymore. The basic problem is this: If you want to allow a large f2p (and I mean completely free) community, then a small minority of players will have to pay a lot of money to cover the infrastructure costs for all players. You have to offer something substantial for those players to fork over the big bucks, hence the pay-2-win mentality. And as mentioned before, it's very hard to keep a good balance here to keep the game interesting for free players and giving the big spenders incentives to spend. The alternative is obviously to distribute the costs among a large player community, hence my subscription idea. Of course, what Pixo is now doing is a blatant cash grab. That's got nothing to do with "infrastructure costs" or long-term stability. It's all about milking the player community for what they can get. Case in point: Tempest was available for the equivalent of $15 during the last event (I think). Now it's $80. Huh? Probably just a coincidence that many player just realized that Tempest Fury is maybe the most deadly robot on open maps.
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onsolot
Destrier
Posts: 90
Karma: 28
Pilot name: OnSoLot
Platform: Android
League: Diamond
Server Region: Asia
Favorite robot: G.I
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Post by onsolot on Oct 2, 2017 8:42:15 GMT -5
I'm not giving up just yet .. I still have to buy the fury and Lancelot . yes I'm spending lesser time on War Robots but still I want to see how bad it can get .. And yes i am a bit pissed off but still it has become a great challenge for me to win and I won't back down . I want to blow all the Kbots even though they are hard to tackle . I'm trying to come up with various methods to fight the new additions. So far Zeus , spiral/hydras , pin/tulumbas , long range weapons like gekko trebuchet are working good for me .. And I want you guys to not give up as well.
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Post by hyderier on Oct 2, 2017 9:13:19 GMT -5
Of course, what Pixo is now doing is a blatant cash grab. That's got nothing to do with "infrastructure costs" or long-term stability. It's all about milking the player community for what they can get. I wonder if they plan to squeeze the game to death, or if they actually have a long term plan, meaning they have some idea about retaining pissed off players.
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Post by _psychø on Oct 2, 2017 9:30:59 GMT -5
I agree with most of your points except the monthly subscription thing, as a big number of players is not willing to spend money or just Can't do that for whatever reason, so it would be better if the game was paid but balanced. I also agree with someone else (don't remember the name) saying it's not a problem of income, pixo just wants to get as much money as possible, otherwise you'd see ads in the game, I personally don't mind seeing ads as long as they're not so annoying, it'd also give them some money so they don't have to seek for whales. You could make it subscription, and alternatively ask players to watch ads, or impose some limits. Other games have a "replenishing stamina", like you get 1 point of stamina every X hours and each game costs 1 point of stamina - if you give stamina every 8 hours, that would mean 3 free games a day. Watching an ad could give an additional point. A subscription gives you unlimited stamina. These are just rough ideas, details can be worked out. Judging from the people I got to know in the War Robots community, it seems that most players are a bit more - let's say "seasoned" with a regular job, often family, people who could certainly pay 5 bucks a month for a game they like, and knowing that this both covers costs for Pixo (servers, traffic, customer support) and allows Pixo to keep the game balanced. This would have also allowed to bring back the old matchmaking, which allowed you to run with 6/7 Boas and Pattons forever. Pixo has blocked this (and removed a big part of the variety and fun from the game) in order to force players to develop their hangars the way Pixo wants, including the purchase of premium robots. But if you can generate revenue in a different way, this would not be necessary anymore. The basic problem is this: If you want to allow a large f2p (and I mean completely free) community, then a small minority of players will have to pay a lot of money to cover the infrastructure costs for all players. You have to offer something substantial for those players to fork over the big bucks, hence the pay-2-win mentality. And as mentioned before, it's very hard to keep a good balance here to keep the game interesting for free players and giving the big spenders incentives to spend. The alternative is obviously to distribute the costs among a large player community, hence my subscription idea. Of course, what Pixo is now doing is a blatant cash grab. That's got nothing to do with "infrastructure costs" or long-term stability. It's all about milking the player community for what they can get. Case in point: Tempest was available for the equivalent of $15 during the last event (I think). Now it's $80. Huh? Probably just a coincidence that many player just realized that Tempest Fury is maybe the most deadly robot on open maps. As long as there's no barrier that completely stops the f2p players to play the game, then it's all good, although I still don't like the stamina/fuel/energy thing that many uses, but I'd be fine if it wasn't like only 5 battles per day are allowed because that will also stop people from getting silver and gold.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2017 12:22:15 GMT -5
Sad to say, but I started looking too. Would be curious to try a tank game for instance.
I won't look for another f2p/mobile game. All of the good ones went this route - once a game attracts a certain number of devoted fans, the dollar signs invariably pop up in the eyes of the executives. I played 2 other games that I really liked (Monster Legends, Dragonsoul), they all went exactly the same way - introduced some new expensive OP stuff that would outdistance whales so far from "moderate spenders" (let alone f2p) that playing was no fun anymore. I think I'll treat myself to a playstation or something like that for Christmas and have a look what's out there. Or maybe check out which PC games fit my playing style - multiplayer, but more strategy and not all reflexes (and spending). There's plenty of time until Christmas Oh man I feel your pain, Monster legends was my game before War Robots. And you know what killed the game? When they raised the level cap. (Think MKII) I still like this game, though components haven't hit my server yet. Where I draw the line is gambling and requiring duplicates. I can safely say those are key features in the worst P2W games. I chose multi layer/War Robots because you don't open "packs" and hope to get something you want, you actually purchase the individual thing you want. Now we have BM. And components/MKII sound like they could very well entail grinding duplicates/pieces of duplicates to upgrade the level cap. With gambling comes P2W, if duplicates become needed to surpass MKI then welcome to compete P2W. Can you imagine needing a Haechi and then 30k Haechi components in order to get to MKII+?
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Post by xXrobotrippinXx on Oct 2, 2017 13:24:10 GMT -5
I too, will miss your contributions and am sad to see you go.
Best of luck to you.
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Post by DarkVagabond on Oct 2, 2017 15:16:02 GMT -5
Sad to say, but I started looking too. Would be curious to try a tank game for instance.
I won't look for another f2p/mobile game. All of the good ones went this route - once a game attracts a certain number of devoted fans, the dollar signs invariably pop up in the eyes of the executives. I played 2 other games that I really liked (Monster Legends, Dragonsoul), they all went exactly the same way - introduced some new expensive OP stuff that would outdistance whales so far from "moderate spenders" (let alone f2p) that playing was no fun anymore. I think I'll treat myself to a playstation or something like that for Christmas and have a look what's out there. Or maybe check out which PC games fit my playing style - multiplayer, but more strategy and not all reflexes (and spending). There's plenty of time until Christmas It’s funny you say this. I’m actually looking at consoles too, particularly the Nintendo Switch. Legend of Zelda looks simply amazing. I really miss the days of paying for a game that was already finished. I’m so weary of games that get you invested only to hit you with a high price point for new equipment just to continue. There is something to be said for the artistic integrity of a game title that generates its income solely from the quality of the gameplay and without in app purchases. The mobile game industry is cursed and consumer expectation of not having to pay for a mobile game is the main problem and reason why this won’t change. When you end up paying so much more in the end, the consumers receive their just desserts for such blatant demands for instant gratification. I wish you much joy and a cheaper credit card bill in your future gaming endeavours sir
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Post by T34 on Oct 2, 2017 16:40:02 GMT -5
Sad to see you go. This is a very rough time for the community but see if you can hop onto the forum every now and then.
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