I guess this will double up as the 2.0 feedback thread (couldn’t find a dedicated thread for that)? I’ll give my 2 cents here, then. Please feel free to move it elsewhere or point out to the appropriate thread if there’s one.
OVERALL
Thanks for the update. This is a BIG turning point for many players, I feel, albeit it affects different player types in very different ways. Basically, from here on out, there will be PVP players, Arena players, and I guess a tiny, fringe minority that either stubbornly sits somewhere in between the two categories despite the enormous shift that just happened, or maybe plays something else, like Treasure Hunt or Quests and Challenges exclusively. Gems of War has become a 2-in-1 game bundle, more clearly than ever before; while it’s not necessarily a good thing, it’s not necessarily a bad thing either. At least, it’s a really clean-cut divide, now. =)
PVP
The bulk of this patch is aimed at pleasing the other category of players across from my fellow Arena players, and that’s fine. The top guild mass grinders of the so-called PVP mode have been asking for a ladder/leadeboard system and more win-more mechanics for a long time, and here they go. Grinding is more tedious, painful, RNG-heavy and time-consuming than ever before, BUT the already exponential rewards for those who do it exclusively and are in a guild of like-minded grinders of this game mode were also tremendously increased, so there’s that.
Grinding my way to Rank 1 every week used to be a chore that distracted me from the parts of the game that I actually enjoy, now it’s pointless to even attempt it, and would not reward me enough if I did, as I’d end up back where I started by the end of the week with Defends alone, not to mention my Guild will never be anywhere high enough on the ranking system for my weekly/daily rewards to be significantly more interesting than the default anyway.
The PVP mode is dead to me. I’ll simply ignore its very existence from now on. This might sound gloomy, but it’s actually a relief in a way, as now I can focus on what I enjoy in this game, guilt-free and no longer waste my time with stuff that I don’t care for. So, basically, I can now safely treat the PVP mode exactly like the other type of players have always treated the Arena. =) We’ll truly go our separate ways, and that’s okay.
TREASURE HUNT
With one simple fix, you’ve considerably improved this game mode, and that was long overdue as far I’m concerned. The fact that high level chests can no longer give low level rewards gives much more incentive not only to actually use the maps, but also to perform as best I can when doing so. I’ve only tried one game since the update, but I broke my record and received a couple of Gem Keys for it (among other stuff). This is great. Thank you.
ARENA
Now on to what I care about: The Arena. =) Well, first and foremost, after a few months in limbo, The Arena exists once more, as you’ve finally fixed the Hero Class Magic Bonus bug, so it’s actually playable again. It’s back!!! This is of course great news. Thanks for that. I’ve just had a couple of runs for the first time in weeks and I fully enjoyed them for the first time since 1.09 introduced the now-fixed issue (well, okay, technically since after I spent the first week in denial, trying to enjoy the AOE 2-turn-kill broken hero meta ^^). This feels fantastic! I can really play GoW again!
Additionally, with a lot of new troops in the pool since the last time there was a relevant Arena meta, and a bunch of them having been reworked as well, this is a very fresh and varied experience once again. This is awesome!
Having said that, two fairly big issues remain or, rather, two mild to moderate issues have become more problematic due to this patch definitely severing any tie between the two main game modes:
—> The 20 gem price for getting one Ultra Rare (duplicate) along with a couple of low-level cards you already get a ton of from the gold keys.
This is still a very bad change carried over from the previous patch, and now that PVP grinders definitely won’t touch The Arena with a ten foot pole (if they ever did before) and that Arena players won’t need to bother with PVP either, this is a real problem specific to Arena players. We NEED that price back down to something affordable. Even if you went back to the former 1 gem bargain price, I highly doubt this would affect the game economy negatively, as the only type of players benefiting from this offer would be the ones who will NOT benefit from the truckload of new rewards you’ve just spoiled the PVP grinders with. Arena players will never ever catch up in term of resources with the big guild PVP grinders, now; it’s a fact. Maybe give us back this sweet little perk to improve our collection?
Mind you, since PVP no longer exists for us, it’s not like leveling up our Rare troops was going to have a huge impact, except for the sake of completion and, to some extent, to help ever slightly increase Kingdom Power and the hourly rewards thereof. PVP grinders will still have everything at Level 5 a million years before I get everything at even Level 3, though, so it shouldn’t be an issue. =)
—> The obsolete interface to pick a Weapon from.
I’m a little disappointed this wasn’t updated for The Arena this time either. Many, many months ago, you’ve already given us a perfectly workable, user-friendly interface for us to neatly sort out weapons, type search terms and pick one without any hassle. Why is it STILL only available for the PVP mode? Even with Hero Classes giving them a boost in PVP, I think weapons are still arguably much more important for Arena players than they are for PVP grinders. Weapons are an integral part of any single Arena game. Why must we still pick our weapon manually after tediously sifting through our hundreds of unsorted ones every single time? :-/
Could you please consider extending the neat, user-friendly weapon menu and interface to The Arena sometime soon?