8.0 Update: Immortals

[BranaHawk]

Are you supposed to get an Immortal pet from a Pet Rescue?

I’ve just beat a Pet Gnome and unlocked two copies Immortal Sagittarian’s Pony. I’ve seen nothing that suggests it’s supposed to be in the Pet Gnome pool, but what do I know.

[Dwuemka]

@NerdieBirdie

I am strictly opposed to P2W features, but have always argued and continue to argue that this game is far from P2W, at very least compared to the F2P genre as a whole. This game is still very friendly to F2P players, in my opinion. I’m excited about Immortals, despite not spending much on this game and knowing I won’t be able to level them all for a long time.

I think people have VERY different definitions of what it actually means that a game is P2W. Some seem to believe that any monetization offer = pay to win. But it is really, really not the case.

GoW has never been pay TO WIN (or pay TO PLAY for that matter) - it’s always been pay TO GET STUFF FASTER THAN OTHERS. Yes, it means that it might be easier to win when you have the most recent and shiny and powerful addition to the game - but these troops or weapons don’t make or break our chances at winning at all. We can still win battles in guild events without them, we can still win PvP without them, we can still win Explore battles without them - using other troops and other weapons. As the discussions about counters to Stella & Wand & Takshaka teams clearly proved. Essence of Evil, Life & Death, Reflection of Good, Earth’s Fury, even Mang - these are still very much usable weapons, depending on the team! They weren’t taken away just because the devs released The Ruby Macaque or Wand of Stars - they are still here. Same with troops.

Yes, there are these 30+ weapons that are $$-locked, Deathknight Armor is also available for $$ only, and the few platform-exclusive pets too, and so are the old campaign pets (which is actually contrary to what the devs promised - the early campaign pets WERE available on Saturday pet rescues - can anyone still remember that it was a thing? I miss that concept). But really, these 30+ weapons are mostly , with just few notable exceptions (like Sun and Moon).

To see truly P2W games, look around in the play store… all these games that get you hooked and then ask for money just so that you can continue completing levels or play at all; games where the difficulty level makes the levels impossible to complete without boosters - which are rarer than dragonite in GoW - or must be bought for real cash; games that have huge maps on each level, but half of each map is locked behind paywall of sorts - either directly or for in-game currency that must be bought, and without that second half - levels are so/too hard to win, requiring 100 attempts each; games that have 50% of the cards/troops hidden behind the paywall - and after a month or so it becomes nearly impossible to win against them without having them… 99% of games in the play store are like this. GoW is really, really, very far from this, and is very unique in this regard. Which is, actually, part of why I bother to pay at all - BECAUSE it is my choice if I want to pay, not because I’m forced to pay or else I can’t play.

And also, people seem to forget that F2P isn’t really “free” either - even if you don’t pay with hard cash, you pay with your time and attention - something that’s really valuable these days. Possibly more valuable than real money at times, in the social media era.

[Dwuemka]

@NerdieBirdie

I’m excited about Immortals, despite not spending much on this game and knowing I won’t be able to level them all for a long time.

I had a thought yesterday. Shiny troops were introduced a year ago, nearly to a day. Does anyone have (without buying booster & headstart offers) have even ONE of those at shiny 3? I don’t, and I grab any key I can find without these extra offers For the one that’s closest to the goal, I still need 3 more shiny tokens.

I think shiny troops give us a time-frame for maxing out these new immortals - don’t expect to max out any individual immortal before a 2-year mark If we have to compare these immortals to anything, it should be shiny troops, not the dragon egg RNG.

[Jeto]

@Gems-of-War

Warbands will be rotated next week!

@Gems-of-War

Just an additional note, due to some unforeseen delays, SONY and Switch will get the new Season Pass purchases later than the Season going live.

For more information: https://gemsofwar.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10226840758671-Sony-and-Switch-8-0-Premium-Purchases-Unavailable

Just a quick note that these have been edited into the patch notes

[Ant_Man]

“Warbands will rotate next week”.
Which ones, @Jeto ?

[TheIdleOne]

@Dwuemka

I had a thought yesterday. Shiny troops were introduced a year ago, nearly to a day. Does anyone have (without buying booster & headstart offers) have even ONE of those at shiny 3? I don’t, and I grab any key I can find without these extra offers For the one that’s closest to the goal, I still need 3 more shiny tokens.

Granted, you’d actually have to pull for those troops on the week of release to get there any time this quarter of a century, with or without headstart.

[Dwuemka]

@TheIdleOne

Granted, you’d actually have to pull for those troops on the week of release to get there any time this quarter of a century, with or without headstart.

I stop at shiny 2 for new troops (mostly Journey troops, to make the event more bearable), but I’d have to hoard keys for 2 months to reach shiny 3 on release for ONE troop (right now I save the keys between the Journey events). I’m close on a few, but none maxed out yet.

[TheIdleOne]

I’m experiencing somewhere on average 20-40 shiny keys per 5 tokens on release week.

If you get 5 from guild events, that’s 30 left to obtain.

About the only upside is that none of these recent troops have been worth upgrading at all, so its slowly stocking up. It’s also annoying since there is a troop I want to try at level 2 but I’m never getting there at this rate.

If this game wasn’t so determined to monetize everything… shiny tokens for diamonds in the soul forge would actually make sense

[Dwuemka]

@TheIdleOne

I’m experiencing somewhere on average 20-40 shiny keys per 5 tokens on release week.

If you get 5 from guild events, that’s 30 left to obtain.

Without buying any offers for shiny keys, I’ve been getting 30 keys (give or take a few) every 4 weeks, not every week! And it usually takes them all to get the Journey pathfinder to shiny 2, I’m left with maybe 5 after that. I either have extremely bad luck or you’ve got some secret ways of obtaining shiny keys

[overthinker]

So, 2550 immortal souls (if I’ve counted correctly) are required to fully upgrade one immortal.

I haven’t read all the thread. Has anyone in charge come to address our worries about resetting Alliance ranks?

[TheIdleOne]

I don’t lol. Before, when Journey troops were still “kewl”, I’d buy a few headstarts, especially for the Journey troop. Usually kept pace getting each Journey troop to level 2 (-5 from guild event) per weekly cycle.

I haven’t really used any shiny keys since the nerf, so I did spend some recently just because.

Worth noting, you can get 3 shiny keys a day for 20 gold crowns each. I wouldn’t do it, but it is there.

[STUB]

They even lied to us on the release of shiny keys saying theyd be mythics theyve never appeared instead they nerf the shiny troop along with every meta troop so far then release the next meta troop which they then monetise. Historical patterns dont define the future, but what i will say is buyer beware, because these guys have real lack empathy for there community and the only thing they care about is lining there own pockets…

[Dwuemka]

@TheIdleOne

Worth noting, you can get 3 shiny keys a day for 20 gold crowns each. I wouldn’t do it, but it is there.

Oh no, thank you. Shiny troops don’t block kingdom progression, so I’d rather spend the gold marks for books! Even if this is just as futile exercise as the shiny keys and tokens at least there is a sense of some sort of progression, while with shiny keys - there’s none.

[CLARE]

good news: the season didn’t start in the middle of the week

[Fourdottwoone]

@NerdieBirdie

This is a good point and I’m also not a fan of any content being completely pay-walled, even if it’s not all that useful.

Thing is, official communication is that the content isn’t supposed to be paywalled. Each campaign promises that the campaign pet will be made available as special rescue. Which hasn’t been happening for years. And which the Customer Experience Team apparently can’t even comment on, no matter how often we ask, to not contradict the claim that everything can be obtained F2P.

Here’s a slightly outdated summary of the promised and still not delivered pets:

Keeping the Promise: Cosmetic Campaign Pets

Some players like to collect things, even when they are only cosmetic. Pets fall into that category, there’s a new one in the paid track of each campaign. We were promised that those pets would also be made available for everybody as part of a special Pet Rescue, after the campaign they appeared in ends. While this worked out at first, those special Pet Rescues seem to have gone missing entirely, with every question on what is going on remaining unanswered. Please keep the promise, we’ve been w…

[Darklord1]

Don’t forget the paywalled weapons which are only available for cash aswell. I know they claim stuff about these but they are also 100% behind a paywall.

[Tresk]

I’m going to try my best not to get snippy here. If I fail, it’s a lack of coffee, not a lack of respect.

@NerdieBirdie

@Tresk

Clapping and cheering for stuff that is bad for the game is… well… BAD for the game. Some of us actually care and want the game to stay relevant.

This type of comment worries me and contributes to arguments rather than constructive criticism. Nothing against you personally, @Tresk , and I agree with most of your points here. This quoted bit in particular is problematic for a couple reasons.

Sorry to have worried you, but I disagree for a couple of reasons.

@NerdieBirdie

It assumes 8.0’s content is unarguably “bad for the game.” I think we both agree monetization in general is not bad for a game and is necessary to keep a game alive. We also likely agree that adding content to games like this is important. Where players may disagree is how much monetization is bad and what kind of features are bad.

1. No. It assumes nothing of the sort. My statement was in reply to a specific comment. The comment being:

@Draegor

As someone who still enjoys this game, I thank the devs for all your hard work.

It must be very demoralising seeing the same people throwing negativity every update.

We get content: complaining.
We don’t get content: complaining.

That comment did not even mention 8.0 and was a blanket chastisement of anyone daring criticism. “Clapping and cheering for stuff that is bad for the game is… well… BAD for the game.” is just a blanket answer to that chastisement.

@NerdieBirdie

This implies that people who disagree with you don’t “actually want the game to stay alive.” It’s so important to remember we’re all this this together! I’ve played this game for many years now and continue to enjoy it. I am not - nor do I think anyone is - saying the game is perfect and should ignore bug fixes and QOL updates to focus on new content. I would LOVE to see a lot of forum feedback implemented.

2. Again, no. There is no double-secret hidden meaning.

Some of us (specifically some of us who have posted complaints, which are the ‘villains’ of the original comment, as opposed to everyone who posts complaints.)

actually care. (as opposed to those who complain just to be nasty…which is unfortunately a thing, sometimes) and want the game to stay relevant. A simple explanation of WHY some of us feel the need to speak up from time to time.

Circling back…

@NerdieBirdie

and contributes to arguments rather than constructive criticism.

I encourage some introspection.

namaste

[NerdieBirdie]

@Tresk

Some of us (specifically some of us who have posted complaints, which are the ‘villains’ of the original comment, as opposed to everyone who posts complaints.)

actually care. (as opposed to those who complain just to be nasty…which is unfortunately a thing, sometimes) and want the game to stay relevant. A simple explanation of WHY some of us feel the need to speak up from time to time.

Seems we agree then! Criticism is all well and good as long as it’s not personal. Appreciate your clarification.

Nobody wants to be the “bad guy” here.

[NerdieBirdie]

Hey Alexa how do I like a post more than once

[Aragorn1]

I dont have any at 3 either