Ironically, my only issue with the Soulforge is the task nerf that was likely tied to it.
One of my goals in the game is to collect all the troops. There are currently 5 mythics that I am missing, so you could say I have a backlog of 5.
I only buy the Gem Bounty packs on Sundays in order to channel most of my gems into VIP chests in an attempt to keep up with new release mythics (so that my backlog does not increase) and the result is that I can craft a mythic every 10 weeks.
This means I already have a year worth of crafting lined up, and thatās if I donāt miss any of the next 12 new release mythicsā¦which is highly unlikely in and of itself, specifically because of the Gem nerfs.
So, yeah. I have nothing against it taking me two and a half months to craft a mythic of my choice. Iām just irritated that completing my collection got a lot more difficult with the Gem nerf.
Ah yes, another user who expect everything for free and immediately. You see, if something for free or easy to obtain, then it has no value. Why developer want to devalue it currency ? This just ruin the game. In life you must work towards your achievement. Is same in game. Put this way - before 1 month ago you have no Soul Forge. Now you have Soul Forge. Maybe you say thank you to developer for give us free things hmm ?
But on the other hand we are receiving diamonds in tasks. This ātradeā so far is working well to me, having a reasonable time frame to craft a Mythic and assuming that one iām still missing can drop from massive keys opening when a new kingdom arrives.
If anything i wish i could disenchant extra copies of Mythics to gain some diamonds. 500 Diamonds, less than what we need to craft a Legendary, would be fenomenal.
On a side note or joke, as we are getting close to Christmas i just imagined if we could trade/send cards to other playersā¦ Imagine
@Ozball gets my gift: āYou shouldnāt haveā¦ā
Me: āItās my pleasure, enjoy your gift.ā
Ozball: āWhat is it?ā
Me: āDeath.ā
Ozball:
A box full of Plague also leaves a strong, lasting, impression.
Yes, we are, but I will again point to the estimated year it will take to complete my backlog, and thatās only if I am able to successfully obtain the next 12 new mythics during their release by using seals, gem keys, glory keys, and VIP keysā¦which is not likely. That means that my backlog will continue to grow.
The factor I forgot to mention in all of this is the massive Event key nerf. The non-Apocalypse mythics are tied to kingdoms and can be obtained with Event keys during events featuring those kingdoms. We used to get 42 Event keys per week from tasks, now we get 24 - nearly a 45% reduction. I suspect this nerf specifically was intended to push people towards the crafting system.
My relatively āfirst world problemā of wanting to complete my collection aside, I am also trying to see this from the viewpoint of a new player. Someone who starts playing today and wants to collect all the mythics has a whopping 3 years of crafting already laid out in front of them, which means they need to successfully nab 36 consecutive new releases in order to catch up. Sure, they might get lucky and get one here or there from guild seals or glory keys, but they might also decide to spend precious diamonds on crafting a legendary or two for their pvp team. Either way, itās one heck of an uphill climb. If I were starting to play today, Iām not sure Iād stick around upon discovering that.
I readily admit that Iām part of what I assume is a small subset of ācollectorā players and my opinions are likely not those of the majority. I donāt think the Soulforge is a bad thing at all, I just think the task nerfs combined with the slow rate at which you can craft mythics makes it incredibly hard to catch up if you donāt already have everything and that is what frustrates me.
$4.99 daily ā thatās my food money. Iām not rich, heck I used to be upper middle class, but prices and such in Silicon valley continue to rise at rates - but I canāt leave, I have a house, as small as it is, itās mine.
But I donāt have $150 to toss each month at this game. I did a year back, and was supporting it. Now I wouldnāt pay for it - because of the bugs and unfortunately lack of listeing to the player base.
Thereās another tab that offers you half of the materials (that cost $5) for 50 gems. And gems you get in game for $0. Just from your guild task and weekly event.
Know that and already mentioned that above in at least two of my posts. Itās the number that is needed above. Iām getting a grid done this week of what total you get to go along with @Ozballās grid of how much to show that itās going to take a lot and the bottle neck is those shards.
Iāve already got a spreadsheet of crafting speeds that accounts for all methods of earning Diamonds (including the $5 packs).
If you spend 350 Gems per week on Gem Bounty packs AND $5 every day on the ādaily dealā packs, AND your guild completes all the basic tasks, you will be able to craft a Mythic every 4 weeks.
If you spend 350 Gems per week on Gem Bounty packs (but no cash packs) AND your guild completes all the basic tasks, you will be able to craft a Mythic every 8 weeks.
If you spend 50 Gems per week on the Sunday Gem Bounty (and no cash packs) AND your guild completes all the basic tasks, you will be able to craft a Mythic every 10 weeks.
I do the 3rd option to save precious Gems for VIP chests in an attempt to at least keep up with new releases so that my backlog does not grow even longer. Iām already looking at a year of crafting as it is in order to complete my collection.
As far as Iām concerned, crafting very much introduced a direct form of Pay to Win into the game, at least if you hope to collect all the Mythics and especially if you do not already have a complete collection.
Consider my situation. I am missing 5 Mythic troops currently, which at 10 weeks apiece puts me at 50 weeks to craft all 5. A year is 52 weeks. During those 50 weeks, 12 new Mythics will be released. Each one I miss during its release week adds another 10 weeks onto my completion time.
Yes, I know Kingdom-based Mythics can be obtained through Event keys during their Kingdomās event weeks. However due to the Event key nerf, this also got a lot more painful to pull off. Iāve only ever earned two Mythics from Event keys and they took 450+ keys each. It now takes 5 months to earn that many.
Compare this to the numbers for buying the cash packs. Being able to craft a Mythic every month basically guarantees that you will catch up and complete your collection. This is the only way to guarantee youāll catch up and complete your collection. To me, that is Pay to Win.
I didnāt like the gem or event key nerf. Also, I donāt believe the excuse they gave for making those nerfs. However, I think it is a step too far calling the game pay to win. You can still have the āchanceā at obtaining everything in the game in time with careful planning and/or luck.
Iām also a completionist. So, I get having the desire to have all the cards. However, you can clearly āwinā this game with a crazy high winrate without having 90% of the cards.
Iām a collector. To me, finishing my collection (and staying caught up thereafter) is winning. Iām not competitive at GWs, and competitive PVP would require more hours than Iām willing to spend playing.
Iām okay with having to buy diamonds to stay current on mythics; those are supposed to be prestige troops. I do not care for the decision to make legendary troops harder to obtain.
Thatās a horrible misuse of the term P2W. Itās basically become a pejorative term devoid of all meaning. Itās just slung around like a rallying cry to bring out the pitchforks even if itās irrelevant.
Paying doesnāt win you anything in this game. A basic looping team with nothing more than Epics can defeat any team in the game. Aināt no P2W. Skill will always prevail.
I had more written here but it was starting to get ranty and I donāt consider that a respectful way to respond. Iāll simply say we can agree to disagree.
If my definition of āwinningā the game is to collect a full set of Mythics (as indicated in my response to Lyya above) and if doing that will now require a year-long and highly improbable lucky streak unless I choose to dump hundreds of dollars more into the game, I can safely say that pay-to-win applies to my definition of winning. Also, please note that my opinions are just that. Anyone and everyone is free to disagree with me, but that wonāt change my opinion.
I normally agree with a lot of your thoughts and I respect you as a poster. I ask the same respect in return.
Until you get looped to death by FT/Kraken x2 or Wisp x2 or any of the nuisance/grief teams without having a chance to retaliate. RNG trumps skill, sadly. I miss the strategy the game used to allow.
Second that. Except for the skill. Thereās too much random luck for only skill. But the human is still better than the AI when it comes to deciding what to match and how to process. And in most cases thatās the winning factor.
I donāt need any Mystics - I probably would use some if I had them (I donāt use the ones I do have), Iām still happy with my Krys team.
I mainly do ranked pvp.
For the glory ;D
@Arelana This game is no pay 2 win. Collecting all cards wins you nothing. Not even an achievement. Your personal goals are your personal goals.
And without the soulforge, how much longer would it take you to gain your Mystics?
Calling this game P2W just for the sake of cards collecting is degrading it for no valid reason but your own personal goals that donāt affect other players at all.
I made my peace with not ever having 100% of the troops in the game, and that has made it so much more relaxing and less of a ābut what if I miss this oneā chore.
Missing probably half the Mythics (maybe more), but the Soulforge is a wonderful addition that lets us acquire guaranteed specific Mythics - easily the #1 most requested thing since Mythics came out - by doing nothing more than playing for a while to accumulate diamonds.
Yeah it takes a while to craft one, but yāknow what? Itās better than probably never. Think of it this way from a completionist perspective: if youāre missing one or two Mythics, what are the chances of one dropping from a chest? Even if a Mythic does drop youāve got a 16/18 (or whatever) chance of a duplicate of one you already own.
Iām good with the grind. Mythics are supposed to be hard to get, and a new one ought to feel like a rare and precious event - not ācheck that one off the list, put it on the shelf and start complaining how Iām still missing a fewā.
Just saying. Many may not agree with my view but this is a game and I enjoy it. Thereās so much negativity around stuff that isnāt quite perfect - but you know what, we wouldnāt be so emotionally involved in all the perceived flaws if we didnāt enjoy the game.
āYou shouldnāt haveā¦ā
āItās my pleasure, enjoy your gift.ā
āWhat is it?ā
āDeath.ā
