Discussion Game becoming too complex ?

[NormaJeane]

This game is becoming far too complex imho.
First with the introduction of different kinds of attack/defense and now with the introduction of a ‘new game’ in this game: Quantum Incursions.

All the added complexity surely will appeal to some players… however not to me!
I play just for some relaxation and fun so I really do not want to have to think too much in any game - besides chess that is ^^^

I wonder how other players feel about all the changes in-game with regard to the added complexity.
Please feel free to share your thoughts!
And please do so in a constructive manner

 

[Matteozzzo]

I think the good thing about complexity is that one can choose to play some aspects and ignore others.
For example, I rarely used to participate in GvG, but I would like to participate in this new QI.
I find some events more interesting than others and choose how much time to spend on each one.
I agree that the risk could be that one wants to do everything well, but failing to do so, but Inno has indeed expressed the idea that the "one fits all" approach is no longer applicable.

 

[Estipar]

QI need a rethink for sure as I have no plans to play in Iron Age with no boosts.. didn't spend 10 years at this to start from scratch again only for progress to be wiped out every 2 weeks I don't find it complex but far too Time Consuming

 

[wwwoodchuck]

I agree, the game has gotten way too complex, busy and confusing for this old man.

I come to relax, comradery in a good guild with some friends, have some fun and help out for a few hours each day. There has gotten to be too much to have to remember and remember to do. Too many activities happening. It has gotten to the point there really is no “day off’ to just come online and relax. There is always something that requires attention. I find I am spending less time each day as more things get added. I go and do something else that is still relaxing for me.

The memory testing! Sheesh. How many different attack and defensive boosts are there now? We have attacking attack, attacking defense, attacking attack for this or that. Defensive defense for this or that. This one is only used in this part.. But not yet, maybe in the future, but we have it now. That one was used for this part, but is now used for that and maybe used for another part that is going to be coming soon… And Red and blue with little tiny flags, or shields or something. Why not make each a different color? Red, blue, orange, black, purple, green… a different color for each different one needed!

And I realize the way to sell buildings is to give them a wide assortment of boosts, military and otherwise. But I tell ya, it all just has me befuddled. I have given up trying in events to get any building because it is such a pain to figure out what it actually does. They do too many things. Which, I know, is a good thing to most players. IT is just something that I find confusing so pretty much stopped putting new buildings in my city. They have remained stagnant and TONS of buildings, kits and fragments in inventory.

Which brings us to Fragments. I have 9 pages of fragment items in inventory that most, I have no clue where they come from or if they are any good. I suggested a time ago to put on each one where it came from and what other fragments it might make. As it is now, everything has to be memorized, and I have no memory left. Event buildings that give even more fragments are no longer an attraction to me. They are no longer something I would seek out and pay for, they are something I avoid as I have way more fragments than I can deal with already. But again, I understand that most players find them exciting and very desirable.

For activities, give us a break now and again? 30 day events are way too long. 3 weeks was long but at least we had a week or more between them. I am burned out on events and tired of doing them. I know Inno is not going to change as events make them money, The new Quantum Incursions is an event disguised as a competition. IT will add even more to the daily confusion and activities. And, since Inno is not going to change, that leaves it up to me to change.

 

[Hiep Lin]

As for the complexity, it is essentially linked to the multiplication of military bonuses.
Attack and defense bonuses on attack (red)
Attack and defense bonuses on attack only valid in certain functions (also red)
Attack and defense bonuses on defense (blue)
Attack and defense bonuses valid only in certain functions (also blue)
And the worst
Attack and defense bonuses in defense that work in attack everywhere or only in certain functions (also blue at best of being red)

All with icons that we cannot visually differentiate because they are so similar

 

[xivarmy]

Complex? No. Not really. All the different features are slightly different rehashes of the same concept of varying value.

Bloated? Yes. There are too many of those slightly different rehashes rather than a focus in making the ones they have better features that take less time and clicks and provide more fun.

 

[Ironrooster]

I think all these additions make the game more interesting and fun.

I like QI, it's much more interesting than GBG.

The events are getting better also.

 

[Jubilee]

And too imbalanced with people established with so much behind them to fight you cannot do anything when you play against them.
Taking away Guilds playing against each other means replacing such games that involve strategy with just get these set of tasks done quicker than the other guy. Nothing wrong with doing a set of tasks it is good to have those as well but when it ONLY is doing a set of tasks it can be repetitive & doing tasks is not the same as playing against another opponent when you both have a set of moves available & you do not know what the other will employ. The interaction of various moves means many different outcomes & so the challenge is on.
*
You have already heard the cry of many that GBG is imbalanced & my Guild right now are fighting in GBG with a Guild that takes the entire map & then sets up buildings in many sectors. You end up with attrition going up on every fight, plus as soon as you finished taking that one sector in front or to the side of your headquarters, they are ready to take it from you. No fun in that. It is disheartening.
*
QI has new Special Buildings that will just kill off the little guy. You need the Little guys. You can't just grow up the Little guy because they become powerful players & the Little guys the new players who are trying to establish themselves are monstered & not wanting to keep going because it is all too hard. Those who want to take it slow are not able to just enjoy the game because there are Heavy fighters out there who have armed themselves to the back teeth. How do you separate the big boys with their big toys from those who are just enjoying the journey?

 

[planetofthehumans2]

Every game developer should follow KISS - keep it simple, stupid. Seems like every new event/feature I need to be doing brain surgery on a rocket to figure it out.

 

[Jubilee]

and just got done again fighting, my puny 5% attack & defence against their 50%. A few hits & my units completely gone. Don't tell me I will skill up. Fighting for me is using the auto button. ALL I can do in this game is donate. What kind of game play is that for me. Hate it.

 

[Jubilee]

Well it's over. I persisted through it & tried my best to set up the city & to fight not just donate. I prefer the format of GBG rather than this. I like GE but this was not something I would do in future. Sadly it has nothing much to attract those wanting to get into a good tactical/strategic skirmish.

 

[XIA*]

I don't think it's becoming complex, it's not rocket science. But it is becoming increasingly time consuming.

 

[TARS]

Unfortunately it's designed in such a way that takes more and more time
and you hardly receive any diamonds for beta testing such as the QI.
You can only recognise the era by the town hall because the town is full of event buildings

 

[wwwoodchuck]

I don't think it's becoming complex, it's not rocket science. But it is becoming increasingly time consuming.

Correct. Complex, to me, in this case is a synonym of Time consuming.


By more complex, I look at all the moving parts now. Take an honest look at all the daily activities that are performed, or are available. And yes, the goal is to get the user to put more “face time” into the game - Have the game open longer. The longer the user is in the game, the more opportunities for them to spend currency.

A successful sales strategy of brick and mortar also. The longer a potential customer is inside an establishment, the chances increase for them to make a purchase. Or the Walmart strategy, having customers wait longer for a register gives them more opportunities to make an impulse purchase from the front end (The racks of merchandise where they wait in line for a register).

The technique of having a user need to check every 8 hours, or setup to use all those 8 hour event items gets the potential customer to regularly put more face time in the game. Rather than just save up daily items to use when a daily special of their choice comes along, they have the potential to spend a few diamonds every 8 hours. With the addition of a 10 hour production, this increases the chance that the user will log in possibly twice more per day than they would have. And, also increases the possibilities that the user will use currency to ‘rush’ along productions or some other aspect of that part of the game.

This is why the event ‘mini-games take more and more time to perform. No more pick a manager and click to throw the football - Reward. Click to throw the football - Reward. Click to throw the Football - Reward – Done! Now it is. Click to start a minigame… play…. Play…. Play… Done!. Start a mini game…. Play…. Play…. Play… Done!

So by complex, I take it as having many more various interwoven activities to perform on a regular basis. Not that the activities themselves have become actually harder, or more complex, just a lot more of them.

And my disclaimer! Yes, a user does not have to perform ALL the available activities. They may pick and choose which ones they prefer. But they are all interwoven, many depend on another and it can get to the point the user logs in to collect then logs off. At that point, it is not really playing a 'game'. It is more like a daily chore or task that just needs to be performed each day.

 

[XIA*]

Or the Walmart strategy, having customers wait longer for a register gives them more opportunities to make an impulse purchase from the front end

That's a bad strategy in sales. At least in places that are not the US ) If I don't want to buy, you can have me wait 3 hours, I'm not gonna buy. A lot of Europeans are price conscious. The most successful supermarkets over here are Aldi and Lidl where the chashier line goes the quickest. As soon as there are more than 5 people in line, they open a new cashier. In Europe, time is money. Instead of trying to make you impulse buy at the cashier, they make sure you are happy with the service so you come back more often to buy. A much better sales startegy: impulse buying a chocolate bar hardly brings a lot of revenue, but if you are happy that you get a quick service, you will frequent the place more often, thus ultimately spending more money there, instead of going to rival supermarkets in the neighbourhood. So this have ppl spend more time in-game may backfire at Inno. Might make more people quit the game than spend more money or diamonds. I know that if I have to spend all day in-game, I'm going to either quit or significantly reduce my time spent here. Cuz I have an effin life IRL...

 

[wwwoodchuck]

So this have ppl spend more time in-game may backfire at Inno. Might make more people quit the game than spend more money or diamonds. I know that if I have to spend all day in-game, I'm going to either quit or significantly reduce my time spent here. Cuz I have an effin life IRL...

I fully agree and it has made me choose to close down one long established city I spent quite a bit of money to build over the years: multiples of every event building!. A city I will not be spending more on. I do not even know if it is worth putting in the 100+ WW/FoY I have accumulated as I would still need to log in each day to collect them.

Two other cities I am retiring from top Guilds as I will not keep up with minimums on a regular basis. I am looking for casual guilds to join, ones that will accept part time players. So event spending to get multiples of each event buildings on those cities will stop. They will be down to 5 diamonds to collect and possibly 10 diamonds for extra chances at whatever. Did I finish the Daily Challenge to get those extra event items, hold on, let me check what is left to do… 89, 15-minute productions!! Let me start 12 of them and try to remember to come back and start more…

Why am I shutting cities down?

The events, and game in general, is just taking up too much time every day. And it is every day. I am an old man who does not want to have to remember all that is required now. There is simply way too much to deal with. Crud.. Did I finish GE… Hold on. Let me go check…Not only in daily activities, but to get an event building now you HAVE to log on each day, sometimes multiple times each day. Then, read up and watch outside vendor videos of the exact step by step process you need to do to get each event building. Then you have to understand how the event mechanics function. THEN you also need luck to complete them as the video states. Did I Polivate yet? Let me go check…

Like the Wildlife Rivals. You could spend all, and then more of the rewards you get if you had a streak of ‘bad luck’ getting boards with the correct colors, or enough of one color to do the quests. Hold on, let me check the Tavern, need to collect as it is full. I forgot to tavern visit after I hit the button to Polivate… Give me a couple minutes… So it was watch the videos or follow the written instructions. Keep watch on what quests were coming up. Be careful spending. Know what blocks to bust, how many tools you could use… … … And if you fire off a golden ticket then get called away, or do a few steps out of sequence… You are done. And sure. If you followed the steps exactly and devoted enough time and were lucky, there was nothing to it!!! Is that GbG sector open yet?? Darn.. Missed it. Next one opens in 47 minutes.

Ya know… That is all simply more than I want to have to deal with every day. Or make sure to be there for the two days to complete event Rivals. The castle, I forgot to collect the castle this morning… And my disclaimer: Yes, you do NOT need to complete all events nor complete all available daily activities. You only have to do the parts of the game you enjoy. But the more you leave off, or do not complete, the less of other aspects you need to do as many build on each other. So you end up logging in to collect, then logging off.

If you cannot devote enough time to get the full event building, it is not worth spending the time to do the event and be missing a few levels. Drat.. I forgot to use the tickets from overnight, I lost 8 hours on that… By the time the next event rolls around, you may be able to get those last levels, but you will also need the new gold level plus the new event building. And yes, you can gain a few trinkets that are shiny along the event path, if that makes one happy go for it.

It is all simply more than I want in a game that is supposed to be a fun activity to do in my spare time. Not making it a full time job. And there is rumor Quantum Incursions is in the pipeline. Another time sink to create a new settlement city every two weeks and produce enough to perform quests to help the guild progress is what appears to be a group GE type activity.

 

[wwwoodchuck]

And, none of this is complaining. FoE was a game I have thoroughly enjoyed for many years! Heck, I spent more here than I did on my boat! I have a broker now doing a casual search on a boat, just to see what is available at what cost now.

I am hoping that not all is lost in the game. I do not think I am the only one who is looking at it like this. It certainly is the general conversation in the Guilds I am in. People are wondering how long they can continue to devote this much time to the game.

I am hoping these frank conversations will make their way back to management. Not that it will help in the short run as the ‘fun’ aspect does not enter into the equation at that Corporate level.

And yes. There will be many whales who will continue on and yes, there will be new whales entering the game. Seen it happen in other games that went profit over content. Not that I am a huge gamer though, so not personally experienced this more than a few times. But from what I gather on other forums, this is not an uncommon situation. The game will eventually cater to the flow of money rather than content or the players.

 

[einzauberengel]

I fully agree and it has made me choose to close down one long established city I spent quite a bit of money to build over the years: multiples of every event building!. A city I will not be spending more on. I do not even know if it is worth putting in the 100+ WW/FoY I have accumulated as I would still need to log in each day to collect them.

Two other cities I am retiring from top Guilds as I will not keep up with minimums on a regular basis. I am looking for casual guilds to join, ones that will accept part time players. So event spending to get multiples of each event buildings on those cities will stop. They will be down to 5 diamonds to collect and possibly 10 diamonds for extra chances at whatever. Did I finish the Daily Challenge to get those extra event items, hold on, let me check what is left to do… 89, 15-minute productions!! Let me start 12 of them and try to remember to come back and start more…

Why am I shutting cities down?

The events, and game in general, is just taking up too much time every day. And it is every day. I am an old man who does not want to have to remember all that is required now. There is simply way too much to deal with. Crud.. Did I finish GE… Hold on. Let me go check…Not only in daily activities, but to get an event building now you HAVE to log on each day, sometimes multiple times each day. Then, read up and watch outside vendor videos of the exact step by step process you need to do to get each event building. Then you have to understand how the event mechanics function. THEN you also need luck to complete them as the video states. Did I Polivate yet? Let me go check…

Like the Wildlife Rivals. You could spend all, and then more of the rewards you get if you had a streak of ‘bad luck’ getting boards with the correct colors, or enough of one color to do the quests. Hold on, let me check the Tavern, need to collect as it is full. I forgot to tavern visit after I hit the button to Polivate… Give me a couple minutes… So it was watch the videos or follow the written instructions. Keep watch on what quests were coming up. Be careful spending. Know what blocks to bust, how many tools you could use… … … And if you fire off a golden ticket then get called away, or do a few steps out of sequence… You are done. And sure. If you followed the steps exactly and devoted enough time and were lucky, there was nothing to it!!! Is that GbG sector open yet?? Darn.. Missed it. Next one opens in 47 minutes.

Ya know… That is all simply more than I want to have to deal with every day. Or make sure to be there for the two days to complete event Rivals. The castle, I forgot to collect the castle this morning… And my disclaimer: Yes, you do NOT need to complete all events nor complete all available daily activities. You only have to do the parts of the game you enjoy. But the more you leave off, or do not complete, the less of other aspects you need to do as many build on each other. So you end up logging in to collect, then logging off.

If you cannot devote enough time to get the full event building, it is not worth spending the time to do the event and be missing a few levels. Drat.. I forgot to use the tickets from overnight, I lost 8 hours on that… By the time the next event rolls around, you may be able to get those last levels, but you will also need the new gold level plus the new event building. And yes, you can gain a few trinkets that are shiny along the event path, if that makes one happy go for it.

It is all simply more than I want in a game that is supposed to be a fun activity to do in my spare time. Not making it a full time job. And there is rumor Quantum Incursions is in the pipeline. Another time sink to create a new settlement city every two weeks and produce enough to perform quests to help the guild progress is what appears to be a group GE type activity.

I am fully with you. I guess its all strategic in order do minimize dia mining. The more complex a game is the less possible is a multiple dia mining. And yes... the game is ocupiying a real big time corridor on a daily basis. If only one city or not. Starting with guilds needing more then one expert and dealing team for GEX GG, guild member, treasury and content management, new features, and now the new stuff. I even guess 80 is not enough anymore and the roles provided are not really featuring the member management. This is all over the top

 

[Imperator Andreas]

And, none of this is complaining. FoE was a game I have thoroughly enjoyed for many years! Heck, I spent more here than I did on my boat! I have a broker now doing a casual search on a boat, just to see what is available at what cost now.

I am hoping that not all is lost in the game. I do not think I am the only one who is looking at it like this. It certainly is the general conversation in the Guilds I am in. People are wondering how long they can continue to devote this much time to the game.

I am hoping these frank conversations will make their way back to management. Not that it will help in the short run as the ‘fun’ aspect does not enter into the equation at that Corporate level.

And yes. There will be many whales who will continue on and yes, there will be new whales entering the game. Seen it happen in other games that went profit over content. Not that I am a huge gamer though, so not personally experienced this more than a few times. But from what I gather on other forums, this is not an uncommon situation. The game will eventually cater to the flow of money rather than content or the players.

I once played one game, there were a lot of players, then I stopped playing for two years, and when I returned, more than half of the players had disappeared, there was almost no one in the locations, or no one at all. And all because the developers placed too much emphasis on donations.

 

[ShadowPhoenixx95]

Too complex? It's literally losing all its complexity step by step.

In the beginning, you had a well balanced Strategy game with different Playstyles / ways to build your city. No Diamondfarms, no events, no pay to progress, no arc, no settlements, not even Armyboost for the very beginning. You actually had to consider what playstyle to chose and what buildings to build to be efficient with that. Had to actually balance out happiness, population, and production because there were no eventbuildings delivering tons of it anyways.

Then, they added Arc which made it possible to actual have high level GBs - before that, everything even beyond Level 10 GBs was considered utopic.

This also slowly killed off Trading and Guild supporter Playstyles, cause it wasn't necessary to specifically farm treasury goods anymore. Making the fighting Strategy far stronger than it was before. Thus making every City of any player look more and more the same. You got one pool of Buildings everybody wanted, because those were boosting the fighting way.

Then, Events and Settlements got added, cranking up those Army boosts even more. People started to camp in Industrial, cause you could achieve Hovers faaaaar away of your actual age.

And nowadays, they just crank sh*ttons of Army boosts on every new Eventbuilding, which are coming to the game like every 1 to 1 1/2 months, making even GBs more and more obsolete. Even reworking Settlement building, massively cranking them up towards fighting, were you once had Vikings/Egypt to boost fighting while you had Feudal Japan / Aztecs to boost Framing.

So, everything you got left in terms of complexity is: Play the events, place the Mainbuilding, maybe cash for multiple ones and/or set some dimaond worlds, wait a couple weeks, rinse & repeat to build another standart fighting city.