Thunderdome's Take on THIS UPDATE
Take 1: First and foremost, I had stopped buying the gold pass at this time. Inno has taken the bonus shards from it and replace it with other stuff that I probably won't build anyways (might consider if it was "roadless" and doesn't stick out like a sore thumb). The bonus shards were the staple that had many of us pushing forth, either by purchasing actions or saving for use in the last incursion and/or obtaining all chests. Now, I know what you're thinking; I could have bought the shards with diamonds, but I am going to pass as well.
Recommendation: Could have increase the shards count from a dinky 100 to like 300 so it won't feel like a loss.
Take 2: Second, I don't know who went to school over there, but why did we get a quantum medals reduction from 35,000 to 25,000 in the gold pass (another reason why I won't be spending for the pass)? I can hear someone say, "gee Thunder what's the matter with getting nearly 3k more of qi medals for just 2/3 of the money more?" To me, a large drink for less than I would buy two smalls for is often better due to volume and price.
Recommendation: First, go back to school. Second, increase the medal count; minimum 35,000, but since we had a genius who doesn't look at the issues before releasing them, let's make it a 45,000 amount if we want to get people to spend (has to tie in with Take 1 with increasing the shard count).
Take 3: Third, I had said it before, I am going to say it again: I am NOT a fan of the Mad Hatter Tea Party. For those who are not old as me, if you watched Alice in Wonderland (the animated Disney one), there's a scene where Alice meets with the Mad Hatter at a tea party and everyone is switching every few moments. To the ones who are not old, speed dating might fit the bill more. With that being said, and in the last 2 days, we had gone up from level 1 to level 3 with less than half a day to go. However, I did manage to score some hits in with what I can to get myself on the board.
Recommendation: Instead of changing the level each day, revert back to the prior QI by allowing guilds to complete at their pace. It is up to guild leaders if they want to remain (to farm the bonus nodes for half the progress points) or advance to the next staged difficulty (to get a better prize). Also, on live, you probably will open new servers (I don't know as I don't play there any more), this will impact all the players on a new server since they won't be getting the bonuses to help them while trying to build their QI cities in this state.
Take 4: With take 3, we are stuck with dinky amounts given from our QI buildings that we won't be able to keep up with the changing levels after day 7. In my guild, we'd probably stop at day 5 if the calculations are correct. In the old QI, I tend to join in the fray after day 7 (once I got a steady flow) on level 4. I would be able to complete level 7 come next weekend (days 11 and 12) with what I got.
Recommendation: Increase the output to match your speed difficulty changes in take 3. Should be like 3-4x the original amount. I was going to say decrease the construction costs for laying buildings down but you won't be able to calculate the necessary amounts, so I am hoping for a revert as in take 3.
Take 5: 10 progress points per action is fair and is going good for me. In this update I managed to unlock 4 milestones (0, 250, 500, 750) by either fighting, donating goods I am not using, units I am not using, and more fighting. I hardly donate any qi coins or supplies as I do need those, but it's no fuss as it is there for others who wanted to.
Recommendation: Do not break this! If you are going to fix takes 1-4, leave this alone unless you're reducing the farming nodes to 5 points per to promote fairness.
Take 6: Guild Group Points (GGP) is fair in my opinion. This should be the only thing that counts for in terms of guild rankings. As with farming nodes, we cannot allow those to obtain 10 points each run whereas a guild that is progressing through the levels is getting pushed down the rankings.
Recommendation: With takes 1-4 fixed by recommendation and reduction of the farming nodes to 1/2 progress, the rankings should present a clear picture of who is advancing and who decides to hold back.
Take 7: Guild prize points is something I would shake my head on. I can understand it's a group/guild effort, but if some of us had made it through the levels, we should be rewarded for our efforts. In the old QI, we complete to 7 (sometimes 8 depending on turn out), and would be rewarded for the rewards appropriate for the level. Instead, we are punished with these dinky chest levels (currently at the 20k+ one). I will do a comparison once we complete this incursion and the next.
Recommendation: Revert back to the old QI in terms of chest rewards obtaining for completing a level.
Thunderdome's Grade for THIS UPDATE: 2/7 - 29% - F
