Feedback Regarding Recent Feedback

[Kranyar the Mysterious]

If I’m not mistaken it wasn’t answered at the Beta forum but through live forums in the Space age: Copy paste #3 announcement, see link below:
https://forum.us.forgeofempires.com/index.php?threads/space-age-jupiter-moon.43761/#post-376766
It’s regarding the Space Age: Copy paste series. I’ve linked the US announcement because it’s an English live server.
I still find it odd to give the wild life event as an “recent” event. As at the moment of writing the wild life event 2022 has not even been Beta released yet.

They are talking about last year's event I suspect. And boring Monopoly Anniversary event would not have been the stellar new mechanic that I'd have put forward as the replacement for new age mechanics moving forward, but that's just me I guess.

 

[drakenridder]

They are talking about last year's event I suspect.

Keyword last years event and anniversary, a 1-time event. The first confuses me most; I can see how SA:V became Space Age: Copy Paste #2 because of the wild life event but not so much the third instalment of the copy paste ages.
If an age would offer something worthwhile, the pull to move forward would be strong. Nowadays it's not, beyond the concept art. The gameplay is lacklustre for a strategy game. Keyword here strategy game.
We can mindlessly placing down houses and grind more then enough credits. Farm more special goods then really needed if we want to, etc. The game used to offer strategical gameplay through the ages. The battles used to be strategically, taking in consideration unit skills, strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes even tactical usage of terrain. In space ages it's like slot machines with the keen eye ability. To me the last remaining strategy features are the settlements and GbG. IMO they could've upped the gameplay of new space ages easily using an similar format as with settlements: relaying on limited ground, dedicated buildings for meaningful credit production and a tweak/perk that makes every space age colony gameplay slightly different then the other.
Thankfully they didn't treat the settlements like colonies, imagine all settlements to be like Vikings' colony and they're saying it's all different cause they're using offer backgrounds and skins for buildings.

 

[Juber]

Alrighty, so it's Friday in Germany now. Looking forward to today's announcement (?) regarding answering our (the forum as a whole) top questions. If not today then next week or perhaps even longer? Dunno if questions answered about the new age will mean much if they are answered after releasing the new age.

Sadly, I was ill. Because of that it was delayed. I am currently working on it though.

 

[mcbluefire]

Sadly, I was ill. Because of that it was delayed. I am currently working on it though.

Sorry to hear that, Juber. Hope you are feeling much better and will soon be (if not already) 100% back on your feet. Looking forward to what you have to share with us!

 

[Juber]

I feel way better now, thank you very much! I wanted to post the whole information package for you already, but sadly I still need some information and the person I was in contact with to get these is currently also ill. But until they are well again, I can give you something at least.

Regarding the age being "Copy Paste":
As most of you already saw there was an additional post to the announcement in the live servers. As the point "Wildlife Event" brought up some confusion I will explain it a bit more. What we mean with that is that SAV had a similar situation, where many complained, that it was the same as the previous age. This was partly because of the brand new event mechanic from the Wildlife Event. This year, the developers had already started on improvements to the Wildlife Event, which in return also cut down the development time for the age. This is why it was also mentioned there. But this of course does not mean, that it was the only or the most important factor. It was simply one that contributed to the situation. But you are being heard and something will be done (not for Space Age Jupiter Moon, as it is too late for major changes, but maybe for the next age). I can't promise anything yet, but from what I heard, this should improve.

Regarding the initial issues and very bad stats of the Archaeology Event set:
There were some initial balancing issues and technical issues with the event, and we are sorry for the frustration this caused. The detailed feedback provided helped greatly and led to the necessary balancing changes, as well as the application of the technical fixes. The recommendations toward the Butterfly Sanctuary set had tremendous impact in terms of improving the feedback we received about the set.
However, this is still a beta server, which means that technical issues will happen and are to be expected. A lot of issues are being fixed before the beta release (trust me, I can see what is broken and you can't imagine what amount of work needs to be done to fix certain issues, before they get to beta ^^).
Your feedback and bug reports greatly help finding these issues and fix them before the live release. This was especially great when we first released the set with the initial stats. The mistake was noticed because of your feedback. Thank you very much!
That means, we really would encourage you to keep providing this feedback, as it helps us greatly in terms of improving our events and features for LIVE.

Regarding the unit stats and great building boost from SAJM: Here I have to wait for the needed information. I will give you an answer to this when I have one.

And lastly regarding Guild Battlegrounds: Here I have requested some information I can share with you. I already have some information, but I sadly can't share it with you until I get the ok and the other information. So please be patient until then.

 

[mcbluefire]

I feel way better now, thank you very much! I wanted to post the whole information package for you already, but sadly I still need some information and the person I was in contact with to get these is currently also ill. But until they are well again, I can give you something at least.

Regarding the age being "Copy Paste":
As most of you already saw there was an additional post to the announcement in the live servers. As the point "Wildlife Event" brought up some confusion I will explain it a bit more. What we mean with that is that SAV had a similar situation, where many complained, that it was the same as the previous age. This was partly because of the brand new event mechanic from the Wildlife Event. This year, the developers had already started on improvements to the Wildlife Event, which in return also cut down the development time for the age. This is why it was also mentioned there. But this of course does not mean, that it was the only or the most important factor. It was simply one that contributed to the situation. But you are being heard and something will be done (not for Space Age Jupiter Moon, as it is too late for major changes, but maybe for the next age). I can't promise anything yet, but from what I heard, this should improve.

Regarding the initial issues and very bad stats of the Archaeology Event set:
There were some initial balancing issues and technical issues with the event, and we are sorry for the frustration this caused. The detailed feedback provided helped greatly and led to the necessary balancing changes, as well as the application of the technical fixes. The recommendations toward the Butterfly Sanctuary set had tremendous impact in terms of improving the feedback we received about the set.
However, this is still a beta server, which means that technical issues will happen and are to be expected. A lot of issues are being fixed before the beta release (trust me, I can see what is broken and you can't imagine what amount of work needs to be done to fix certain issues, before they get to beta ^^).
Your feedback and bug reports greatly help finding these issues and fix them before the live release. This was especially great when we first released the set with the initial stats. The mistake was noticed because of your feedback. Thank you very much!
That means, we really would encourage you to keep providing this feedback, as it helps us greatly in terms of improving our events and features for LIVE.

Regarding the unit stats and great building boost from SAJM: Here I have to wait for the needed information. I will give you an answer to this when I have one.

And lastly regarding Guild Battlegrounds: Here I have requested some information I can share with you. I already have some information, but I sadly can't share it with you until I get the ok and the other information. So please patient until then.

Appreciate this, Juber! This is the kind of two way communication that makes the feedback seem worth it. It's not that we need to get the answer/solution we each want, but rather that we hear a bit about why a decision was made so we can know it wasn't just because someone rolled some dice and "oops". Personally I can't stand the wildlife event, but for some it was fun and I'm glad they got it. While I don't expect a major new mechanic in the game with the next age, it would be good to see a new story arc (enough space), some other way of getting goods that doesn't depend on a colony but still doesn't use city space, and additionally multiple GBs that appeal to different play styles.

Look forward to the other topic information.

 

[DEADP00L]

On the live servers it says: "However, over the ages, we still want to create something that provides a suitable backdrop for the core gameplay: where players can build a city, engage in interactions social and PvP, develop the productions of the city and its influence."
However, we must not have the same definition of Gameplay.

Where's the Gameplay when the battle map is so dark you can barely see the boundaries?
Where's the Gameplay when the keen eye represents with randomness 90% of the final result?
Where's the Gameplay when you talk about "building a city" when once you pass the CTP, no one builds anymore apart from the event buildings?
Where's the Gameplay when no improvements (like one-click po/mo) bring the slightest change in "social interactions"?
Where's the Gameplay when the players who persist in the arena no longer fight players but bots (funny PvP)?
Where's the Gameplay when you talk about the influences of city productions and you untie satisfaction and fights?
Where's the Gameplay when you install a Forge Plus without real added value instead of meeting the expectations of the non-silent community?

For me, the Gameplay of a management/strategy game does not always go through randomness, otherwise I will play at the casino.
Ask yourself the question why there are more and more players who stagnate in the eras before the Arctic!

 

[JosefD]

Regarding the age being "Copy Paste":

First of all, thank you for your information on the misunderstanding about the, admittedly, unclear statement regarding the wildlife event. And I'm sorry to hear that you were ill. I hope you're well again.

However, after reading the fist sentence of that paragraph (see quotation) I thought you were actually going to say something about the copy & paste ages themselves - which you apparently didn't despite this having been the core issue here for months now, I should think. I'd be grateful if you could offer us a few words on that.

And why weren't the much-criticized properties of the AI Core changed before sending it to the live server? I understand that changing the entire mechanics of the new age couldn't have been done within the limited period of time available. But the AI core's properties could have been changed a lot more easily and it still wasn't done.

As to Deadpool's statement, I fully agree. There's way too much random when things should be about skill and tactics like it normally is, e. g. in football or soccer? Apprently those who programmed these events don't know much about either kind of sports. Anyway, as Deadpool said, if you want to play a game of luck you go to a casino and not to FoE.

Also, with the PvP a false premise was made; FoE created an impression that players were to play each other (which is what PvP - Player versus Player - means). Apparently it's a misnomer for what was actually released and which should be namend PvB (Players versus Bots). I don't care for playing bots. I have enough of that when I have to open up regions on the world map. I think it would be interesting if, instead of the bots, you could play vs. players in your neighbourhood.

@ Deadpool: I didn't stagnate prior to the Arctic in my cities in the live server worlds. Actually, I think the Arctic and the Oceanic are fairly good ages even though Oceanic is a bit lengthy. The trouble only starts with the Space Ages. And that's also where Inno doesn't listen (Juber does but he can only tell us what he's told and I doubt he's got much influence within Inno).

 

[Juber]

Thank you very much for your patience. I now have some more information I can share with you:

A.I. Core Boost: Here I have asked especially about the possibility to make it also boost the Exploration Sites. Sadly, this is not possible, because it would lead to a major imbalance. It would simply provide a too strong benefit for everyone, that has this Great Building, making it in return necessary for fast progress in the age. This is something the developers don't want, which is why it was decided against extending the boost to Exploration Sites. Also, since the new boost and design has already been implemented before the beta phase, a complete change for it was not possible anymore. So there will be no (major) change to the A.I. Core anymore.
Space Age Jupiter Moon unit stats, compared to Space Age Venus Units: As you have probably noticed, the unit stats increase every age. And for every age, the units are also thoroughly tested against all other units to make sure they fit the battle system. Developers have to balance between increasing the unit stats AND making sure they do not negatively affect the battle system. This is not an easy task and changing just something small for one unit could break something else. As far as I’m aware, no changes to the unit stats are planned. Nevertheless, the Space Age Jupiter Moon unit stats are naturally higher than the previous ones, but you can still use SAV units, as they are not that old (similar to how you can use Modern Era units against Postmodern Era units).
Lastly, Guild Battlegrounds: Many of you want to see a lot of changes to them. Not only I know that, but the developers know that too. This is why it is always a topic they discuss. As you can see from the Changelogs, smaller adjustments are made when there's space for it. As for the bigger changes, they always take more time as they require more details planning and allocating of resources. Please rest assured that the topic is on developers' mind. Unfortunately, we cannot give you a specific estimate and can only ask you to be patient.

I hope this answered all the most important questions for now.

 

[Juber]

On the live servers it says: "However, over the ages, we still want to create something that provides a suitable backdrop for the core gameplay: where players can build a city, engage in interactions social and PvP, develop the productions of the city and its influence."
However, we must not have the same definition of Gameplay.

Where's the Gameplay when the battle map is so dark you can barely see the boundaries?
Where's the Gameplay when the keen eye represents with randomness 90% of the final result?
Where's the Gameplay when you talk about "building a city" when once you pass the CTP, no one builds anymore apart from the event buildings?
Where's the Gameplay when no improvements (like one-click po/mo) bring the slightest change in "social interactions"?
Where's the Gameplay when the players who persist in the arena no longer fight players but bots (funny PvP)?
Where's the Gameplay when you talk about the influences of city productions and you untie satisfaction and fights?
Where's the Gameplay when you install a Forge Plus without real added value instead of meeting the expectations of the non-silent community?

For me, the Gameplay of a management/strategy game does not always go through randomness, otherwise I will play at the casino.
Ask yourself the question why there are more and more players who stagnate in the eras before the Arctic!

Sorry for not answering earlier. But I will give it a try now:

However, we must not have the same definition of Gameplay.

Seems like it, because I don't really understand, what Gameplay has to do with the things you wrote. The announcement describes, what the core Gameplay is and I think almost everyone can agree with that.

Where's the Gameplay when the battle map is so dark you can barely see the boundaries?

I have actually not seen one comment, that complaints about the battle background. There were complaints, that the colony was too dark, but nothing about the battle background.

Where's the Gameplay when the keen eye represents with randomness 90% of the final result?

I don't know where you got the 90% from, but yes, Keen Eye adds another level of randomness. But it will also trigger very often, since you attack multiple times. And the more attacks you do, the less random it gets, as it gets closer to the expected value. So saying it makes up for 90% of the battle results is just wrong. Also, battles are already random by nature: Sometimes your units move there, which is bad, sometimes they attack a unit and are lucky to do exactly as much damage as needed (as damage is also not set, but random between 2-3 values) and sometimes your units move just outside the range of the enemy units.

Where's the Gameplay when you talk about "building a city" when once you pass the CTP, no one builds anymore apart from the event buildings?

What does this have to do with anything? Building Event buildings is also "building a city" or am I wrong?

Where's the Gameplay when no improvements (like one-click po/mo) bring the slightest change in "social interactions"?

Are you saying, that there are never QoL (Quality of Live) changes? Then you must have missed a lot during especially last year. I would recommend reading this one, where we have actually listed a lot of things done last year: https://forum.beta.forgeofempires.com/index.php?threads/forge-of-empires-recap-2021.15243/

Where's the Gameplay when the players who persist in the arena no longer fight players but bots (funny PvP)?

Again, don't really know what this has to do with anything, but this "issue is actually only an issue for players in the highest era. All other players don't have this problem. Just because you and your circle of people have this issue does not mean every player has it. (And yes, I am also in Space Age Jupiter Moon and have the same "issue" on my main world)

Where's the Gameplay when you talk about the influences of city productions and you untie satisfaction and fights?

This I did not understand at all.

Where's the Gameplay when you install a Forge Plus without real added value instead of meeting the expectations of the non-silent community?

I think this topic has been discussed a lot already, so I will not answer it. There are a lot of answers in the feedback thread.

For me, the Gameplay of a management/strategy game does not always go through randomness, otherwise I will play at the casino.
Ask yourself the question why there are more and more players who stagnate in the eras before the Arctic!

Sure thing, I would agree with you, if everything was purely random. But it is not. Sure, there is randomness in various parts of the game, but isn't this normal? Can you tell me one (big) game, that has no random elements at all? All successful video games have some kind of randomness involved. You just can't go without it, as it adds a layer of surprise and tension.
Also, I already know why so many players don't go into the arctic future: It is simply too long. Since this age came out in parts, the balancing was good, when they came out, but now it is simply not enjoyable to wait for the promethium. And since Oceanic Future is directly after, where this problem is even worse, some players decide they don't want to go through that hassle and simply stay in the Future Era. There are of course more reasons (units, GvG etc.), but this is the major one. It has nothing to do with randomness.

 

[xivarmy]

Thank you very much for your patience. I now have some more information I can share with you:

A.I. Core Boost: Here I have asked especially about the possibility to make it also boost the Exploration Sites. Sadly, this is not possible, because it would lead to a major imbalance. It would simply provide a too strong benefit for everyone, that has this Great Building, making it in return necessary for fast progress in the age. This is something the developers don't want, which is why it was decided against extending the boost to Exploration Sites. Also, since the new boost and design has already been implemented before the beta phase, a complete change for it was not possible anymore. So there will be no (major) change to the A.I. Core anymore.
Space Age Jupiter Moon unit stats, compared to Space Age Venus Units: As you have probably noticed, the unit stats increase every age. And for every age, the units are also thoroughly tested against all other units to make sure they fit the battle system. Developers have to balance between increasing the unit stats AND making sure they do not negatively affect the battle system. This is not an easy task and changing just something small for one unit could break something else. As far as I’m aware, no changes to the unit stats are planned. Nevertheless, the Space Age Jupiter Moon unit stats are naturally higher than the previous ones, but you can still use SAV units, as they are not that old (similar to how you can use Modern Era units against Postmodern Era units).
Lastly, Guild Battlegrounds: Many of you want to see a lot of changes to them. Not only I know that, but the developers know that too. This is why it is always a topic they discuss. As you can see from the Changelogs, smaller adjustments are made when there's space for it. As for the bigger changes, they always take more time as they require more details planning and allocating of resources. Please rest assured that the topic is on developers' mind. Unfortunately, we cannot give you a specific estimate and can only ask you to be patient.

I hope this answered all the most important questions for now.

The point about SAJM unit stats wasn't that they were higher (of course they're higher) - it's that the range/movement numbers were pretty much straight up copy and pasted from SAV. I believe the light unit's range nerf was the only change in range/movement - and i'm not exactly sure how that one got singled out for that considering it wasn't very good in Venus in the first place. Combined with abilities we already know, it led to a complete lack of wonder when it came to how the age's units would play out.

 

[DEADP00L]

All that for this ?
All our comments and the response that is becoming usual about waiting for Inno's permission to say such nonsense to us?

A.I. Core Boost: Unable to review unnecessary boosts because already appeared on the beta version?
Indeed, it must be on the bpeta to test it and we have already told you several times that it would take a longer period of time between the beta and the lives if you want to make changes.
In short, nothing changes.

The JUPITER troops: it is said that we are reproached for not seeing any novelty and you say that it is difficult to balance the balance of power. Your solution (since the developers lack imagination) one increases the keen eye.

And for the GbG, as usual our opinions are taken into account but how complicated it is, we'll see later. We are thinking about it, but we will see later. We will do as we want without trying to maintain a dialogue (and not a monologue) with transparency, but that too we will see later.

As for your point-by-point answers, Jubber, bad faith is not worthy of you on the DE forum.
Randomness is detrimental to gameplay and, to remain precise, to strategy.
Since when is FOE officially casino type entertainment? I fooled myself into thinking it was a management/strategy game.

Bots in the arena only exist in JUPITER do you think?
Strange on one of my live worlds, where I'm in FUTURE, I only have one human opponent the first week of the month then only bots for 3 weeks. Ticket made with the support who answered me that the "nug" has already been reassembled.
So 2 CM 2 different speeches. You never tune your violins before painting us with lies?

You don't understand the disappearance of one of the rare management/strategy points by removing combat satisfaction to give a 1.2 bonus to everyone.
So explain to me what is the purpose of satisfaction apart from for beginners and for event quests?
You kill each time a strategic element to make the game stupid? After medals, promethium, orichalcum, ... satisfaction becomes useless. Nice progress!

And yes I confirm that your QoL should not be our QoL, just look at the imposition of the colors we have in GbG or the battlefields for those who have visual difficulties.

You want me to quote you "one (big) game, that has no random elements at all"? Age of Empires !!!

 

[xivarmy]

As for your point-by-point answers, Jubber, bad faith is not worthy of you on the DE forum.
Randomness is detrimental to gameplay and, to remain precise, to strategy.
Since when is FOE officially casino type entertainment? I fooled myself into thinking it was a management/strategy game.

Randomness is not necessarily detrimental to gameplay or strategy. Poker being the contemporary example of a strategic game that on its surface almost entirely revolves around randomness (card draw).

Randomness forces adaptation and can add depth to strategy. i.e. my plan was X, but if it doesn't break my way after a period, I switch to Y.

I don't mind that Keen Eye exists. And it is something a player can adapt their strategy towards. Both tactically in the heat of a manual battle (choice of withdraw and try again if things break too bad, choice of target based on maximizing value for both the case of gaining a keen eye proc and not gaining a keen eye proc), and in the sense of auto battle (prioritizing defense for attacking army over attack for attacking army so that keen eye procs against you are less likely to outright lose you a fight, choosing armies where you hit first and get all your keen eye chances before the enemy).

I do mind that for whatever reason units are limited to 2 abilities (might be an in-built technical reason) and it consuming one of the spots limits the space for how units can behave - i.e. we can't have a rapid deployment unit with another interesting ability.

And I do mind that it's been there for 4 straight ages; that if they're going to have a themed ability for units they haven't shook it up with a different themed ability.

 

[Kranyar the Mysterious]

Again, don't really know what this has to do with anything, but this "issue is actually only an issue for players in the highest era. All other players don't have this problem. Just because you and your circle of people have this issue does not mean every player has it. (And yes, I am also in Space Age Jupiter Moon and have the same "issue" on my main world)

This is totally incorrect. In my main city in FE I haven't seen a real player in the PvP Arena in months in the hard attack slot (I never attack in the lower categories).

And I know from discussions within my guilds that I'm not the only one, since it is an occasional joke about how the PvP Arena should have been named the PvE Arena.

 

[Kranyar the Mysterious]

Also, since the new boost and design has already been implemented before the beta phase, a complete change for it was not possible anymore. So there will be no (major) change to the A.I. Core anymore.

Thanks for the effort in getting us that information Juber! Much appreciated.

Unfortunately, I think the line above that I quoted (emphasis mine) tells us everything about inno's development process and their opinion of their players. Pathetic honestly, considering all the feedback that was asked for and given over the last two years, and how that feedback was totally ignored.

 

[Thunderdome]

A.I. Core Boost: Here I have asked especially about the possibility to make it also boost the Exploration Sites. Sadly, this is not possible, because it would lead to a major imbalance. It would simply provide a too strong benefit for everyone, that has this Great Building, making it in return necessary for fast progress in the age. This is something the developers don't want, which is why it was decided against extending the boost to Exploration Sites. Also, since the new boost and design has already been implemented before the beta phase, a complete change for it was not possible anymore. So there will be no (major) change to the A.I. Core anymore.

Could answer a few troubling questions as to why Inno has always been "cheap" in their creations. However, let us not forget that it would be a very long time until we can "rush" to this age considering we have to get enough forge points, goods, coin, supplies, etc., just to pass each research on the tech tree. Then again, I am just in Tomorrow Era in trying to balance myself so I don't go into Future Era or any other ones unprepared. So, if this building you speak of for the developers, is supposedly something that brings unbalanced game play, I just don't see how.

Space Age Jupiter Moon unit stats, compared to Space Age Venus Units: As you have probably noticed, the unit stats increase every age. And for every age, the units are also thoroughly tested against all other units to make sure they fit the battle system. Developers have to balance between increasing the unit stats AND making sure they do not negatively affect the battle system. This is not an easy task and changing just something small for one unit could break something else. As far as I’m aware, no changes to the unit stats are planned. Nevertheless, the Space Age Jupiter Moon unit stats are naturally higher than the previous ones, but you can still use SAV units, as they are not that old (similar to how you can use Modern Era units against Postmodern Era units).

In the earlier ages, it was Light Units beating Fast Units, Heavy Units beating Light Units, Ranged Units beating Heavy Units, and Fast Units beating Ranged Units. So, why did we get units that would be a total reverse on this rock-paper-scissors routine beyond the Contemporary Era? Also, shouldn't the stats of a particular unit in a higher age be higher than a particular unit in a lower age? In my IA city on live, I would think by doing GE without any attack/defense boosts that I would lose some health on my IA units against BA units, especially if those IA units are highly against the weak BA units (i.e., Archers/Ranged Units vs Heavies), I would ideally see the increase of difficulty as I go further since the opposing side would have an increase to their A/D% values, but I shouldn't be losing an entire team to just a few % points, especially if their bonuses are stronger than the opposing units that are weaker to.

What does this have to do with anything? Building Event buildings is also "building a city" or am I wrong?

I pretty much don't think this question he was asking was for you, Juber. I think this question is for the developers to come out of hiding and answer. Event buildings had replaced the conventional goods, residential, and supply buildings. Newer players will have to build the previous in order to grow, but once an event comes that gives out buildings that would benefit them, those conventional buildings are replaced. A case in point would be, I have enough event buildings in my city that I probably won't utilize those residential, goods, or supply buildings in the next ages, no matter how pretty they look.

Again, don't really know what this has to do with anything, but this "issue is actually only an issue for players in the highest era. All other players don't have this problem. Just because you and your circle of people have this issue does not mean every player has it. (And yes, I am also in Space Age Jupiter Moon and have the same "issue" on my main world)

My, aren't we "selective"? Remember the bug report I had placed when I have the 4k resolution running (and I still do) where the map of the GE always jerked left when in maximized window or full screen mode? The one you had put an answer to (where you said something about the zoom factor) and I asked a follow-up question to? I never did got an answer from you at that point in time. I had to go to support about it which I was told the game was at a max displayable range. You could have told me to go to support with my problem as you have no knowledge of the issue or what to do, but all I got was crickets.

Let's get back to the situation at hand (had to call you out on that). Just because a few players have an issue DOES NOT mean that there is no issue. Most players auto-battle thanks to the ability to build their Attack/Defense percentages for attacking. Those who manual battle will probably have this issue. I don't know what's Inno's little meter of issues set at in order to get on it and check, but if I get one complaint for something I had provided or had completed (work wise), it warrants my time to go check it out and see what can be done about it.

I think this topic has been discussed a lot already, so I will not answer it. There are a lot of answers in the feedback thread.

Again, the question that @DEADP00L asked was not for you. It's for your bosses, so pass them the message. Only feedback I had seen is our disgust for the feature. I have yet to see any explanation as to why Inno chose to charge that much where other places would charge far less for nearly the same category of stuff.

 

[Thunderdome]

And I know from discussions within my guilds that I'm not the only one, since it is an occasional joke about how the PvP Arena should have been named the PvE Arena.

Somehow I must have missed quoting yours in my previous message, so it gets a special place, heh heh.

The only qualm I got is the lack of opponents in this so-called PVE (can't really call it PVP since there is no real player interaction between each other other than just engaging in battles as preset by the system) that I kept beating poor ol' He Shoots He Snores in the middle slot for nearly 2 weeks now. He was my neighbor prior to the neighborhood change, and I know he's been active in the Tomorrow Age tower in fighting. Once in a great while, I would get someone different that I would beat but it would return to him for the remainder of the attempts I have.

I guess whatever helps me to keep a steady lead in the TE tower, and seeing what other things are out there, heh heh heh.

Note: Yes, folks, I am back in the PVE arena for some s***s and giggles.

 

[Yekk]

Randomness is not necessarily detrimental to gameplay or strategy. Poker being the contemporary example of a strategic game that on its surface almost entirely revolves around randomness (card draw).

Randomness forces adaptation and can add depth to strategy. i.e. my plan was X, but if it doesn't break my way after a period, I switch to Y.

I don't mind that Keen Eye exists. And it is something a player can adapt their strategy towards. Both tactically in the heat of a manual battle (choice of withdraw and try again if things break too bad, choice of target based on maximizing value for both the case of gaining a keen eye proc and not gaining a keen eye proc), and in the sense of auto battle (prioritizing defense for attacking army over attack for attacking army so that keen eye procs against you are less likely to outright lose you a fight, choosing armies where you hit first and get all your keen eye chances before the enemy).

I do mind that for whatever reason units are limited to 2 abilities (might be an in-built technical reason) and it consuming one of the spots limits the space for how units can behave - i.e. we can't have a rapid deployment unit with another interesting ability.

And I do mind that it's been there for 4 straight ages; that if they're going to have a themed ability for units they haven't shook it up with a different themed ability.

Casinos build in a "vig" to bets to make sure customers lose. Keen Eye is such a "vig" It takes skill out of the equation...

 

[xivarmy]

Casinos build in a "vig" to bets to make sure customers lose. Keen Eye is such a "vig" It takes skill out of the equation...

Keen Eye is not a vig. It's not a one-sided advantage or a lop-sided advantage. It is equal in opportunity for you and them. It enables you to win some fights you otherwise wouldn't. And costs you some fights you'd otherwise win. (And as you can see the opponent in most places, and can engineer it so you hit first, if anything it advantages you more than the defense).

 

[Yekk]

Keen Eye is not a vig. It's not a one-sided advantage or a lop-sided advantage. It is equal in opportunity for you and them. It enables you to win some fights you otherwise wouldn't. And costs you some fights you'd otherwise win. (And as you can see the opponent in most places, and can engineer it so you hit first, if anything it advantages you more than the defense).

Wrong... as attrition adds up it guarantees those with the most skill take damage and thusly lose troops. Those with lesser skills will lose, take damage, any ways. Just faster... Just as the vig does. Instead of "fixing" the AI Inno took the low road.