Why did BB lower the explorer eggs find rates??

[Brayarg]

The problem is: Who is missing the point?

Let's use an example.

In event 1, Longterm player got all rewards. 2 Explorers, Veteran, MMA.
In event 1, New player did not participate.
LT advantage: 2 Explorers, Vet, MMA.


In event 2, So, BB makes the event challenging enough for longterm players.
Longterm player got all rewards. Veteran, MMA, MoD, Easter Residence Lv6, 2 Floaties.
In event 2, New player got seriously challenged. Received Veteran, Easter Residence Lv4.
LT advantage: 2 Explorers, Vet, 2x MMA, MoD, 200 population.

In event 3, Longterm player wants a challenge having an advantage of 2 Explorers, Vet, 2x MMA, MoD, 400 population over Newer player.
So, BB makes the event challenging enough for longterm players.
Regardless, they receive another Veteran, MMA, MoD, Easter Residence Lv6, 2 Floaties.
In event 3, New player got seriously challenged. Received Veteran, Easter Residence Lv4.
LT advantage: 2 Explorers, Vet, 3x MMA, 2x MoD, 600 population.

After 5 years, LT player will have an advantage of some 10 Generals and 2000 population over a player who started merely 1 year later than they did.
Now, LT player is still complaining that events are too easy while new players are brickwalled.

What do you think players who have started just 10 months ago feel - in comparison, when LT players mow through everything at ease?
Yes, your argument is "I don't care. It's good when the Rich get Richer and the rest get left behind in the dust. It's good to have someone to look up to (whose level you cannot ever achieve because of purchase limits)."

I am curious about a solution from your side:
How do you want to keep a challenge for longterm players without creating a continuously increasing power gap?
In my opinion, the only solution of doing that is by putting in achievements that are not related to power-increasing rewards.
For instance, the World Cup Trophy was a good example for a solution: Does not break the power balance, but permits you to show off.

The collection of eggs from a new or old players perspective wasn't what was on discussion here, It was the difficulty of the achievements, and the point was a new/old player should be challenged in the collection of the achievements, So not only did you miss the point but the entire topic.

There is no monetary gain from achievements so comments like "I don't care. It's good when the Rich get Richer "

Just goes to prove your heading off in a different direction, +40 population will not unbalance the game. If any such new player wanted to catch up some, its perfectly possible for them to have 14 explorers more than enough to gain the lvl 6 Easter residence if pvp was also included. If they wish to play a f2p model then that's their choice.

I am curious about a solution from your side:

They could well stagger the achievements by levels, much the same way the quest chains work...Not a full proof system as its perfectly possible for a lvl 25 to have 21 explorers.

[topgearfan]

Seamus1, did you just suggest tetris as a easy to complete game?

[TabulaRasa]

After investigating the recent complaints regarding a lower drop rate for Stripy Eggs on Explorer searches, the conclusion was that the drop rate wasn't changed.

A fix for the Sturdy Shovel skill was deployed, which appears to be the reason Explorers with this skill are bringing in less eggs.
Sturdy Shovel was not working correctly when it came to Stripy Eggs and Explorers were finding a significantly increased number of event resources (Stripy Eggs) when this skill was involved (approx 4 times more).

Sturdy Shovel only affects the amount of loot found on a treasure search, not the chance to find a particular treasure.
No drop rates have been changed.

bla bla bla as allways...

bad developers
bad project managment


bad bad bad game changes..... very bad attitude to players, to game features.....

plizer do not introduce new changes becouse every change you introduce in the game, the game become more problematic and less attractive!!!

[ATHTHEMANIAC]

i dont think i missed any points tbh...i read the posts and the attitutde within them is as stated....they do not mention of lvl of difficulty or anything...just i bought gems / i spent longer playing so have a "right" to the achievement.....
lots of the lower levels and new players probably "worked" harder to get what they got then the gem buying/LT player and this is what achievements should be based on not ones ability to buy gems.
like i posted previously gem buyers already have many advantages are they now so greedy they want to be the only ones with achievements as well...??...
if you think the that the hard "work" put in by non gem'ers is somehow less worthy then well nt sure what to say about that..lol..
it would would have been much better for the achievement to be tiered like quest so every ones hard work was rewarded the same...but thats another matter

[Urd123]

It does not really matter if the drop rates have changed or not. Point is that it was not possible to reach the 3200 eggs found by explorer in 3 weeks, not even if you did use gems and bought all the explorers you can. You would also have to have some from previous events, so new players have no chance of doing it. The number was set much too high.

The result of this is that the only way to get a level 6 egg house is to to the expeditions, and honestly - they stink.

So please BB this you must be able to do better next time.

Make some achievements that makes it worth being an active player, not some that measures how many gems we buy.

Why not one for collecting eggs on island, for finding eggs in many different adventures, not just doing the same over and over.
I am sure we can come up with many more ways,- but make it possible to do it in many ways, not just one as it was this time.

[Brayarg]

Gem buyers are the players who are funding the servers and the future development of the game (they are the alpha's in the game) If these players are incapable of obtaining the maximum reward, Then the game is of flawed design.

Free to play players who have not spent a great deal of time playing should not expect to gain all rewards from either the event shop or the achievements.
Free to play players who have played for a very long time should be able to get everything/almost everything.

Players joining old servers regardless of the game type will always be at a disadvantage in the beginning, EVE online, WOW, Everquest, diablo 2, etc etc, Why should someone who has played for 3 weeks have the same rewards that someone else has when that person has invested 3 years and a few hundred £$ to do so?

[Madorosu]

It does not really matter if the drop rates have changed or not. Point is that it was not possible to reach the 3200 eggs found by explorer in 3 weeks, not even if you did use gems and bought all the explorers you can..

I beg to differ... though I failed to reach the 3200 target, I got about 85% of the way there with only 8 explorers, one of which was obtained during the event. Had I invested in one or two more explorers prior to the event, I am 99.9% sure I would have made it without a problem. Also, had the explorers behaved throughout the event in the same way they did during the first week, I would have likely made it with the explorers I had... as my initial 7 explorers got me comfortably over 1000 eggs during that first week.

The bar being set so high would not have been a problem if they hadn't shortened the pole partway through the jump!

[Brayarg]

Point is that it was not possible to reach the 3200 eggs found by explorer in 3 weeks, not even if you did use gems and bought all the explorers you can.

So your saying that no one completed the 3200 eggs from explorers using 14 explorers? Across all the different servers you know this as fact?

[Qualan]

i got the 3200 mark- i didnt buy gems did participate in events in the past and bought the event rewards like lucky explorers etc - so it is doable

saving gems from weekly reward and after lvl 50 the coins- will get you gems as well to buy more explorers or other items- over time

So the goals are achievable and for rewards to be tiered is no big deal imo- esp as the end reward is hardly game breaking- the 40 settlers and the satisfaction to achieved lvl 6 are in no way unbalancing to the game

all the real good rewards from the event (from a game play perspective) are perfectly achievable by 99% of the population if they applied themselves in a smart way

and in the end- if gem buying gets you to that same level- so be it- the game needs to be funded-

TBH- most people complaining about the egg house could have done better than the ones hunting for lvl 6 by getting to lvl 5 and selling their excess eggs in TO and buy nobles from the proceeds - their extra population would be bigger than breaking the back over getting to lvl 6 on the egg basket

So keep looking at the rewards in perspective instead of soap boxing for "equal rights" to in game rewards- Equal rights to in game rewards means in the long run no game- what is the point if you can never really make a difference between players

I do agree however- that making a change to the game mechanics in mid event on something that impacts the event is just plain stupid- It will always feel like the nerf bat being swung - intentionally or not. This will distract people from the event and tends to create negative emotions. If same change was made 2 weeks before or a week after event started- most people will not have noticed this effect nor complain about it

And yea the fix to explorers did have an impact in amounts of eggs collected- it might have been the right thing to do but the wrong timing. Also: we will never know if the figure of 3200 eggs was formed based on the (bugged) amounts returned by explorers or on the correct amounts - If it was the first- then the numbers should have been corrected as well when the fix went in- alas i don;t see such corrections being made retroactively (if applicable)

[Qualan]

btw- i have less than 14 explorers and made the 3200 mark- if not mistaken it is 10, including the 3 slow ones from tavern and a handful of event ones and some from the special starter vouchers that circulated a few years back

the 3200 number is perfectly achievable if you decided to buy all explorers from shop and sent em out on searches every day - and have em land at times where you can send em out back again - plenty of people on my friends list have a lvl 6 egg basket- even without the 3200 eggs (ofc they did the pvp achievements )