PB has never had a monopoly on this type of game, but it has a HUGE market advantage with the Disney licensing. With another similar game (also Disney) fast approaching under different management, we addicts have something to move on to – and many are already planning the move. Let me sum up some of the stronger grievances for myself and others in this forum in one place for you as I prepare to cut ties. Addressing these issues will likely not solve the exodus from older servers, but PB hasn’t had the opportunity to completely undermine the supplier/customer relationship with new players on newer servers, so perhaps PB can retain some income in the soon-to-be more competitive market.
Communication – PB has got to be more consistent with the messaging. Making broad statements about the future of the game (we intend to slow game progress after the first of the year) and later narrowing the meaning to be only modes, but still adding two more game modes within 5 months (which may seem slow to PB, but customers have been consistent in expressing displeasure with the speed of things), sends two messages to the consumer: 1) PB is not completely honest at worst; not very clear in representing itself at best, 2) PB is not willing to veer from the path it thinks is most profitable immediately to ensure continued long-term investments.
This is just one example of miscommunication on PB’s part that was spun later as misunderstanding on the part of the customer. There have been many leaps from a broad statement made by PB to something interpreted by the community. Most of these leaps are easy to follow by the majority of the community and make sense. PB rarely, if ever, makes immediate corrections to information the community is interpreting incorrectly. Down the road, when the community is proven wrong, PB explains what was meant by a particular statement (and this explanation may or may not fit within the scope of the original broad statement). This is extremely disrespectful. PB absolutely controls the message, but it also has the means to correct misconceptions quickly and chooses not to, then explains it’s the customers’ fault for not understanding the supplier’s message.
Growth – The community has been consistent in requesting PB slow the pace of the game, specifically level and badge increases. In early game, it is quite necessary to keep a quick pace in order to keep players involved and attentive. Somewhere around orange badges, with the availability of war, invasion, and collections, the player barely has a chance to breathe, much less get bored. Requiring the player spend more time, more money, or both in order to keep up with the progression pace PB thinks is best, while ignoring community complaints and providing no further incentive (i.e. – invasion rewards) is another example of failure to respect the source of your paycheck. It is not only the F2P complaining about the pace of things; casual to moderate spenders feel little to no improvement for their investments, and whales are mostly going to match your pace no matter what, BUT whales understand they are in the minority of players. Heavy spenders would like to play the game WITH people. With no one around to impress beyond the next big wallet, they get bored quickly too. There are plenty of advantages built into this game which favor the spender (as there should be). Giving F2P and C2P an opportunity to stay current with more than an arena or coliseum team is not something that could potentially hurt your player/payer base. Reading through the forums, 6-8 weeks seems to be the most common request for the pace of increases, with the longer 8 weeks heavily preferred, but any adjustment at this point will be taken by the community as movement in the right direction.
Supply/Demand – Drops from trials/ports needs to increase/adjust with the team level increase. As the demand for new/more content is created; the supply should also be created. Drop rates in higher campaign levels or at higher team levels should also rise to help meet the demand. Spending the better part of 3 days’ worth of stamina in order to complete ONE badge is outrageous. This could even be a perk that a player or guild needs to earn or activate. The same theory applies to gold, diamond, and guild crates. Possible drops from these items should correspond to the team level of the player and supply items which are likely in demand at that level. Shops and crates rotations are about the only things the community would like to see move quicker. Additionally, the VIP crate no longer feels VIP – the recent toons have been and are available from other sources. VIP crates aren’t even really a boost to the farming of toons anymore, much less the preferred access to toons that was described (but I’m sure this is just another community misinterpretation of PB’s intent ).
Chat – As a guild leader, I find it infuriating that players can choose to ignore messages, but that’s the setup, and many aren’t nearly as tough on communication requirements as I am. HOWEVER, when a player does choose to be notified of private messages, but the system just doesn’t work… ridiculous! This is not a new issue. PB has had plenty of time to root this out. If it ever is fixed, there will be quite a few people having a grand chuckle at some the chat histories they’ll be made aware of.
Invasion – PB still has not proven to the community that the current rewards are worth the effort. Personally, I’ve not paid attention, but PB says mod power or buff was increased and the community says they can’t tell a difference. It’s a rather demanding mode; it should reflect that in the payout.
WAR – WAR – WAR – this has been the second largest complaint (after level increases) since its release, with complaints increasing after the “fix”. There are multiple threads with multiple possible solutions/changes. PB’s answer to all of it was to increase levels of war car bonuses (but we have no idea to what or how much impact it may make) and to lengthen the number of wars between repeat match-ups (something very much wanted by the community). There are issues left unaddressed by the recent changes, though. 1) Instead of Guild #4 or #5 missing out on legendary rewards, it will now be #9 or #15, or something in that range. PB just moved the issue; it hasn’t been fixed. 2) Leagues still do not matter for match-ups, but do matter for rewards – this is another PB inconsistency. Removing leagues altogether would also help with issue #1. 3) Guilds with 10 members still get to battle guilds with 48 participants, or just 1 member; either way, it’s not balanced. 4) Rewards still do not reflect the effort put into war, especially once legendary is reached. It also makes no sense that guild influence isn’t rewarded. There is no mode or activity which requires more team work. 5) The outcome of any given war is pre-determined by the power difference of the competing guilds. Increasing car bonuses does not change this, as within a few weeks, the bonuses will be the same from guild to guild anyway.
I know I’m verbose. I do not apologize for it. I feel it is all important and needs to be said (AGAIN). Good luck moving forward. I’m just hanging around, playing with my peeps, and waiting for the better option to get here (and I say better based on their forums and supplier responses given there so far). You’ve already lost me.