I agree substantively with most of the largely negative feedback about the Winter Event-- if not with all of the over-the-top, presumptuous characterizations of inno and/or other players. So I don't want to pile on or be unnecessarily negative, but I really did feel like every facet of this event was less fun, less fair, and less motivating than any event I can remember--very disappointing imo. So I guess I'm just adding my own two cents with the hope of being constructive and insightful, and ultimately, tbh, to just get some stuff off my chest lol. Everyone's got their personal peeves and gripes, but for me the totally randomized prize collection system discouraged me the most. Its removal of all choice or control we previously had to prioritize, save up for, gamble on, and (hopefully) stock up on what prizes we really valued combined with the (new) equal chance of winning utterly "worthless" prizes in their stead, really sucked the fun and enthusiasm of the event out of me.
I'm hesitant to use the word worthless--obviously everyone has their preferences and favorites based on chapter, style/focus in playing, etc.--but the equal chance of opening a gift containing a valued daily prize (however one defines that) or one that contains 1 KP! or a single spell or rune shard? among several others just seems absolutely outrageous to me.
There were some interesting twists that might have been cool: 2x, Shuffle, the Magnifying Glass, but there were just too many terribly lackluster possibilities and too little individual choice at every turn for me to actually enjoy this event. Our personal agency and choice was further limited by the fact that once the 16 gifts (too many!) in a new round were shuffled (hidden), it was virtually impossible to remember what we were even playing for--gambling on-- (besides the daily prize). If, e.g., we revealed a Shuffle, we might want to open it next or not depending on what else we might still want to try for (I love time Instants, e.g.), but who can remember each of the original 16 possibilities? That is what I liked so much about the previous chest system: I could decide how much to wager for (ostensibly) a better chance at the daily prize while also considering for myself my progress toward the grand prizes while also knowing I'd at least get 1 out of 3 or four prizes, the values of which I could also deterimine for myself and factor into my choice of chest. And again, those "alternative" (somewhat selectable) prizes to the dailies were infinitely more desirable and less infuriating/insulting than getting 1 or 3 KPs or that stupid Winter Deer--repeatedly--in this event. It is inevitable... ya win some, ya lose some, and to be fair, most of us may probably feel "cheated" at some point no matter what. But the process and the results of this one felt particularly unsatisfying, to me, and to a great number of us apparently.
I really hope the previous chest system makes a comeback, or at least the number of options per round is reduced and made more customizable, with the more mundane, easily attainable prizes in-game removed from the equation.
As for the grand prize(s) and the system of obtaining them, again, I preferred being able to base my chest choice partly on how enthusiastically I was going after the grand prizes vis a vis my odds of winning the limited prizes in any given chest. It seems to me that the artifact-collecting process should be different in events that offer just one (this one, mermaids) evolving building vs three (phoenixes, bears). Besides my personal opinion that the phoenix and bear grand prize buildings are a lot more interesting and worthwhile than the other two, I feel like those artifacts should be easier/more frequent to earn to allow a real chance to be able to place them all at appealing levels. I'm sure many of us know a fellow, or maybe ourselves, who got 2-3 fully evolved mermaid buildings while they and/or we struggled to fully evolve 2 or certainly 3 of the distinct, unique phoenixes or bears. I just don't understand the point or fun of eventually offering a second building except as an excuse to keep offering otherwise useless--especially to those of us who didn't need the first one--artifacts.
The hammers were OK, I guess, a bit tedious, and maybe I missed it explained somewhere, but was the number of bricks earned (ostensibly) random or were we supposed to be able to affect the outcome?
Sometimes I swore I discerned a pattern lol. Either way, if inno keeps anything like this system, it'd be nice to know if anything we do affects the outcome, and maybe not make us sit there to click 100s, 10000s of times if it doesn't?
And in general, maybe a little more variety and uniqueness for the grand prizes would encourage more participation and even money spending, instead of recycling and cycling through basically the same old event buildings event after event.
As for the questing system and changes, I don't have much complaint there.
I personally don't have a problem with the "random," tiered quest lines; as one who goes all-out in events, I really appreciated the past change to unlimited quests to keep earning throughout an event. But maybe I'm also in a position, due to resource preferences and style of play, to be better suited to manage them than others. I think a lot of player feedback about repetition and length/difficulty of quests is so subjective and dependent on so many independent factors that there will always be some that are not happy. But I must say that declaring that they're addressing past complaints of multiple, repeated quests in a row--eliminating that possibility--then creating like 5 new "unique" quests all asking for supplies just with different amounts and descriptions seems pretty disingenuous. And I honestly don't have a problem, to cite just one example, with getting 3 "2 Toolbox" quests each separated by only one other in between--that's 3 out of 5--but please don't tell me that you're making the quests more varied or spread out. And the 20 ribbons per Bonus quest seemed incongruous with a reasonable formula for these events--especially given that in the end our choices and chances of winning more of what we want than not was so severely curtailed.
I don't presume to ascribe dishonorable intent to inno or their motivations behind the decisions and/or changes they make on the game. And I have no clue as to the technological, logistical, or financial considerations given to maintaining the game or their business. I actually really appreciate their active willingness to communicate and cooperate with heir players, and I have had positive interactions with he support team he several times I've contacted them for a variety of reasons. But whatever their reasons, I, like so many here, in my FS, and around ElvenarWorld found this event to truly fall short in a number of areas.
For me anyway, what makes the events enjoyable and rewarding and satisfying is strategically planning and spending for our favorite goodies, taking calculated risks to get em, seeing how it plays out, and being able at the end of the day to have real, tangible rewards to see, like a good number of a certain building or two in my inventory or a nice, fully stocked compliment of time instants--whatever one's thing is. However different the odds, processes, and outcomes actually were in this event from those in he past, it didn't feel gratifying, it didn't look right, and ultimately it made a lot of us feel taken advantage of and taken for granted. I look forward to seeing what comes next.
Wow, I finished...
Thanks for reeading!