Next Fellowship Adventure

[The Unbeliever]

I'll take that in a heartbeat. I have a Canadian friend who complained to me that they had to get their operation in a hospital 30 miles away, instead of one in the same city. They said Canadian medicine sucked, even though the operation went fine. I asked them how much they paid for it, since I had had the same operation and I had very good insurance, but the copays, out of network costs (which you can't foresee when your doctor decides to get a friend to pop in to consult while you're unconscious) and deductibles killed me. When my friend told me what they paid, I nearly fainted. I bragged that my operation was in a hospital only 3 miles from me, and I only had to pay about a thousand times more than they did lol. My deductibles and copays came out to over 13K, and that's with good insurance. For some reason, that friend isn't complaining about Canadian medicine anymore, hehe.

It depends on what kind of procedure is required, as there's tons of gak that's not covered by the basics...
...oh, and the wait times. As in, by the time you *DO* get the procedure done, it's typically snowballed into multiple even worse issues.

And of course, the coof panic & fear mongering has led to 1000's dying because of delayed procedures, because our hospital system is so woefully underfunded by the feds, while the provinces throw the lions share of our healthcare taxes into CEO saleries & benefits. (ie: in Ontario, we're told that hitting 300+ ICU patients collapses the entire hospital system - WTF?! )
Last time for example I went to the ER was in '09, when I'd contracted H1N1 from some jack*** who brought their stupidly infectious kid into the store I was working at... took 6hrs, and all got was a prescript for basic anti-virals, and blood loss thanks to dumb*** moron of a nurse who took twice the blood she should have from me, (since the bloodwork was auto for anyone presenting flu-like symptoms), even *after* we told her NOT to because I was barely scratching 80lbs. (and because I have minor beta thalasemia, I am already under-weight) I nearly passed out in X-ray, and had my mum not been holding me up, I'd have face-planted into the floor.
And no, we couldn't sue, because our laws protect the stupid healthcare workers from malpractice instead of you know, actual patient victims.

Sure, our system up here is amazing in theory. In practice, it's a gak show because the government is the most incompetent organization in human history, and people in general abuse the ever living gak out of the system because they're idiots who think it's "free". (hint: it's not, we pay insanely high taxes to fund the system)

 

[Deborah M]

I am very grateful for our healthcare so long as I have insurance! I had a Canadian friend from work. He got cancer. It took him 3 months to get to see an Oncologist after diagnosis. I got cancer and saw the Director of a Cancer center the next day and started my road to recovery immediately. I will never forget what a difficult time that 3 months was for him and his family!

 

[Darielle]

It depends on what kind of procedure is required, as there's tons of gak that's not covered by the basics...
...oh, and the wait times. As in, by the time you *DO* get the procedure done, it's typically snowballed into multiple even worse issues.

And of course, the coof panic & fear mongering has led to 1000's dying because of delayed procedures, because our hospital system is so woefully underfunded by the feds, while the provinces throw the lions share of our healthcare taxes into CEO saleries & benefits. (ie: in Ontario, we're told that hitting 300+ ICU patients collapses the entire hospital system - WTF?! )
Last time for example I went to the ER was in '09, when I'd contracted H1N1 from some jack*** who brought their stupidly infectious kid into the store I was working at... took 6hrs, and all got was a prescript for basic anti-virals, and blood loss thanks to dumb*** moron of a nurse who took twice the blood she should have from me, (since the bloodwork was auto for anyone presenting flu-like symptoms), even *after* we told her NOT to because I was barely scratching 80lbs. (and because I have minor beta thalasemia, I am already under-weight) I nearly passed out in X-ray, and had my mum not been holding me up, I'd have face-planted into the floor.
And no, we couldn't sue, because our laws protect the stupid healthcare workers from malpractice instead of you know, actual patient victims.

Sure, our system up here is amazing in theory. In practice, it's a gak show because the government is the most incompetent organization in human history, and people in general abuse the ever living gak out of the system because they're idiots who think it's "free". (hint: it's not, we pay insanely high taxes to fund the system)

And what makes you think it's better here? Why do you believe that things like that don't happen here? The only difference is that you have to pay an arm and a leg to get pretty much the same treatment.

I'll grant you that the rich can get fantastic health care here, but then, the rich can get fantastic health care almost anywhere. There are elite hospitals in Canada, too, and I don't think Wayne Gretsky would be treated as you were treated. And if you don't think our hospitals are clogged with covid patients and that it's hard for people with other conditions to get care, you don't get the same news that we get.

I think this is a case of "the grass is always greener . . ."

 

[Darielle]

I am very grateful for our healthcare so long as I have insurance! I had a Canadian friend from work. He got cancer. It took him 3 months to get to see an Oncologist after diagnosis. I got cancer and saw the Director of a Cancer center the next day and started my road to recovery immediately. I will never forget what a difficult time that 3 months was for him and his family!

Many health insurance policies don't cover most cancer treatments in the US. You were lucky you had a good policy, and that you (or your employer) were willing to pay a ton for it. I think such care should be available to all. I read a statistic recently that most cancer patients lose their entire life savings within 1-2 years of their diagnosis. That doesn't happen in 38 other first-world countries, including Canada. And while Canada may have long wait times for NON life threatening conditions, a person in America without insurance has no wait time ... they simply NEVER get care. Their only care is Go Fund Me (which my friend was forced to do, sadly). How many cancer patients have Go Fund Me sites with a few bucks in them to pay for Canadian treatment? How many see those dollars trickle in and figure that they MIGHT have enough for that cancer treatment by 2056 ... if they live that long, which of course they won't because they have untreated cancer.

Canadians like to grumble about their health care ... I have a lot of Canadian friends, but they usually just hang their mouth open in shock when I tell them what I have had to pay. They also like to believe that even serious health issues are subjected to long waits, but the actual statistics don't bear those anecdotes out. And besides, we have long wait times too. When my son needed to see a gastro specialist for his Crohn's, he couldn't get him in until the end of May (and this was mid March). Yes, you can go through the phone book and hunt down another doctor, but god help you if he isn't in network. You'll foot most of the bill yourself, which can run into thousands.

In any case, I'm glad you're with us and that it worked for you. Please know that I'm not picking on you and I'm thankful that some people in this country do have great insurance. It's just that I've been on both sides of the coin, at different times, and I know that Americans would be far better off with Canadian style health coverage. No, not the rich, of course, because the rich always benefit from a private system where they can cut to the head of the line and pick any specialists they choose. But then they do that everywhere, including Canada.

One other thing ... how many people have been turned down by the insurance company for tests that your own doctor ordered because he believed they were necessary? Nothing like being told, "Well, I don't like the look of that xray, and I wish we could do a better scan, but the insurance company doesn't believe you need it." Happens all the time. I was furious when I got to the bloodwork center last year and was told that some tests I would have to pay out of pocket because the insurance company did a last minute denial. Nothing like walking out 565 bucks poorer when you were told originally that you'd only be paying 85.

Sorry ... this is a sore spot with me because, like I said, I've been on both sides of the coin. But I think I've gone off track long enough. This is my last entry on this subject. No matter what I've said here, I wish all the best in good health for everyone, no matter where you live. Take care of your health, because this board wouldn't be the same without us all able to discuss things like we do.

Now ... getting back to the Fellowship Adventure ... I really hope they don't cancel it this time, because it's going to be a stretch to get that 9th artifact for me. There's a lot of things I would like to change in the FA, but canceling it entirely is not one of them.

 

[Iyapo1]

. I read a statistic recently that most cancer patients lose their entire life savings within 1-2 years of their diagnosis.

From personal experience I can attest to this. I had good insurance but the co-pays, deductibles, and out of pocket expenses wiped me out!

a person in America without insurance has no wait time ... they simply NEVER get care.

This is not true. Again from personal experience. 3 years in and I could not afford my insurance so I went on government insurance. I no longer pay for anything- no copays, no deductibles, and zero out of pocket. I am recieving the same level of care that I received when I had private insurance. My last round of chemo was fully covered because I am poor now.

 

[Tehya1]

Now ... getting back to the Fellowship Adventure ... I really hope they don't cancel it this time, because it's going to be a stretch to get that 9th artifact for me. There's a lot of things I would like to change in the FA, but canceling it entirely is not one of them.

Me too. I will have three bobbins with 8 artifacts each (3 cities) in storage if we don't get the fa.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

There will not be an FA on Beta for the Winter event. Instead we have a countdown timer for a new event that starts Thursday morning. This will also mean no FA for the Live servers either.

 

[Darielle]

From personal experience I can attest to this. I had good insurance but the co-pays, deductibles, and out of pocket expenses wiped me out!

This is not true. Again from personal experience. 3 years in and I could not afford my insurance so I went on government insurance. I no longer pay for anything- no copays, no deductibles, and zero out of pocket. I am recieving the same level of care that I received when I had private insurance. My last round of chemo was fully covered because I am poor now.

I know I said I was done, but I wanted to acknowledge that you are right. I should have clarified that since O-care, things have changed. But there is still a segment of the pop who are too well off to get affordable insurance but too poor to afford huge bills. But yes, once they lose everything and are poor again, then they can get insurance and start getting care again. I doubt most Canadians would accept that bargain, though.

There will not be an FA on Beta for the Winter event. Instead we have a countdown timer for a new event that starts Thursday morning. This will also mean no FA for the Live servers either.

Oh darn darn darn darn darn . Stage 9 for mine, I guess.

 

[The Unbeliever]

There will not be an FA on Beta for the Winter event. Instead we have a countdown timer for a new event that starts Thursday morning. This will also mean no FA for the Live servers either.

*does a Happy Dance*
I'm not going to say there's hope for 2022, because we ALL know what hope is the first towards and all...
But yay! No FA and a brand new event instead is definitely some welcome news!

So, with the name being 'Forbidden Ruins', what are the odds we'll get a re-skin of the Halloween mini game, but with a creepy, evil, perhaps daemon-haunted tomb vs. a creepy, misty forest?! *insert evil grin here*

 

[Moho]

*does a Happy Dance*

So, with the name being 'Forbidden Ruins', what are the odds we'll get a re-skin of the Halloween mini game, but with a creepy, evil, perhaps daemon-haunted tomb vs. a creepy, misty forest?!

God forbid.

 

[Henroo]

Since we're skipping the FA this time, I wonder if the next fellowship adventure will offer a sorcery instead of artifacts? The sorcery could offer a choice of a Boblin's artifact or whatever artifact the upcoming event uses. The more I think about this idea, the more I like it. Players who come up short will still be able to get extra artifacts in FAs, but the overall frequency of FAs could be reduced.

 

[Moho]

I think this makes sense. In the meantime, devs could re-think FAs so that they should be both challenging and enjoyable.

 

[hvariidh gwendrot]

woot on the skipping of the FA, not a secret i'm not a fan of those .. it would be nice to do events then just pop the artifact in to MA to craft for those who need/want the 9th and retool the adventures a bit for variety and better incentives to do more than 1 path up the 3 stages, create competition for the trophies vs meh who cares for 99% of us ..

 

[The Unbeliever]

@Moho: at least the Halloween mini game, aka 'the digging mini game' rewards skill over just stupid, dumb luck...

With Leagues being a thing, (and I'd be willing to bet this next event will have a League component), it's absolutely rage-inducing to be on the receiving end of being bumped down a league and/or forced to spend to stay in say Silver/Bronze league, just because the RNG royally ****** you over, while the lazy git who completed only 3/4's of the quests gets a better reward just because they won 2k bonus currency while you only won 500 from the 'randumb' chests.

Again, rewarding skill vs. dumb luck is why I'd love to see Elvenar import BOTH the St. Paddy's Day & Wildlife event mini games from FoE.
At least give us 50% of the League events based on skill vs. blind luck please.

 

[Myne]

Since we're skipping the FA this time, I wonder if the next fellowship adventure will offer a sorcery instead of artifacts? The sorcery could offer a choice of a Boblin's artifact or whatever artifact the upcoming event uses. The more I think about this idea, the more I like it. Players who come up short will still be able to get extra artifacts in FAs, but the overall frequency of FAs could be reduced.

As they should be.

I think this makes sense. In the meantime, devs could re-think FAs so that they should be both challenging and enjoyable.

Again, as they should be. They should be something to look forward to, not dread.

woot on the skipping of the FA, not a secret i'm not a fan of those .. it would be nice to do events then just pop the artifact in to MA to craft for those who need/want the 9th and retool the adventures a bit for variety and better incentives to do more than 1 path up the 3 stages, create competition for the trophies vs meh who cares for 99% of us ..

Agreed.

 

[Moho]

at least the Halloween mini game, aka 'the digging mini game' rewards skill over just stupid, dumb luck...

As I was saying here:
Devs, here's an idea that could really bring about improvement to this process. If you want to come up with something demanding when people spend the event currency, please devise a Tournament or Spire-like series of encounters where people can either fight or use the event currency to negotiate every encounter. Now, that would really be both challenging and fun - not to mention consistent with what this game is all about.

 

[Iyapo1]

As I was saying here:
If you want to come up with something demanding when people spend the event currency, please devise a Tournament or Spire-like series of encounters where people can either fight or use the event currency to negotiate every encounter.

So players who fight have tons of event currency and can just win everything and players who cater should just sit this one out because they wont get far

 

[The Unbeliever]

So players who fight have tons of event currency and can just win everything and players who cater should just sit this one out because they wont get far

Not just this, but everyone who doesn't yet have at a minimum ALL 3* troops unlocked is also royally fethed...
Look at Humans - until 3* Frogs come along, Humans are at a distinct disadvantage when needing Heavy Ranged fighters, because Ork Strats must get close - and thus easily within face-punching range, while Mortars are basically unplayable junk.
Likewise, any Elf player who doesn't yet have access to Blossoms is hilariously screwed over in mage-heavy fights, because Sorcs were nerfed into the ground a couple years ago, and Banshees get trounced by Heavy Infantry...

And that's not even taking into account the vast discrepancies between having a Fire Chicken vs. not having one, having vs. not having unit boosters, getting terrain screwed too often, etc, etc...
Fighting in this game has absolutely nothing to do with skill, but rather, the only thing that matters is if a player's production capabilities can out pace the janky RNG rigged costs.


Now, *IF* we want to have an event system that offers fighting vs. negotiating to be actually skill based vs. just ranDUMB, then we'd need the devs to also build a brand new, event exclusive fighting system, similar to how FoE built & implimented the Egyptian Settlement fighting system.
ie: NO city-based bonuses apply to Egypt Settlement fights, AND, the settlement uses it's own unique units. (ie: no Hover Tanks or Nail Gunners allowed!)
Under THIS system, players *MUST* learn how to skillfully use their own units vs. just relying on insane atk/def bonuses to curbstomp everything sight... and yes, it's not perfect, because Nubian Archers are dumb & OP as gak, meaning that 90%+ of fights can be won with just 8x Nubians, and only enemy Camel Riders are really, really scary.

 

[Raccon]

(ie: no Hover Tanks or Nail Gunners allowed!)

That sounds good, it would effectively put the Terminator ☆☆☆☆☆ Mist Walkers out of bussiness

 

[Moho]

So players who fight have tons of event currency and can just win everything and players who cater should just sit this one out because they wont get far

Sigh. You're asking me to do the devs' job.

I said that they could devise something based on that, not exactly like that. One can come up with various ideas if one's job is to find a solution to a problem. For example, the event currency could be used to hire military units (some sort of mercenaries) that were supposed to be used only in the encounters that belonged to the event. Alternatively, people who would rather cater should have the option to purchase special types of goods that were to be used solely to bribe the event-related ghosts.

This is just a random thought, but the devs have all the time in the world to devise their own ways to make events challenging and fun for the players on the one hand, and profitable for the company on the other. My point is that forcing players to grope through a so-called "misty forest" is a lame way to make the game "smarter" and there are tons of other methods to reach the aforementioned goals.