Darielle
Chef, Scroll-Keeper, and Buddy Fan Club Member
The following was what I was going to say on the Beta forum. But I couldn't. There's another glitch. I've reconfirmed my email 10 times, but every time I try to register for the beta forum, I get a popup telling me to confirm my email. Anyway, this is what I would have said on the beta forum if I had been allowed to do so:
I want to tell the mods, and maybe the Elvenar team, why I am quitting the beta game. And before you say, "Don't let the door hit ya on the way out, buddy," please understand that I am trying to help the team understand what's wrong. I love this game; I want it to succeed. I think my experience can help toward that end.
I started a beta city a week ago, thinking that it would be nice to have a heads up on events. First, I encountered a glitch where I could not give or get gifts. Coin and supply opportunity lost. It took the Elvenar team 3 days to fix, since it started near the weekend (as luck would have it, just when I started the beta city).
So I began the Halloween event with a glitch.
2nd, I "had" to buy 8 knowledge points … just starting out. You know how hard that is to get enough coins, particularly when the opportunity to get and give coins is shot by a glitch? Mind you, this quest is among all the other ones on the side that require you to BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY. But I finally make it. By the time I finish the 8 kp, the cost of kp is up to about 10K coins each. Wow. I know it's hard to believe that 10K coins mean a lot for those of us who have millions (in my case, in Sinya), but yeah, it's a lot.
3rd, Immediately after finishing that 8 kp quest, I get ANOTHER BUY 8 kp quest…. at even higher cost, of course. (And no, I'm not talking about "or" this … no alternative.) And I had 3 quests on the side (the event and 2 others) telling me to buy stuff. With what? My looks? Of course I put down as many houses as possible, but upgrading the houses to a decent size costs … you guessed it … thousands of coins.
4th, I got a quest to have 2 combined catalysts. Please note that for a new player, the 2 combined catalysts takes almost 2 days to accomplish.
5th Oh joy … this time they want me to BUY 12 KP! Again, with what? Somehow, yesterday, I managed to accomplish this insane repetition.
6th: In addition, I had to get 12 relics. Remember, I have no army, so I have to cater (with yep, coins that I don't have.) I have no tournament provinces except one. I have no way to craft relics in the MA because I have no spell frags with which to craft them, and nothing to disenchant to get spell frags. I have no access to the spire. But somehow, I manage to get all this too, despite it taking me what seemed like forever compared to events in my Sinya city. Yes, things should be harder for newbies … but not "turnoff" hard.
7th Today, I got a quest saying to put 15 kp into a wonder. I think to myself "Good, at least I don't have to BUY the kp!" Guess what …. You CANNOT help on any wonder unless you have unlocked the wonder research at the END of chapter two. It's been so long that I'd forgotten that fact. And how the hell is anyone going to GET to the end of chapter two if every research is locked and they can't use the KP because they have no more coins and goods to unlock more research? All that kp doing nothing but sitting there. The last thing that Inno should be doing to a brand new player is telling them "You have to put KP into a wonder for this event, but you can't do it until you get to the end of chapter two, which may take you a month and the event that you're doing it for will be over by then. Tough luck." That's just completely bonkers.
So I decided to concentrate on the non-event quests and ignore the event completely … which by the way, was the only reason I started a beta account in the first place.
8th, oh joy …. I just got a non-event quest to … guess what? BUY KP!
To add to all of this, I'll need 11 more provinces before I can unlock Chapter 3 (I just started Chapter 2). Right now, many of my provinces are "hard" … so I can't unlock more without pushing them to "very hard." So how am I supposed to get 11 more provinces to unlock the next chapter? I've finished all the provinces I can (except 1). I've done all the SSUs available to me. It makes no sense. This is not a case of overscouting. I'm aware of that problem and trying hard to avoid it. So what gives?
Now I know what all of you may say. Just chill and go slow and don't worry about it. In my sinya ID, I've been playing for 2 years and I understand. But … what if I were a player that had played maybe a few weeks or months before opening a beta account? What if I'd never frequented the forum and didn't understand that quests are meant to be done only after building up? What if I were just trying to do everything the game "told me to do"?
The point is, the game SHOULD NOT BE TELLING brand new players to do the impossible. It should not offer quests that cannot be done within a few days. The start of this game takes Herculean nerves of steel and patience and disappointment, and that's only if you have some familiarity with it. Otherwise, it's a complete nightmare.
That isn't the way to draw people in. Inno should be aware of this. I'm not trying to whine. I'm trying to help with feedback. If one of your die-hard Elvenar lovers can get sick of the game when trying to play as a newbie on Beta, then maybe you ought to think how to change that. I didn't expect easy. I expected possible. Thanks.
And yeah … okay guys … I won't let the door hit me on the way out.
I want to tell the mods, and maybe the Elvenar team, why I am quitting the beta game. And before you say, "Don't let the door hit ya on the way out, buddy," please understand that I am trying to help the team understand what's wrong. I love this game; I want it to succeed. I think my experience can help toward that end.
I started a beta city a week ago, thinking that it would be nice to have a heads up on events. First, I encountered a glitch where I could not give or get gifts. Coin and supply opportunity lost. It took the Elvenar team 3 days to fix, since it started near the weekend (as luck would have it, just when I started the beta city).
So I began the Halloween event with a glitch.
2nd, I "had" to buy 8 knowledge points … just starting out. You know how hard that is to get enough coins, particularly when the opportunity to get and give coins is shot by a glitch? Mind you, this quest is among all the other ones on the side that require you to BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY. But I finally make it. By the time I finish the 8 kp, the cost of kp is up to about 10K coins each. Wow. I know it's hard to believe that 10K coins mean a lot for those of us who have millions (in my case, in Sinya), but yeah, it's a lot.
3rd, Immediately after finishing that 8 kp quest, I get ANOTHER BUY 8 kp quest…. at even higher cost, of course. (And no, I'm not talking about "or" this … no alternative.) And I had 3 quests on the side (the event and 2 others) telling me to buy stuff. With what? My looks? Of course I put down as many houses as possible, but upgrading the houses to a decent size costs … you guessed it … thousands of coins.
4th, I got a quest to have 2 combined catalysts. Please note that for a new player, the 2 combined catalysts takes almost 2 days to accomplish.
5th Oh joy … this time they want me to BUY 12 KP! Again, with what? Somehow, yesterday, I managed to accomplish this insane repetition.
6th: In addition, I had to get 12 relics. Remember, I have no army, so I have to cater (with yep, coins that I don't have.) I have no tournament provinces except one. I have no way to craft relics in the MA because I have no spell frags with which to craft them, and nothing to disenchant to get spell frags. I have no access to the spire. But somehow, I manage to get all this too, despite it taking me what seemed like forever compared to events in my Sinya city. Yes, things should be harder for newbies … but not "turnoff" hard.
7th Today, I got a quest saying to put 15 kp into a wonder. I think to myself "Good, at least I don't have to BUY the kp!" Guess what …. You CANNOT help on any wonder unless you have unlocked the wonder research at the END of chapter two. It's been so long that I'd forgotten that fact. And how the hell is anyone going to GET to the end of chapter two if every research is locked and they can't use the KP because they have no more coins and goods to unlock more research? All that kp doing nothing but sitting there. The last thing that Inno should be doing to a brand new player is telling them "You have to put KP into a wonder for this event, but you can't do it until you get to the end of chapter two, which may take you a month and the event that you're doing it for will be over by then. Tough luck." That's just completely bonkers.
So I decided to concentrate on the non-event quests and ignore the event completely … which by the way, was the only reason I started a beta account in the first place.
8th, oh joy …. I just got a non-event quest to … guess what? BUY KP!
To add to all of this, I'll need 11 more provinces before I can unlock Chapter 3 (I just started Chapter 2). Right now, many of my provinces are "hard" … so I can't unlock more without pushing them to "very hard." So how am I supposed to get 11 more provinces to unlock the next chapter? I've finished all the provinces I can (except 1). I've done all the SSUs available to me. It makes no sense. This is not a case of overscouting. I'm aware of that problem and trying hard to avoid it. So what gives?
Now I know what all of you may say. Just chill and go slow and don't worry about it. In my sinya ID, I've been playing for 2 years and I understand. But … what if I were a player that had played maybe a few weeks or months before opening a beta account? What if I'd never frequented the forum and didn't understand that quests are meant to be done only after building up? What if I were just trying to do everything the game "told me to do"?
The point is, the game SHOULD NOT BE TELLING brand new players to do the impossible. It should not offer quests that cannot be done within a few days. The start of this game takes Herculean nerves of steel and patience and disappointment, and that's only if you have some familiarity with it. Otherwise, it's a complete nightmare.
That isn't the way to draw people in. Inno should be aware of this. I'm not trying to whine. I'm trying to help with feedback. If one of your die-hard Elvenar lovers can get sick of the game when trying to play as a newbie on Beta, then maybe you ought to think how to change that. I didn't expect easy. I expected possible. Thanks.
And yeah … okay guys … I won't let the door hit me on the way out.