Winter Magic Event Feedback

[Deleted User - 691030]

I think their plan was ingenious, this event accomplished many goals for them:

1.) Get many players to play the event. This boosts player activity numbers which helps make INNO $$.
2.) Limit the number of smaller prizes we get. So we use our smaller prizes and past prizes over the course of this event. For a main prize that won't really help players past the first 5 or so chapters.
3.) Limit the number of Main prizes available, both the evolving building and the daily prizes.
4.) Increase diamond usage (to speed up quests in order to gain more ribbons). This also makes INNO $$.
5.) Get players to get rid of items that INNO has allowed players to stockpile (ie: time boosts, spells, catalysts, spell fragments).
6.) Decreasing the number of players speeding through guest races, by distracting them with events. This gives them more time to create guest races to keep their end game players from getting bored and finding other games to move on to.
7.) Offer a main prize that will entice players to play other parts of the game (Fellowship Adventures, Spire, Tournaments) to achieve the number of artifacts needed to evolve the building fully and gain items to replace what we used to get through this event. This also means we use more past prizes (ie: time boosts, spells). As well as distracts us from progressing through the research tree, and increases player activity.

The side effects are:
1.) A handful of members quit
2.) Forums full of complaints, they can ignore. Which by the way, these Forums don't get seen by prospective players. So doesn't damage incoming player numbers.
3.) And a slight chance that some players might find a flaw to get around their goals.

Sadly our happiness and enjoyment isn't a factor, as long as we don't quit the game in mass numbers. Many of us stay because our Fellowships are great, and we have invested a lot of time (and in some cases $$) to the game. They are not listening, and why should they?

 

[DeletedUser24365]

i made a new town,FIRST quest for winter fest,get an enchantment.so i have to wait every day to see if my help produces 1,on day 2 now.long way from the academy,so that is out.basically there is nothing i can do but wait and hope i get one .

 

[DeletedUser2870]

@blackbudahfly
Though your points are well taken they do seem to pass over one other pretty important aspect; players do NOT only communicate or complain on the forums. Seems not too many people leave feedback on the facebookpage (or negative feedback there is just removed), but on other game-related forums people do.
Not listening to your (paying) customers is always a bad strategy. And bad word-of-mouth reviews online or RT are a powerful thing.
yes, it will draw in new players (I've seen TV commercials for the game as well) but it will always remain a gamble to see if they will stick around AND start spending money, while you already KNOW at least a good part of your regular players do. Chasing those paying customers away is not exactly a smart move, yet that is what will happen if they keep on ignoring them. People who pay (or paid) real money will expect some entertainment in return. When that is no longer the case people will just move on.

 

[Deleted User - 691030]

@blackbudahfly
Though your points are well taken they do seem to pass over one other pretty important aspect; players do NOT only communicate or complain on the forums. Seems not too many people leave feedback on the facebookpage (or negative feedback there is just removed), but on other game-related forums people do.
Not listening to your (paying) customers is always a bad strategy. And bad word-of-mouth reviews online or RT are a powerful thing.
yes, it will draw in new players (I've seen TV commercials for the game as well) but it will always remain a gamble to see if they will stick around AND start spending money, while you already KNOW at least a good part of your regular players do. Chasing those paying customers away is not exactly a smart move, yet that is what will happen if they keep on ignoring them. People who pay (or paid) real money will expect some entertainment in return. When that is no longer the case people will just move on.

I definitely am NOT an INNO fan. I do not appreciate their lack of care for their customer base. However I do see the business model side. They are celebrating success, while we cry out in despair and disgust. My point is that action not words will be the only way we can get them to change things in our favor. For example if there is a major decline in actively participating players in events, they will offer more prizes and better prizes to draw us back into participating. If we complain but still participate they will just ignore us. If a massive amount of players quit after a game update that was taken very badly by players, they will change things immediately.

I do not want to quit playing Elvenar. But have significantly cut back in play time and in events. I used to go hard on every event. But now I am more of a 'ehh..so what' type of event player. I will say I do love my Fellowships, and the Fellowship Spire. But most other things are just middle of the road for me.

I have watched sadly as players around me have quit, many in later chapters who invested a lot of time in the game. Several in the Fellowships I belong to in different cities. My husband and all 3 of my teenagers quit, within the last year. Even SoggyShorts, who was a massive presence on the forums, had played for years and was in my Beta Fellowship, quit.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

It may still come I also didn't have a lot of scout quests in the whole event, but now on my 3rd one in the last 7. It happens.

I just got two Scout OR Research quests in the past 24 hours. For the first one, I had a scout 11 hours away from finishing, so I sped it up. For the second one, I had a research almost ready, so a few hours after getting the quest, it was done. I guess I am just getting lucky with the timing for these.

 

[Risen Malchiah]

I had a scout 11 hours away from finishing, so I sped it up.

For the Autumn event, I did that a lot since I wanted an extra set of bears. But for this event, I can't see the use of spending time boosters once you're in the bonus section. 11 hours of time boosters to get 20 ribbons, which isn't even half of what's needed for 1 prize box, which most likely won't return anything worth as much as the boosters used to get it.

 

[DeletedUser2870]

I definitely am NOT an INNO fan. I do not appreciate their lack of care for their customer base. However I do see the business model side. They are celebrating success, while we cry out in despair and disgust. My point is that action not words will be the only way we can get them to change things in our favor. For example if there is a major decline in actively participating players in events, they will offer more prizes and better prizes to draw us back into participating. If we complain but still participate they will just ignore us. If a massive amount of players quit after a game update that was taken very badly by players, they will change things immediately.

I do not want to quit playing Elvenar. But have significantly cut back in play time and in events. I used to go hard on every event. But now I am more of a 'ehh..so what' type of event player. I will say I do love my Fellowships, and the Fellowship Spire. But most other things are just middle of the road for me.

I have watched sadly as players around me have quit, many in later chapters who invested a lot of time in the game. Several in the Fellowships I belong to in different cities. My husband and all 3 of my teenagers quit, within the last year. Even SoggyShorts, who was a massive presence on the forums, had played for years and was in my Beta Fellowship, quit.

Same here. I've watched quite a few active players quit. Hell, I used to buy diamonds regularly when I started. I've taken 2 several months-long breaks from the game because I was disgusted with the game.
I still don't mind paying some, but my spending on this game has dropped by about 75%. I've set myself a budget for games and I'll spend that. If it's not going to be here, it's going to be somewhere else. As Inno has proven to be unreliable, I'm spending that money on another company now. That actually was my main reason for switching to a 10-chest FS since I just don't want to spend diamonds on upgrading magical buildings anymore. So despite the fact I really liked my old FS I made that switch and so they just keep losing money that I would have spent on this game as it's going elsewhere now.

Btw, their business model has other flaws as well, which I guess they were trying to fix with this event by cutting down on the prizes. If you -as a company- offer premium buildings that can only be bought for diamonds and then start handing out free event buildings that outperform those, you really don't have to be a genius to expect sales on those to drop. By clamping down on the prizes they probably hope to up the sales there. I'm not sure it will work though. What I do know, see and hear is that they are pissing off more and more of the players and like I said, that's never a good business model.

 

[Barklay]

Don't be so cheap
OMG I cant believe going to 20 after finishing the first quest line, on the winter time side game. I have played about 4 years and I am slowly losing interest in the innos money pit guys its no fun if it costs more to play, I am playing to burn a little time with friends. The spire costs way to much for the return our group is loosing interest and my group likes to play we are ranked 3rd in one of your worlds.

 

[DeletedUser21745]

Almost near the end of the event so it is time for feedback.

I have two Cities; one in the 10th chapter and one in the third chapter
In the 10th chapter I have reached the end of the first quest line and am down to receiving 20 ribbons per quest. i found the tasks along the way acceptable in difficulty, not too hard and not too easy. I did get a lot of repetition between producing goods and producing supplies which I found boring and somewhat tedious. A little more variety would have been appreciated. Thankfully I did not get the dreaded "Scout a province".

The first task that I received at 20 ribbons is "Produce 5 admirable alter with a manufactory from your current or previous chapter". I have advanced a chapter since the last event and I have not upgraded my tier 1 manufactorys so was disappointing when I went to collect and discovered that they are too low of a level to contribute to this quest. I have no need, no desire and no intention of upgrading my manufactory so with a week to go in the event I am now finished with this event. If these high level buildings are required for future events I will not be participating as I have NO INTENTION OF UPGRADING these buildings because they serve my playing style little purpose and I would rather use the room for something else.

I saved all of my ribbons that I had accumulated from the very beginning of the event and spent them all on one day for a daily prize that I wanted. I managed to get 12 of the daily prize. I do not like the prize board. The "reshuffle" is very annoying when you have most of the prize board opened and have not gotten the daily prize yet then get stuck with a reshuffle, hence losing all progress. Most of the prizes are crap. Very disappointing.

I was able to get 8 evolves and that is as far as it goes. If nothing else I can disenchant them.

In my chapter 3 City I am at 46 ribbons. Like my chapter 10 City I saved all of my ribbons for one daily prize. Luck was not with me however as I received only 3 of the daily prizes in my chapter 3 City. Reshuffle was not very kind to me.

Progressing through the quests was more difficult at Chapter 3. There was a noticeable difference between chapter 3 and chapter 10. In chapter 3 I have 6 evolved and don't know how much farther I will make it.

 

[DeletedUser4194]

Almost near the end of the event so it is time for feedback.

I have two Cities; one in the 10th chapter and one in the third chapter
In the 10th chapter I have reached the end of the first quest line and am down to receiving 20 ribbons per quest. i found the tasks along the way acceptable in difficulty, not too hard and not too easy. I did get a lot of repetition between producing goods and producing supplies which I found boring and somewhat tedious. A little more variety would have been appreciated. Thankfully I did not get the dreaded "Scout a province".

The first task that I received at 20 ribbons is "Produce 5 admirable alter with a manufactory from your current or previous chapter". I have advanced a chapter since the last event and I have not upgraded my tier 1 manufactorys so was disappointing when I went to collect and discovered that they are too low of a level to contribute to this quest. I have no need, no desire and no intention of upgrading my manufactory so with a week to go in the event I am now finished with this event. If these high level buildings are required for future events I will not be participating as I have NO INTENTION OF UPGRADING these buildings because they serve my playing style little purpose and I would rather use the room for something else.

I saved all of my ribbons that I had accumulated from the very beginning of the event and spent them all on one day for a daily prize that I wanted. I managed to get 12 of the daily prize. I do not like the prize board. The "reshuffle" is very annoying when you have most of the prize board opened and have not gotten the daily prize yet then get stuck with a reshuffle, hence losing all progress. Most of the prizes are crap. Very disappointing.

I was able to get 8 evolves and that is as far as it goes. If nothing else I can disenchant them.

In my chapter 3 City I am at 46 ribbons. Like my chapter 10 City I saved all of my ribbons for one daily prize. Luck was not with me however as I received only 3 of the daily prizes in my chapter 3 City. Reshuffle was not very kind to me.

Progressing through the quests was more difficult at Chapter 3. There was a noticeable difference between chapter 3 and chapter 10. In chapter 3 I have 6 evolved and don't know how much farther I will make it.

Thank you for the thorough run down. We will forward this feedback as well.

 

[shimmerfly]

But for this event, I can't see the use of spending time boosters once you're in the bonus section. 11 hours of time boosters to get 20 ribbons, which isn't even half of what's needed for 1 prize box, which most likely won't return anything worth as much as the boosters used to get it.

Exactly. The prizes don't balance with the resources you need to use to get them.
The shuffle thing is just plain silly. I never was a fan of Gingerbread. It may as well be fruitcake

 

[qaccy]

Just want to leave a comment for @blackbudahfly and others who may feel similarly, being upset over using things like time boosters for events. Don't things like this exist to be used, rather than hoarded? I don't understand why someone would be upset over using something that exists to be used.

 

[GlamDoll]

and others who may feel similarly, being upset over using things like time boosters for events. Don't things like this exist to be used, rather than hoarded? I don't understand why someone would be upset over using something that exists to be used.

Well, seeing that I got added into your post to @blackbudahfly , I thought I'd speak for myself, sense I loathe ANYONE else doing it for me. I don't understand why some people get upset over what other people get upset about, frankly. I am NOT upset, but to set the record straight...I will NOT waste any resources that I can't at least "break-even" on.

You seem to have a habit of judging & speaking for others, and I personally find it rude, among other things, when ANYONE does that. Hope it helps with your inquiry.

Edit: Seriously, there are much bigger issues going on here...

 

[Risen Malchiah]

Don't things like this exist to be used, rather than hoarded? I don't understand why someone would be upset over using something that exists to be used.

Yes, but there are good ways to use resources and there are wasteful ways. I wouldn't use a 20h instant on something that takes 3 hrs to complete. Likewise, I wouldn't use a lot of time boosters to complete a quest for ribbons which results in earning less than the resources used. The only way this makes sense is if someone really wants to squeeze in as many quests as possible to get as many grand prizes as possible. For a second set of bears (and enough artifacts to evolve them), that was worth it to me. For the gingerbread, not so much.

 

[DeletedUser4194]

Please remember to maintain a cordial tone towards each other. You may disagree without attacking each other.

 

[qaccy]

To @ElegantZara and @Enevhar Aldarion, I think there's a fairly simple solution that you both seem to be aware of. That being, don't use things like boosters on event quests if event quests are not a worthwhile use for them. But at the same time, it's better to use them for SOMETHING than to use them for nothing at all. A booster sitting in the inventory isn't saving any time, after all.

P.S. Zara, you may want to re-read my post. I wasn't upset at all, just curious about how people arrive at the conclusions they make. A lot of it seems to be driven by bias almost to the point of making them blind to anything but what they want to see.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

@qaccy Somewhere in all these posts I had commented that I save my time instants for the events, so it is all good.

 

[Risen Malchiah]

But at the same time, it's better to use them for SOMETHING than to use them for nothing at all. A booster sitting in the inventory isn't saving any time, after all.

Certainly if they're never used, then it's a waste. But I like to keep resources like time boosters, KP instants, etc to use when a particular need arises. Instantly upgrading the barracks or trader is a great use (no downtime or inability to trade). And now with the Brown Bear, time boosters are massively valuable (and worth hoarding to refill troops). Upgrading certain settlement buildings or a portal at the opportune time could save an entire day or more. Or on the rare occasion you get multiple pet foods and an unleashed unit to craft at the same time and need to complete some before it resets.

Point is... there are wasteful ways and good ways to spend resources. I don't believe in the "spend it now or it's a waste" mindset or I'd spend my entire paycheck in a day.

 

[DeletedUser2870]

Just want to leave a comment for @blackbudahfly and others who may feel similarly, being upset over using things like time boosters for events. Don't things like this exist to be used, rather than hoarded? I don't understand why someone would be upset over using something that exists to be used.

That depends entirely on your style of play. I use timeboosters for a lot of things, but I am NOT going to use them to speed up scouting as the boosters hardly make a dent. I prefer to use them for upgrading certain buildings and to speed up my troopbuilding, especially when the brown bear is being fed. But using 3 or 4 20-hour boosters to speed up a 4-day scouting process for just a few ribbons is a ridiculous waste in my eyes. So it's not happening.

And I 'hoard' some spells. Mostly because I just don't have any use for them and just keep getting them from either tourneys or events. Sure, I could disenchant them, but why should I? As long as they are spells I can choose how to use them or when to disenchant them. Once disenchanted I can't use them as spells any more. I have no need to disenchant them, I have about 15K spellfragments ready even though I'm pretty much crafting all the time when I see stuff I want/need.
Timeboosters I also hoard. Because I like having them ready when I need them. That is different from wasting them on skimpy rewards in a lousy event.

 

[Risen Malchiah]

And I 'hoard' some spells. Mostly because I just don't have any use for them and just keep getting them from either tourneys or events. Sure, I could disenchant them, but why should I? As long as they are spells I can choose how to use them or when to disenchant them.

Haha yeah. With my tourney, I have almost 2k PoP & EE spells (each) even while using them occasionally & never making them. Great source of fragments when a quest asks for them, or as a quick mana farm.