29 replies to this topic

[mountbara]

I have no problems with allowing party tickets to be bought, I know many will complain that the party temple can be bought now, but that's how the game rolls, diamonds. But to remove something people earned and held on to because they want to make a game change without giving any notice at all is sad, mind blowing and ridiculous., Ok developers, we get it. You simply do not care.

[mountbara]

A thought just occurred to me, thanks to this change, it is now possible to buy experience points, which was not possible before. There was a limiter, when you ran out of energy, you were done for the day. Now, you can buy party tickets, buy mission finishes, power through them, the amount of xp you can gain in one day is limited only by the amount of money you wish to spend. Not sure this was completely though through.

 

 

 

Never mind, one ticket per day. So you can no longer get multiple tickets in a day either, that also sucks. Now I have to wonder if they changed the randomizer so you "have" to buy a ticket because you are no longer getting them for free as often.

Edited by mountbara, 21 November 2017 - 12:01 PM.

[mimesis]

I totally agree.
I have created an erotic chat and i will simply invite my studio mates there.
My pussy will be happy and my wallet as well.
I have finished my peepee break and i have to go back to work but i will come back on this point! My pussy is furious!!!

[CaptC]

On Nutaku, you have been able to buy energy directly, for almost a year. At the time that was deployed, I thought the game was over. But the fact there are only 24 hours in the day is the limiting factor there.

 

One party per day, but you can buy it, will help the less diligent. Those of us that worked for our tickets are slightly penalized... but the rewards for the party include skill points.  Overall, different but I don't think necessarily imbalanced.

 

We will see.

[mountbara]

this means I will have to wait until I do all the parties to put this in my help guide, so I can figure out what's new in them.

[Terrorsin]

I'll have to see how "greatly increased" the chance of a party ticket is.  What if I get the ticket at the end of the day?  There may not be enough time to party, and use up my energy before reset!  I'm not spending 99 diamonds for that.  There should be a one hour polyamory deal for 5 diamonds.

 

[PAUL69]

Boy is this going to give those with very deep pockets a very big advantage in the next party temple task.

 

I have to wonder how long before this so call free game dies because of stuff like this? LOL

[mountbara]

Boy is this going to give those with very deep pockets a very big advantage in the next party temple task.

 

I have to wonder how long before this so call free game dies because of stuff like this? LOL

Actually, this makes the party temple more of a "who's got the most active members" advantage. We used to, in our studio, have several people who averaged over 1 ticket a day. Now that's it, one ticket, that's all you will get.

[TaraBing]

It's been 30+ hours since game update.  I'm still looking for my first ticket.  So much for once a day.

 

I'm not so sure I like the idea of a timer counting down from the same day you do eventually find your ticket.  If that IS how it works.  

 

My suggestion would be to give your current ticket, 24 hours + to be used, and maybe leave UP TO one extra ticket in reserve.

 

 

-TB 

 

 

UPDATE:  Ha, no sooner did I post this, I found my first party ticket.  The devs must have read this.  Riii-ight... 

 

 

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[mountbara]

What a huge surprise, the next temple is, yep you guessed it, party missions. So much for any integrity the game may have had.

[CaptC]

Confirmed: If you get a late party ticket, start it. You will be able to finish the party, even after reset. And it will not count against you, you can get another party ticket that day.

[Lizbeth]

Various thoughts on the changes to Parties, in terms of limits, drop rates, etc.

#1 - Giving 1 skill point per boss defeat is very nice, especially since SP cost me almost 1 million each. On the other hand, it kind of makes parties feel like yet another compulsory "Daily" if one wishes to keep up with others. This is a YMMV situation since we're dealing in perception and feelsy.

#2 - Limiting parties to one-per-day and increasing their drop rate is actually very good from a player balancing perspective. While random luck applied and perhaps still does, generally speaking the way the game worked was that the more energy you expended in a day, the more likely you would encounter one or multiple party tickets. Therefore in the past, members of studios with multiple energy trophies and/or those willing to buy additional energy, could "brute force" their way towards multiple party tickets per day during a related temple event. No more! By increasing their drop rate, it also makes it more likely that an active player using the base of 100 energy + 3-4 refills should be able to find one ticket daily, eliminating any advantage conveyed to studios with energy trophies.

If anything, be happy they limited all players to one per day. Imagine if Party tickets were unlimited coupled with Unlimited Energy + Massively Increased Drop Rate + Ability to perform parties concurrent with expending mission energy + Ability to buy Party tickets + 3 SP per completion (as well as additional experience/notes) ... that would have been the very epitome of pay to win.

#3 - The ability to perform parties concurrently with regular mission energy, in the same way we can produce films concurrent with missions, is a convenience feature that I feel the player base deserved to receive freely. So much has been added to this game in the past two years that has increased daily playing time, the developers would be wise to consider ways to reduce some of this game's grind to improve the player experience and enhance player retention, but meh, that's me.

#4 - Similarly, making party tickets expire within 24 hours seems an unnecessary change. Sometimes people just get busy, and wind up sitting on them for a few days until they have time, why penalize them?

It has been confirmed that you can start a party just before the server reset, and finish it during the "new" day without it counting towards your one-a-day daily limit, comparable to films. Therefore, this does nothing to eliminate studio members from sitting on a party ticket attained during Wednesday, starting it just before the server reset, and completing it Thursday in the AM to get an extra "eighth" party completed during a related temple event. If that was not the case, THEN this change would make more sense, as it would then be another improvement towards studio balance. Since it doesn't eliminate this trick, it just seems a needless player inconvenience in a game that could use more conveniences, not fewer. Put simply, it addresses no problem, thus I am left to wonder why?

[mountbara]

It has been confirmed that you can start a party just before the server reset, and finish it during the "new" day without it counting towards your one-a-day daily limit, comparable to films. Therefore, this does nothing to eliminate studio members from sitting on a party ticket attained during Wednesday, starting it just before the server reset, and completing it Thursday in the AM to get an extra "eighth" party completed during a related temple event. If that was not the case, THEN this change would make more sense, as it would then be another improvement towards studio balance. Since it doesn't eliminate this trick, it just seems a needless player inconvenience in a game that could use more conveniences, not fewer. Put simply, it addresses no problem, thus I am left to wonder why?

 

 

because having them expire "may" force you to buy one. This and the ability to earn multiple parties through missions was an unnecessary change.  If you can purchase one and it eliminates the chance of getting one in missions, or if you can earn as many as you can get in missions, that's fine. I think it was just easier for them to program it this way. Not opining on what I think about taking the easier way of doing things

[CaptC]

It has been confirmed that you can start a party just before the server reset, and finish it during the "new" day without it counting towards your one-a-day daily limit, comparable to films. Therefore, this does nothing to eliminate studio members from sitting on a party ticket attained during Wednesday, starting it just before the server reset, and completing it Thursday in the AM to get an extra "eighth" party completed during a related temple event. If that was not the case, THEN this change would make more sense, as it would then be another improvement towards studio balance. Since it doesn't eliminate this trick, it just seems a needless player inconvenience in a game that could use more conveniences, not fewer. Put simply, it addresses no problem, thus I am left to wonder why?

 

That's the kind of trick smart studios and aggressive players will look for, and exploit.  (This tactic is helped if you know what Temple is coming in advance... another trick left for the intelligent reader.)

It is a fairly minor advantage that requires a little effort and planning, and that requires no diamond spending. I am not upset even in the slightest, that smart dedicated players can find such an edge.

[Lizbeth]

It's not that I am especially upset, it's simply that outside of the potential motive Mountbara suggested, I don't see much of a reason for the expiration of tickets. I tend to look at actions from the perspective of, what is the goal?

 

Will it notably increase diamond expenditure by the player base? I do not believe so, not so much that it will be statistically significant enough to warrant changing a 2+ year old mechanic.

 

Will it prevent, as you phrased it, smart studios and aggressive players, from being able to use to help with a specific temple type? Nope.

 

Does it enhance or improve the player experience in some way? I don't see that being the case either.

 

Without being able to know what the goal was, I cannot then begin to understand it, even from a strictly pragmatic or Machiavellian perspective. As I said, they changed a 2+ year old mechanic, possibly even longer since I have not been playing as long as others, that literally no player I am aware of ever voiced a problem with, yet along desired to be changed. It leaves me shrugging my shoulders is all.

 

Oh well, their call...

[CaptC]

I dunno if Playata is going to get rich from it, but the intent is pretty clearly to let people pay for parties, without that mere fact completely unbalancing the game.

 

Buying parties is essentially the same as letting players buy high levels of experience, notes and gear every 15 to 20 minutes (even assuming they aren't pushing the missions.) There has to be SOME limit, as you have already stated, Lizbeth.

 

I think this change is not for the highly active player. It is for the casual player, and a bit of a leveled playing field between cash and free players. Casual, time-constrained players can still run a party a day, even if they don't do enough missions to normally get many tickets. Free, active players get the advantage of an increased drop rate, so they can compete for party goodies.

 

Those of us in the forums would appear not to be the target audience. We are all too active, and have gotten multiple tickets before. But highly active players, cash or free, STILL get an advantage over others. You have to burn that ticket or lose it, which active players will do. And active players also have the best chance of generating a new ticket each day.

[mountbara]

Based on the last temple in US2, I would say that the most active studios had a decided advantage. We had over 5000 points on second place.

[Lizbeth]

I don't question the wisdom or reasoning to allow players to BUY a ticket, especially the casual ones who may be less likely to encounter one in daily play since it still can require a substantial expenditure of time to consume enough energy to find one. Not at all. Makes perfect sense to me from a gaming and financial perspective to allow people to buy them, and then, put a limit, to keep it balanced.

 

That's a subtle change, one could assert is actually an improvement or refinement, that builds upon the existing mechanic and game play that has existed.

 

It's only the expiration of tickets whose purpose seems ambiguous and highly speculative on our parts, in trying to decipher why. It's a change to a mechanic after 2+ years of game that I find serves a specious purpose at best IMO.

 

Otherwise, as it stands, the very same person who is likely to be the target audience for the ability to buy tickets, ie the casual, more time constrained player, is ALSO the very same person who may purchase a ticket and forget to use it in time and/or have something popup and be unable to get back to the game to use it in time, and now poof they've just spent diamonds for something that disappeared. That doesn't seem friendly to the casual player, it seems needlessly punitive!

 

I cannot tell you how many times I, and others I know, purchased energy, only to have the server be taken down without notice, and we just blew diamonds on something we did not get to use.

 

What happens to the player who now buys a ticket an hour or two before a server reset, FULLY INTENDING to use it, only to suddenly be unable to use their purchase because the server gets taken down?

 

I don't come onto the forums and complain about much in this game, even if I am unhappy about a change. Heck, I rarely post at all. ROFL. The fact that I take enough issue with this aspect to still object, says something.

 

How about a reasonable, player friendly compromise be instituted. Give a person 48 or 72 hours to use a ticket, or at the very least, have that 24 hours be from the time you acquire (either by finding OR purchasing) the ticket, instead of tying the expiration to the daily server reset.

 

It is possible for a change to both increase developer revenue AND be player friendly

Edited by Lizbeth, 30 November 2017 - 10:13 PM.