Getting tired of having to relearn the game

[Cobra]

I have been playing dominations since the beginning of the game.


Apologies in in advance for the following rant:


here seems to be the life cycle Nexon wants players to go thru

Learn how to play the game
A. Learn the buildings, troops, tactics, etc
B. Pick a troop composition and a defensive configuration that suits your style
C. Have fun
D. Learn how to work around the many bugs in the game
E. Wait for Nexon to decide to change the way the game operates by decreasing troop, tactic abilities, adding new buildings ( uni, museum etc) , introducing new pay to win troop types, etc
F. Fun level drops
G. Go back to step A or quit game

by my count the 2018 rebalancing is the fourth time the game has significantly changed

Change 1: Romans and Greeks too strong, significantly weaken Roman soldiers and Greek cavalry
Reason: To stop people from using one troop type in their attacks
Result: General dissatisfaction, many players abandoned game, players started using a mix of troop types
Fun level drops
take a break from the game

Change 2: introduce UNI, troop cards, and bazooka towers
Result: Attacks became harder because you did not know what uni upgrades had been applied, bazooka tower kills attacking troops very quickly
General dissatisfaction, many people abandoned game
Many people bought troop cards to help their attacks
Fun level drops

Change 3: introduce museum and missile silo
Result. Attacks get harder, missile silo kills attacking troops, (but not as fast as bazooka tower)



Change 4: 2018 rebalance
Result: Attacks get harder, resource collection becomes harder, putting up with troops shooting at walls, ignoring defensive buildings and getting killed becomes more than frustrating
Fun level drops


isn’t A game supposed to be fun and not frustrating ?

Someone else already asked this question, but I did not see an answer
isn’t the game about attacking and looting so a civilization can advance. Why would Nexon make attacking harder ?
Relearning how to succeed in the game every 6 months or so seems a poor game design.

i would also point out (some else mentioned this as well), troop types are not being used because their AI is poor and they get killed very easily. If Nexon really wants to rebalance the game and have all troop types used ..... FIX THE POOR ATTACK AI, so the troops
1) don’t shoot at walls when a hole is available to use
2) move within range of defensive buildings only to ignore the building so the building can kill the unit
3). Get easily killed, (saboteur, AH, bazooka, etc)
4). I see tanks eagerly rush an AT that is behind a wall so the AT easily kills the tank
5) I see infantry move within range of mortars so they can be killled
6). I see cannons separate from the infantry and archers so the wonder unprotected and can be killed

better rebalancing solution

fix these issues and you will rebalance the game without making buildings harder to destroy, and without reducing the ability of troop units and tactics !!

 

[Bedlam]

Well said sir.

 

[pckrn]

i dont really see 3 to 6 as problems, but i agree relearning can be annoying. would be less annoying if retrain times were reduced

 

[heist]

Good post. It is exactly how I feel. The game is not fun anymore and I've gone from a hardcore player to logging in once every few days doing one attack and quitting.

After investing so much time I have no interest in relearning how to play the game again.

 

[Manifesto]

This will no doubt get me some detractors but, regardless of my feelings for the ridiculous defensive changes, what’s wrong with relearning how you play? Is your life normally so static that nothing changes?
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having to relearn things. What happens when you change nations? Do you even change nations?
When you change a nation you have to learn a new strategy, how to use the unique unit. So you have to change and adapt a little when they rebalance, so what? It’s not a big deal, especially if you’re an experienced player.

 

[Shadrock]

For you, this is a game in which you spend too much time on but lets you pass time. For Nexon, This is a business.

Making the game harder to advance means you buy more crowns and troop cards. They will make it as hard as possible until people start quitting, because that generates more revenue. They likely had a behavioral psychologist and MBA do an assessment to drive more revenue while ensuring people stay hooked. It is only about increasing revenue. The only way they change is if their post launch analysis shows less revenue.

I have no problem with that, and I can quit whenever I want if I do not like it. Just don't lie and say it is about fun. Just say you are rebalancing the game and leave it at that.

 

[yemen]

The complete waste of investment in decoys is an irritating bat and switch. This game drives us to optimize all of our decisions by making all the options take so long, and when they make a big change like this it is like wasting a month of progress.

Change in this game costs time, and lots of it. It isn't just a question of switching over to things already done for most of us. That is why the first tactics change offended so many.

 

[Manifesto]

yemen , I agree with everything you said.
But, doesn’t make me change what I said.

 

[kosno]

What is so much fun to have 7 decoys in the inventory and randomly droping them in front of your army. At least that is what i was doing last 6 months and i am still doing it even they last shorter but still long enough to take the defenders around them with planes


this is a strategy game so the fun part should be to develop a strategy how to use your workers to advance more efficiently than the others. And to adapt to the changes of the meta by developing different strategies. Using the same method to grind resources over and over that is what is boring.

also now when i am over lvl 200 and the upgrades are getting longer i do not need to raid 4 hours a day to keep the upgrades going and i am finally free to get back to a real life every once in a while


oh and btw there is nothing wrong with rushing the ages my base is 205 atomic age with quite outdated defenses but i am having so much fun when attackers above my age are breaking on my walls in War. in mp my base has unprotected resources as i can raid more than i can lose and with 23 % looted resources refund my defense log is floded with resources that are safe from raiders amd i can tap in them whenever i need a boost

 

[yemen]

Fair enough. I don't feel like this has forced me to relearn anything. Heavy tanks were already in my toolbox and became more effective, my old APC / howitzers /bazooka / ranged infantry still works just a bit less effectively, and the tactics I had upgraded are worse so now I am using others that weren't upgraded, so the irritating time waste mentioned before.

I haven't found any of the other unit modifications to be worth the time, so no positive changes for those.

 

[Imaera]

Well, there are a few wrong things. Let's see.
Years/money spent in university researching things that are now useless.
Years/money spent upgrading troops and tactics that are now useless.
Museum: atifacts kept and upgraded that are now useless. Artifacts tossed that used to be uselles, now are vital, impossible to get back.
These are just a few examples.
The real problem is that we were duped. We paid for something with our time, or our cash, or both and now that something was erased.

 

[oddin]

the last week I logged in only to read the chat and keep an open connection to my mates. that is all. And this come from a hardcore player.
I have done 0 attacks and found that only 3 times I was attacked. two with raiders and one with full cwa army. None was 5 star.

if that is what nexon wants, then be my guest! What a great success this rebalance was!!

 

[Shadrock]

You had the option of not using decoys before. You could have fought CWA bases before if you wanted a challenge. You had the option before to be defensive by improving the Uni.

What has happened is that they have removed certain play styles from the game and people are unhappy. All of those players are unhappy, because this is not the game they loved playing. Congrats on being happy with it, but their opinion is just as valid as yours, and they shouldn't be forced to play like you.

They said that sandbagging is part of the game, but so we're those other play styles. They took them away anyway.

 

[Persia]

Well, there are a few wrong things. Let's see.
Years/money spent in university researching things that are now useless.
Years/money spent upgrading troops and tactics that are now useless.
Museum: atifacts kept and upgraded that are now useless. Artifacts tossed that used to be uselles, now are vital, impossible to get back.
These are just a few examples.
The real problem is that we were duped. We paid for something with our time, or our cash, or both and now that something was erased.

Very well said. Nexon’s incredibly out of touch (or they just don’t give a f***, equally as plausible!) with the playerbase. All they’re doing is alienating everyone except for the players whose lives literally revolve around the game. This doesn’t “challenge people to change their strategy,” it just screws you over if you don’t want to wait to build a full army, planes, generals, and use troop cards for 5 stars. Might as well have spent that time in the uni upgrading stuff that’s now weak on upgrading defence and advancing ages to maximise defence some more.

 

[forgetthis]

This game is designed to require money or months of time to aignificantly advance your nation's strength. When Nexon rebalances, it isn't just a question of relearning. It's dealing with having your invested time or money having been rendered worthless, and needing to reinvest a bunch more time and money just to get back to break even with where you were a week ago.

Plus, re-learning carries a penalty of time and money with each failed attack. It isn't fun to try a new army configuration, and when it fails, needing to choose between waiting hours or plunking down a few more bucks to line Nexon's pockets. It gets worse when you realize that the now-better strategies won't work for you without months of upgrade time, and that there is nothing to stop Nexon from switching up the rules yet again as soon as you finish those upgrades.

Yes, a person can choose to take the Pollyanna view that this rebalance presents an opportunity to learn fun new wrinkles to the game. But I was pissed back when I built my strategy around the Greek empire only to see the nation nerfed, and I am now permanently tired of Nexon implementing rule changes that set my nation back several months whenever they want to goose their revenues. I'm not getting drawn in again. I'm moving on to other games.

 

[Mike1]

Well, there are a few wrong things. Let's see.
Years/money spent in university researching things that are now useless.
Years/money spent upgrading troops and tactics that are now useless.
Museum: atifacts kept and upgraded that are now useless. Artifacts tossed that used to be uselles, now are vital, impossible to get back.
These are just a few examples.
The real problem is that we were duped. We paid for something with our time, or our cash, or both and now that something was erased.

I hope Nexon reads this post, it is bang on. I am noe hesitant to do anything with the museum because I don't know what's going to happen next. I won't spend another dollar on the game right now. They think they are playing us but we can turn the tables easily by playing but not spending money until they listen to us. Is anybody at Nexon even playing this game?