Flight Rising Discussion

[quote name="VagabondSentinel" date="2014-12-26 18:23:11"] [b]Four: The Coliseum is not a core game element, or, if it is, then the devs have failed abysmally.[/b] Several people have said that the Coliseum is a core game element, and that those who say they don't participate in it are ignoring a major aspect of the game. This line of thinking is intrinsically wrong. First off, core game elements are things that either cannot be avoided or are largely detrimental to avoid. Gathering is a core game element. Breeding is arguably a core game element. Pretty much everything else is not. If you can play this game and get a lot out of it for a year without touching the Coliseum, it is not a core game element. If it is intended to be, then that is a critical design flaw on the part of the devs. Secondly, if the Coliseum is a core game element, then there is a very, very serious problem, because [i]the Coliseum is and has been broken[/i]. There are a half-dozen or better [i]known issues[/i] with the coliseum that significantly detrimentally impact a player's ability to perform. While that by no means makes it impossible (I regularly grind in the Coli, myself, with a very high success rate), it is not acceptable for a core game element in a game to be broken and remain unrepaired for this long. If it's a core game element, something is wrong, and if it's not ... something is still wrong, because it is made critical to the completion of this event.[/quote] Man, this. If the coli is a core game element then I've been playing it wrong for ix months, because after an initial burst of enthusiasm for it when I started, the only thing I've used it for before this event is levelling the very occasional exalt fodder I have to level five. Level five because anything beyond that takes ages and is boring because as previously stated I find the coli boring except in short bursts so my highest level dragons are only level fourteen. I can make money through other ways than the coli, and I do. Yet there seem to be a HUGE focus on the coli for a lot of people. If you ask how to make more money, the answer is invariably 'grind the coli'. It's great that people enjoy it even if bits of it are broken, and great that they make it proftable, but it can't be the answer to everything. This doesn't bother me overmuch because boy am I casual about this game (I have to be; on my good days I can max out the Lucky Streak on Jigsaw, but if I expected that of myself every day I'd be burnt out before I could blink. I haven't even had the energy for one or two jigsaws recently, and my computer won't let me play Tidal Trouble without crashing), but I can see how it would bother others. Plus, even with the festivals, if you don't coli grind it's inevitable that if you want one of everything you're going to have to buy some currency because gathering won't drop enough- or at least that's what I've had to do for the past few festivals (part of me is now wondering if festival currency seems to react the same as the chests are- if you're higher level you get fewer. I have been seeing that in action lately with the chests, too. Hit level 20 digging today and got eight chests). Plus I find it kind of amusing that despite actually doing a fair amount of grinding (well, for me) over the first couple of days of the event, I haven't had a single familiar drop in the coli independent of the festival either. xP [quote name="VagabondSentinel" date="2014-12-26 18:23:11"] [b]Five: Stating that you can just 'save and buy it' is not a solution.[/b] I'm not going to spend much time on this one. I don't need to. The long and short of this is that, if the solution to the broken elements of this event boil down to, "pawn the problem off on someone else and just buy the stuff you want", then the problems are too significant to function. This is not solving the problem. This is throwing a rug over it and hoping nobody notices. This was released as an event, not a purchasable in the marketplace. As such, it needs to be considered and analyzed [i]as[/i] an event - not turned into a purchasable on the auction house and called 'good enough'. That doesn't fix anything. [/quote] I saw someone disagreeing with this and saying that buying the chests and eggs and such isn't a rug but an alternative way of participating and I have to say, well- if you're not trying to get chests any way than just buying them, you're not really 'participating', the way I see it. I mean it is a legit way to get chests, and about the only way if you can't coli grind and gathering isn't giving you jack, but it doesn't have the same feel to it. I know that I prize my nocturne more because I ground for the chest containing her egg- it's the same reason I continue to erratically save for genes for my bajillion and one gene projects, because it feels good to look at completed ones and know that I earned it. If you're given a special way to earn something, then it's completely valid to acquire the thing through normal means, yes, and I'm not arguing with anyone who chooses to do that because I probably will too, but it doesn't have the same participatory feel to it.

I'm at 1400 chests without a single scroll.

I've farmed for stuff before. Ran raids or dungeons every day/week on World of Warcraft. Built up enough fodder to trade for rare pets on other virtual pet sites. etc.

But dang is this exhausting x.x

@Pokemon I don't think they were suggesting that buying things is an invalid playstyle?

I think the argument here is that it would be nice if the event itself was more fun to participate in so that people didn't have to resort to buying if they didn't want to. (Which, in such an RNG-heavy event, many people probably will.) That's a criticism of the event structure, not of people who cut the middle out and go straight for what they want.

@Dygii

Other people have talked about this before but, basically, that isn't the same thing. If I wanna look for a shiny magikarp, I can look for one at my own pace, for as long as I want. If it takes me seven years to find one, so be it.


But with this event, we only have two weeks out of a year to find the shiny pokemon. If you aren't lucky enough to find one this time around, then you have to wait a whole year before you can even try again.

I think the time crunch is what's getting to people the most. I mean, the nocturne scroll isn't the only rare drop on the site after all. Yetis are a pretty rare drop as well, but people don't seem as annoyed by them? The Yeti Hunts seem like they're done in good spirits.

2,544 Chests now. Up to my freaking eyeballs in Bears and Mimics. No Scrolls.

Can I also take a moment here to say that I'm kinda disappointed in how many numbers the Bears are dropping, both the real ones and the fakes? The Familiars seem to drop so frequently, and I can't help but feel what the point even if to making Festival Familiars if they're not going to be retired after the Festival ends. You might as well just stick them in the Gem MP or something.

Judging by a post someone quoted from Undel iirc, it sounds like the Bears from this year will be available next year too, but with the '15 Familiars being the bigger "focus". No. Just...no, please. Why make Bears release only during the Festivals if you're going to toss them at us next year, too? And then what about a few years down the line, when we'll have Familiars from numerous Festivals past to compete with getting whatever Fakes are released?

Hhhnnnggg. I try to stay optimistic. I'm really trying to tell myself I still have about a week to get a Scroll or two. But come next week I'll have so much less time to grind for Chests b/c work, and if it took me a week to get 2,500 Chests without having to worry about work, I can only imagine I might get half that, maybe less, within the next several days. It's getting harder and harder to be upbeat about the whole thing.