Official Feedback Thread for Purchasing High and Low level Dungeon Access

[Samhayne]

We recently added the following premium features to Pocket Legends:

• High level players can purchase the temporary ability to gain fractional experience in low level maps. This ability can be gained by tapping the blinking exclamation point icon when you enter a low level map.
• Low level players can purchase the temporary ability to access high level dungeons. Note that you are likely to have a difficult time playing in dungeons that are above your level, better bring some friends! This ability can be gained by purchasing the relevant Enhancer or by attempting to join a friend/guildmate in a high level map

This change was brought primarily to better facilitate friends playing together despite level differences. Also, to provide variety for player to gain experience in different areas of the game. Rather than always having to run the same instances over and over (for example, as you progress toward the elite level cap) a player could forgo the chance at level appropriate loot to instead farm a lower level instance and still progress.

We know that there is some concern regarding the kill count leaderboards in light of this change. We are looking into that issue now.

Please use this thread to voice your thoughts on the matter. We would appreciate it if you keep the input constructive and friendly. Thank you for your feedback!

[Cascade]

To me it encourages low level players to leech and power level.

[WoundedEagle]

Repost from my closed thread:

Since we have these new elixirs, why not take advantage? I don't want to Boycott the idea, I think it was pretty brilliant. Let's take a look:

'Access All Game Instance' - Allows my level 6 to join Nuri's Hallows, yet I do no damage, and the enemies dodge every attack. Enemies still have a huge amount of health, although they don't pwn as bad as I thought they would. I would say if you do this, don't combo elixir, use just an XP elixir. Unless kill-farming, but that could be easily done in the Campaign matching your level. Same XP as Forest Haven it seems.

'Enable XP Gain' - Allows my level 50 (Now 52) to gain XP in Balefort Castle. I understand the XP amount is normally more in higher campaign, but it seems my One-Hit-Kills make up for the time it takes to kill one enemy in Sewers. I gained 5 XP for 2 kills in Balefort Castle - The Magic Castle, on 4x, kinda don't remember what I gained in Sewers, but it seems the kills are way faster. Time is the key factor of this whole concept. If I can gain XP faster by Killing 6 enemies at once with Blast Shot in Balefort Castle, why not? I like this elixir

- I understand some will be mad how easily kills are to get now, but why not take advantage of that too? 1 Platinum is an App on TapJoy. Say you get a app worth 5 Platinum, that's 25 mins. I gained about a 1000 kills in 25 mins going = Forest haven Whole campaign + Balefort Castle Whole Campaign + And a run in Fathom Crypt. Also gained over a 1 1/2 in 25 mins. Not bad to be honest (On a level 50, now 52).

So my question is, is it better to farm XP in a campaign matching your level? Or to farm XP and easy kills in low-level Campaigns?

[Yvonnel]

I am personally grateful for this update. It gets very monotonous running the same 5 maps to gain xp at the endgame level. The ability to change it up now is wonderful.

However, many people are going to complain about "kill farming" making a comeback. To me, "meh!" who cares, I never worried about my k/d ratio or the amount of kills I got anyway.

Also, I can see the same folks complaining about "power-leveling". But in reality, if you know the maps it is still really easy to power level, and it still goes on. I know precisely which maps to run to get the most xp. And if you don't want lower level players in your maps, LOCK THEM!!!!! Those who never learn the skill to play effectively don't stay long.

My thoughts....

Kill Farming: Simply remove the kill counting. Don't know exactly how the xp gain and kills are coded, but maybe it is possible to remove the kills and keep the xp. Again, this doesn't bother me but removing it would appease those it does. Or, to the ones on the leaderboards, get to work.

Power-Leveling: No solution, other than.... that the players take responsibility and LOCK GAMES!!!! If you don't want a lvl 1 in Mt. Fang, lock your game.

Honestly, pleasing everyone is impossible. STS has always exhibited an extreme willingness to try to please the community, but at some point the community needs to apply some common sense. If there is something that you can do to limit how changes affect "Your" gameplay, then don't you have the responsibility as a veteran to follow that course of action.

STS, Keep up the good work. I have and will continue to support!

See ya in Alterra!

[FluffNStuff]

While my official position is against it ... part of me loves the idea I can gain exp while wrestling with Vyx (one of my favorite stress relievers). Any chance we can get longer ones for perhaps a discount, or even without the discount. But discount of course would be better.

Oh, and on the other side, not sure why you are charging players for the privilege of getting booted.

[Aikiebo]

I really love the new elixrs. I am just curious, is there an important reason why we can only buy 5 minutes at a time? I am just wonderting, cause for players who really enjoy using these elixirs, might be easier if we can buy 30 minutes or 60 minutes at a time?

I am just blown away by the idea that now we can level up our characters in dungeons we enjoy the most instead of being forced to go through less favorite dungeons. Lost Expedition is really a well-planned and good looking dungeon. But, I have so much more lag than usual there. Usually huge portions of the landscape don't even render. I truly dread having to go through it for 5 levels. Now, I don't have to.

By creating these great elixrs for us, STS is telling us that the believe in us. It's like they are saying that they trust and believe in us enough that they don't have to spoon feed and micro manage every detail of our gaming experience. They are giving us more freedom so that we can have more fun and enjoyment.

Mixing high levels and low levels together can really increase the amount of training and knowledge players aquire as they level up. More experienced players can take their friends in and "show them the ropes" and give them more training and experience than before.

Not to mention, that the absolute number one point of this game for players is to have fun. People playing together with their friends is never a bad thing. I am glad that now even more people will be able to have fun with their friends.

I am really excited about these elixrs and am very glad to help support the game.

[Conradin]

I have issues with this-


At least if this must be done do not let players get large amounts of xp in low dungeons- it should be scaled. And i think this will introduce a generation of noobs worse then the mynas gens- the Plat gens....

[Gaddy]

I was soloing my lvl 65 bird with x4 elixir in AOII plas pyramid. It took me a little under 5 minutes (and I'm slower than some) to clear the lvl.

Thats 700 xp base plus the bonuses for mobs and bosses (whatever that adds up to) every 5 min...

I think thats pretty strong soloing, and I'll bet there are a few areas that are even better for racking up hefty solo XP runs.

I love the new elixirs!

[Silentarrow]

I was soloing my lvl 65 bird with x4 elixir in AOII plas pyramid. It took me a little under 5 minutes (and I'm slower than some) to clear the lvl.

Thats 700 xp base plus the bonuses for mobs and bosses (whatever that adds up to) every 5 min...

I think thats pretty strong soloing, and I'll bet there are a few areas that are even better for racking up hefty solo XP runs.

I love the new elixirs!

Balefort hidden passage, expect 1k xp in 5 mins lol .

[Aikiebo]

A player can solo from Forest Haven all the way through sewers on 4x very rapidly. It is REALLY a nice break from grouping all the time.

That is one of the things all our elixrs are good for. By giving us more decision making power we have more flexibility. Some people like doing things "this" way and others like doing things "that" way. Some like mixing it up and trying all the options.

There is more than one way to play any game. And all the elixrs are allowing more freedom instead of "formula leveling" --- now we have fun leveling.

[CrimsonTider]

The argument about powerleveling is legit BUT not much different now than it was when the 4x elixirs were introduced. People will always find a way to powerlevel regardless of the elixirs which exist. I have personally seen over 20 60+ toons this past week with less than 5k kills. This update hasn't added that much fuel to the fire.

My opinion is keep the xp and do away with ability to kill.

[JaytB]

The argument about powerleveling is legit BUT not much different now than it was when the 4x elixirs were introduced. People will always find a way to powerlevel regardless of the elixirs which exist. I have personally seen over 20 60+ toons this past week with less than 5k kills. This update hasn't added that much fuel to the fire.

My opinion is keep the xp and do away with ability to kill.

I agree, getting rid of the kills would be a step in the right direction. I simply can not understand the use of allowing any super-low-level to participate in a high level dungeon. Didn't the devs change this in the not so distant past to prevent low levels leeching in high level dungeons? I can see the use for a high level gaining xp in a lower level dungeons, but letting any low level participate in high level dungeons will just get them booted from that game IMO. I can see it already, a lv10 running in mount fang. What possible contribution could that player make, other then leeching, slowing down the entire group because of dying when an enemy as much as farts in their direction, and getting some expensive pinks while not doing anything but running behind the group at a safe distance? Or am I simply overlooking something?

[Skeletonlord]

This is really awesome and love this change! Great job guys!

[kallima]

Devs, the explanation was nice about WHY you chose to implement these lixirs and I do hope that you do a fix on kill farming since this new enable xp lixir negates a previous patch to just kill farm in order to achieve LB status. I say this with utmost sincerity as I do want to contunue playing the game I've come to love. I really didn't comment on previous changes as I understand STS is in business to make money but I truly DO NOT comprehend the contradictory actions that are in direct opposition to views that the you, yourself(selves) have stated clearly about intended game play, its mechanics and the integrity that the LB's are supposed to be about. Please fix this.

As far as the pay to play all maps, this also negates a previous update where access was limited to level requirements. That update fostered teamwork, encouraged players to hone thier skills while still giving them the freedom to tailor builds to thier individual style because it is more difficult to clear maps at the intended levels than to have other high levels breeze through maps while lowers tag along. This one bothers me less because frankly I can boot leechers but I did want to remind you that your STS team CHOSE to change this for a reason, why revert it? Are those reasons no longer valid? Do those reasons no longer apply?

As an aside, for those posters that wholeheartedly welcome these updates, please state why. There are many of you who did explain and thank you but spare me the "Great job! Thanks STS!" because positive and negative feedback both require the 'why' so the dev team can truly assess the benefits/repercussions and apply changes they see fit, if any at all.

[Decur]

The fact that kills count when high level player use the elixir to enter low level maps effectively destroys the hours upon hours of hard work that all the people on leaderboards invested. To think that what took me a year to achieve can be negated by anyone with enough plats in a few days is disheartening, morale draining, and flat out infuriating. It also leaves the leaderboard with absolutely no credibility. Sad...

[mackjack]

I've suggested eons ago for the feature of being able to play and gain xp in any and all maps, with the unstated assumption that the mobs and bosses will be scaled accordingly to keep things challenging and interesting. The current implementation, where I can let my friend's 2 year old play my end game toon in forest haven and still gain xp and kills, is just outright ridiculous.

Let's cut through all the pretense, sugar coating, and BS and call this what it really is: selling xp for plat.

So my suggestion to STS is to scale the difficulties of mobs and bosses to the host, and if others are outside of +/- 5 levels of the host, then they don't get any xp or kills. This would give access to all maps while keeps things in balance.

[MightyMicah]

To everyone who is upset about kill counts being boosted-

There is one word I have for you. It's called "elixars." Kill count was screwed as soon as they added elixars for damage armor speed, etc. If you don't have money for elixars, you are probably not gonna hit the leaderboard. All this new elixar is doing is making it all the more easy to get kills...

And one more thing, I find it rather ironic that people complain about this elixar making it easy for kills to get boosted, when it would be just as easy to reinable xp lock kills. Think about it, if high levels get kills quicker, they already have an advantage over lower levels getting kills at a set level. Nuff said

As Sindrom put it in The Incredibles, "When everyone's super, no one will be." In other words, if everyone's a booster, no one is.

My opinions on the new elixars? I like them. I like them alot. I don't know how many times I've wanted to play with my lower level friends and still gain progress. This helps immensly! Thank you sts. Thank you.

~MM

[Decur]

To everyone who is upset about kill counts being boosted-

There is one word I have for you. It's called "elixars." Kill count was screwed as soon as they added elixars for damage armor speed, etc. If you don't have money for elixars, you are probably not gonna hit the leaderboard. All this new elixar is doing is making it all the more easy to get kills...

And one more thing, I find it rather ironic that people complain about this elixar making it easy for kills to get boosted, when it would be just as easy to reinable xp lock kills. Think about it, if high levels get kills quicker, they already have an advantage over lower levels getting kills at a set level. Nuff said

As Sindrom put it in The Incredibles, "When everyone's super, no one will be." In other words, if everyone's a booster, no one is.

My opinions on the new elixars? I like them. I like them alot. I don't know how many times I've wanted to play with my lower level friends and still gain progress. This helps immensly! Thank you sts. Thank you.

~MM

I got my kills without use of elixirs. Never even tried a free one. Money should not be the reason why people are on leaderboards and this is what these elixirs will cause. There's a level of pride felt when you achieve something through hard work and dedication that simply can not be purchased.

No, it's easier to get kills in lower levels. When I was level 61, acquiring kills were far faster than when I hit 66 and tried to get kills in Mt Fang.

My opinion of new elixirs? I hate them. I hate them a lot. When I want to play with lower level toons, I make a new toon.

[Weak_Sauce]

Goodbye skilled players, the whole point of running the lower level maps is to hone your skills and learn how to play as a team while gaining xp. With every change I just see this going further and further out the window.

Every change that's been made lately seems to revolve around making more money, regardless of what it does to game play. When did it become so laborious to play this game that you needed to introduce another way to level faster? People who have reached the level cap have done it, mostly, through hard work and/or because they're longtime members. Level 65 isn't supposed to be a cake walk that people can reach in a day yet all of the people whining about not being able to reach the top level quickly enough are validated with every update.

You've removed almost all of the incentive and fun of being a lower level member. So hoist up the white flag because you win, no one wants to be a lower level and now with 4x elixers and buying 5 min elixers that allow u to gain kills and xp anywhere no one will ever have to be. Kills will mean nothing and people will play easy levels over and over to level up.

I saw someone complain about being bored with having to run the same 5 levels within a campaign over and over. Isn't that a big part of the incentive to level your toon? So that you can unlock the next campaign and start investigating all that it has to offer? Since alien oasis all of the campaigns have been clones of other campaigns with tweaks here and there. Quests take all of a day or two to finish and then what? Besides leveling there isn't much else to do. Maybe if new camaigns had more to do, secret dungeons, other things to do in town, anything, people wouldn't be sick of them after a day or two. Then you wouldn't need to keep adding new ways to level up faster because people would want to take the time to explore all there is to do in the campaign. Bring the creativity back please!

People have written long posts about all of these issues time and again and yet we hear nothing from you. We take the time to go through all of this because, as we should, we take ownership of the game. Many of us have invested a lot of time into playing, teaching, and growing this game they want to see it fulfill its potential.

If this is what your vision is for the future of pocket legends let us know now, we might as well save our money instead of buying platinum believing that you will come to your senses.

Maybe this is just me and maybe I'm coming off like a hot head, I guess I just thought that people were supposed to learn from and help eachother while working on gaining xp, not using the easiest map to solo the entire way.

Finally, if this is here to stay and no one can change your minds then could you at least stop putting the new elixers at the top of the list in the store and instead add them in to the current elixer list in order of how much platinum they cost.

[FluffNStuff]

From Crypt to the forbidden crypt:
Spent an hour rassling with Vyx on my 63-64 Mage using the 4x mega juice or whatever and here are the results:
Cost: 52 plat (40+12)
exp: average 100 per minute at both levels (63 and 64)
Vyxs : About 50
Pinks : Just a Conqs Ursan Helm
Fun: Hellz Yeah!