Patch Coming This Week and Changes to Mount Fang Boss Gauntlet

[drewcapu]

4. This company, Zynga, didn't even exist three years ago.

I believe they're a little over 4 years old. I was playing their poker app early 2008. Back then it was fun. I knew all the top 50 players. You were l33t if you had a million dollars then. Now it's all bloat. When facebook took away local networks (basically what city you were from), it hit Zynga's Hold'em app pretty hard. No longer could you easily play with people just from your area. I still stop by once in awhile, but long gone are the days when my old friends would be on every night. I pop into random tables and there's absolutely zero chatting going on. Totally foreign idea back in 2008.

But, I digress.

The reason why Zynga makes so much money (despite their stock still not getting above their IPO price) is because they know perfectly well how to take advantage of the OCD in everyone. Without facebook, Zynga would be nothing. The OCD in facebook is the vehicle for Zynga's success. There's really nothing creative about any of their apps as most of them are spoofs off of someone else's work. Aside from poker, the only other app of theirs that was somewhat social is YoVille, and that app they bought from someone.

Now, if STS found a way to integrate their games (and various quests) into facebook with their feeds / wall posts and whatnot, you can bet they can find the same gold mine that Zynga has claimed all to themselves.

[Lowellpimpd]

I understand what you are saying. And I realize, if someone wasn't looking at it from a business angle, it could seem frustrating.

It costs several million dollars to create, maintain and expand a game like PL, SL and DL. So, you kinda got to ask yourself why someone would spend that kind of money. They do that because they are hoping that they will make even more money than it cost to develop and operate the game.

They want to make more money than they're spending.

Free-2-play games are litterally taking over virtually the entire game industry. Real soon, it is going to be an extreme rare thing for a game to not have at least some free-2-play elements. And by that I mean, spending rl money on in-app purchases.

Even WoW has become a hybrid free-2-play/pay-2-play game. Which of course is much better than the 2-week free trial they have had for so long. They have several in-app purchase ops and some believe that rmt has been implemented.

As far as "having" to keep up with others. You don't have to. There will always be people at all levels to play. If someone doesn't use elixrs that's ok, there are people your level who are playing the game every minute of every day.

And from what I understand, technically speaking, the chances of getting a pink is the same in a free map or a 2-plat map. The difference will be is that 2-plat map players will see more bosses than the free player will see in the same amount of time played.

Anyways, hope this helps.

im not

[Lowellpimpd]

I understand what you are saying. And I realize, if someone wasn't looking at it from a business angle, it could seem frustrating.

It costs several million dollars to create, maintain and expand a game like PL, SL and DL. So, you kinda got to ask yourself why someone would spend that kind of money. They do that because they are hoping that they will make even more money than it cost to develop and operate the game.

They want to make more money than they're spending.

Free-2-play games are litterally taking over virtually the entire game industry. Real soon, it is going to be an extreme rare thing for a game to not have at least some free-2-play elements. And by that I mean, spending rl money on in-app purchases.

Even WoW has become a hybrid free-2-play/pay-2-play game. Which of course is much better than the 2-week free trial they have had for so long. They have several in-app purchase ops and some believe that rmt has been implemented.

As far as "having" to keep up with others. You don't have to. There will always be people at all levels to play. If someone doesn't use elixrs that's ok, there are people your level who are playing the game every minute of every day.

And from what I understand, technically speaking, the chances of getting a pink is the same in a free map or a 2-plat map. The difference will be is that 2-plat map players will see more bosses than the free player will see in the same amount of time played.

Anyways, hope this helps.

ive could as well might be the biggest plat buyer in the game wow kinda lame and eq has just gone way to overboard and should just rename there game

[blurryeyes]

I think all of the ones who complains forgot we are living under the world of capitalism.

What does this mean?

If you are rich, you can have nice cars, nice house etc...
If you are poor, you can't buy nice cars and nice house but you still can live

Same with PL...
If you can afford plats, go buy elixirs to speed up leveling, go buy pay per access for farming
If you can't afford plats, just play the game without using a single plat at all

the thing is STS didn't force us to buy anything at all. They did encourage us to buy plat like the DOTD, but in the end it's still your choice to buy or not.

[Lowellpimpd]

We are planning to update Pocket Legends on Monday, January 9th. Among other things, this update will include:

• Turn off the 2011 Winter Festival (announcement here)
• Add a player requested 1v1 PvP Map (discussion thread here)
• A round of bug fixes (including correcting the problem with the set bonus for the crafted Mt. Fang 1H + Shield strength set)
• A new zone added similar to the Mount Fang "Vampire Feast" Boss Gauntlet, but with full loot drop.

I want to elaborate on the addition of a new Boss Gauntlet area to Mount Fang. There has always been some confusion with the Boss Gauntlet areas. Players generally expect the bosses drop all of their loot, however they don't in the current Boss Gauntlets. These gauntlets were intended as quick ways for players to hone their skills for the boss. If you want a chance at the full loot, you need to fight in through the full zone to get to the boss and take them down there. The reality is that the current Boss Gauntlets are very rarely played.

After the patch we have planned for Monday, the a new Boss Gauntlet will be added to Mount Fang that will be upgraded to give the full loot tables to the bosses. To maintain the rarity of the ep1c lewtz it will use the Premium Access System that was used by the Winter Festival. This gives players an option when farming for loot. They can play for free, as they always have, and do runs of the current zones, fighting in to the boss and taking them down for their loot. Or, you can pay Platinum to access the upgraded Boss Gauntlet and farm there.

In the future, we intend to offer this type of content for all level ranges, from Forest Haven's Boss Gauntlet on up. We will not remove any currently existing Boss Gauntlets, but will instead add new ones for Premium Access.

Spacetime Studios philosophy with premium options is just that – they are optional. All players can play Pocket Legends from level 1 to the elite level cap without paying any real world money. We appreciate and value all of our players, however they choose to play. As always, thank you for your support.

ya cuz of the fact of pinks dont drop on boss gauntlets if we needed to hone i skill any more i dont think we would have made it to the boss gauntlet dont u think so cuz basicly a normal person would think that after clearing maps to the gauntlet u should be able to have the epic achevment to not have to run throw the whole map any more and just get down to the biz and farm the bosses all in one map for pinks

[Siejo]

Well I have never seen pinks in the regular gauntlets so I think I will pass on this one. I have been challenged to rant and rave about STS and their choices lately but I do not engage in flame wars. So I will simply say I will not participate in these. If it makes me a bad player then so be it. I don't see the need to be rude or disrespectful to anyone simply because it is a plat purchase. If I don't want to buy it then I don't have to. It is ok really. No biggie.

[Onaraasider]

...If you can't afford plats, just play the game without using a single plat at all...

Free offers and contests, i lived off of them

[FluffNStuff]

While I am clearly against this, I do know that it is comming, and I thought I would ask a few questions to consider. First, what level would the bosses drop? Will they be scalled, or will they only drop top level equipment? Will only top level players be able to join?
Second, how are you going to work the 'completion'? As this cost money to run, what are the players 'guarenteed'. With winter festival, the players were 'guarenteed' a drop from the boss, and that signaled the completion of their purchase. With a guantlet, there are four bosses, so what will signal the completion? Possibilities:
1) A drop from all four indvidual bossess. Consequence: Players remaking after killing three bosses repeatedly.
2) A drop from at least one boss. Consequence: Players complaining about booting / being put in a late game and not getting their 'plats worth'.
3) A total of four drops, reguardless of the boss. Consequence: Remake after three, and then get a total of seven.
4) Time limit. Would make the most sense, but also the most risk of a player not getting to kill any bosses, as players would want to minmize their time there so non-elixired players would be considered a 'dead weight' to elixired players.

Just some thoughts.

[Samhayne]

While I am clearly against this, I do know that it is comming, and I thought I would ask a few questions to consider. First, what level would the bosses drop? Will they be scalled, or will they only drop top level equipment? Will only top level players be able to join?
Second, how are you going to work the 'completion'? As this cost money to run, what are the players 'guarenteed'. With winter festival, the players were 'guarenteed' a drop from the boss, and that signaled the completion of their purchase. With a guantlet, there are four bosses, so what will signal the completion? Possibilities:
1) A drop from all four indvidual bossess. Consequence: Players remaking after killing three bosses repeatedly.
2) A drop from at least one boss. Consequence: Players complaining about booting / being put in a late game and not getting their 'plats worth'.
3) A total of four drops, reguardless of the boss. Consequence: Remake after three, and then get a total of seven.
4) Time limit. Would make the most sense, but also the most risk of a player not getting to kill any bosses, as players would want to minmize their time there so non-elixired players would be considered a 'dead weight' to elixired players.

Just some thoughts.

Some good points, Fluff. Thanks for voicing them.

The way the Mt. Fang Premium Access Boss Gauntlet works is exactly the same way as the Winter Festival did, with the exception that there are 5 bosses to kill, corresponding to 5 rolls on loot. When any of the 5 bosses dies, it removes the flag from your character that allows entry into the Mt. Fang Premium Access Boss Gauntlet. All 5 bosses have the same loot table. It's a pretty big loot table, so the chances of you getting exactly what you want are not the best. But the chance of you getting something pretty decent is there as well (5x rolling on the table if you get in for all 5 boss kills). Entry will cost 3 Platinum.

There is some QA still going on with the patch. I'll post to Twitter and here when the patch is going up.

[blatta]

... First, what level would the bosses drop? Will they be scalled, or will they only drop top level equipment? Will only top level players be able to join?...

I would like to add to this question: Is it planned to release the plat gauntlets right with new maps or at a later date?

Both will have consequences for farming/merching scaled items. For example the prices for scaled Nuri items are far higher now then the normal level items. A gauntlet that would come late, e.g. with the release of the next map, and without scaled drops wouldn't do much to this market.

A note: For me i think it is important, regardless how much plat i ever spent in game, that there are spaces where you get rewards without any plat involved. Even if i feel good, when i get a winter pink, i know that i have paid for it. I always use plat to reach a point faster in my lvls/items, from where i can have fun without further using plat at a regular basis. Farming/merching scaled items is one of that. This is not because i not like to give my money to STS. They made a game which brought me much fun. Its more that plat use seems to make time rare. I hurry when i bought reroll elix for winter maps. People booting unpotted players and so on.

[shanmarie33]

I saw your post responding to the difference between the new pay to play room and the old room. It really didn't answer the question. What is the difference?

I understand STS is a business, you add platinum purchase only to feed the fam and make some money. It is a choice to pay to play. I personally choose to pay for an upgraded play, although honestly my bubble is gonna burst soon. I have already spent too much money playing a video game. Not actually my point anyway. As a CUSTOMER I would apreciate it if STS would be more honest and upfront and fully disclose to your CUSTOMERS what exactly they get for their purchase. What exactly is different about the new room? Why should I choose to purchase it?

In the past I, and I know I'm not alone, have felt duped on plat products.
For me:
1. Free spine...I purchased it all, and got a shield...a shield I cannot stash, give, or sell
2. Faces...I purchased with plat, but certain faces, like the crow, became free to new players...no restitution
3. Announcing the Fang release date, and then putting it out earlier...I did make it to the elite cap a day earlier using thrasher exliers totaling maybe 700 plat. My choice, yes. I know many players who did the same, but didn't make it because of the early release. Most I know have quit. They spent real money, by choice, to achieve an in game status only to feel lied to and duped.
4. Shamus elixer...Especially before the Fang Drop fix and luck elixer fix, Shamus did not work the way we thought. Really it still doesn't, but it has been somewhat decoded by several players and posts...not by STS...and no refund of plat spent on it while Shamus wasn't working at all because nothing level 65 was dropping in Fang.
5. Lowered the xp to level quicker. This one almost did me in. It was announced that it was a special that would end by a specified date. I chose to spend alot of money (plat) to buy elixers to level up really fast to take advantage of that. Many, many players did the same...STS announced that was no longer a special, but would be permanant...Great for any player who didn't already spend a bunch of plat because it was sold to them as a limited time offer. I personally felt very taken by that move.
6. Winter Fest...well I do not think it made many people happy, but ultimately I chose to pay the plat for the content I wanted, but again, I personally can't justify spending so much real life money on this anymore. Maybe lower the prices, make it go further or something to avoid burned out CUSTOMERS.

POST SIMPLIFIED:

As a person choosing to spend money on something virtual, I need to have a better understanding of that. I do not feel entitled to run your business or make threats or demands about the way it grows. I do feel entitled as a CUSTOMER to know exactly what I am getting for my money. If there was a little more transparency with platinum purchases that are available, I think it would help some players to happily choose to spend.

[Samhayne]

Hey Shanmarie33,

I think this thread is an example of transparency in operation. I realize that we haven't been perfect in the past, and we're likely to make mistakes going forward. We are human afterall.

[shanmarie33]

Hey Shanmarie33,

I think this thread is an example of transparency in operation. I realize that we haven't been perfect in the past, and we're likely to make mistakes going forward. We are human afterall.

I feel so special now. Thank you for acknowleding my post. I look forward to reading all about the new map and how it works, and possiblely buying some runs. I know I certainly realize the humanity behind the company and the company behind the video game. I read these forums as often as my toddlers allow me, and I do believe this community realizes it as well.

[Samhayne]

Thanks Shanmarie!

[Aikiebo]

The reason why Zynga makes so much money (despite their stock still not getting above their IPO price) is because they know perfectly well how to take advantage of the OCD in everyone. Without facebook, Zynga would be nothing.

Aside from poker, the only other app of theirs that was somewhat social is YoVille, and that app they bought from someone.

Hey!

The only poker that I have played has been in real life, lol. I was mainly bringing up Zynga as one of three examples of how the entire gaming industry is changing. I talked about Zynga, Wow and how much money players spent last year in all In-App Purchases. I am not actually trying to say how great Zynga is, but to just show industry trends.

I was really trying to make a point that nobody should be upset at STS because they are part of industry trends that is literally making history.

I am gonna talk about Zynga and more expamples in this post, then get to that STS part in a second post. This way, the post won't be so long.

But, drewcapu, I don't know what you're thinking, I guess a lot of stuff has changed since you played a lot. Zynga is way, way, way into social interaction. The only reason they make all these millions of dollars is because of HARD FOCUS on constant social interaction between their customers.

Here are some other examples to show that what STS doing is really just the direction that the ENTIRE global video game business is heading. And it really does work out better for all!

SOE's DC Universe Online:

Last January, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) launched, DC Universe Online. It was a subscription based game.

Six months later SOE implemented a 'cash shop' where players bought items to help them enjoy the game more. At this time, they cautioned us to not assume they were going to make a total transition to free-2-play. Because, they said they had been planning to open the cash shop for a long time.

Then last October, switches to a completely free-2-play game. No more subscriptions. The game is now totally supported through In-App Purchases.

Listen up!

IN ONE MONTH:

1. The user base grew by 6% PER DAY.

2. More than 85% of daily log-ins were returning players.

3. They had a 700% increase in daily revenues.

ALL IN ONE MONTH. This was just last October. Just two months ago.

Okay, enough about DC Universe Online.

Originally, Turbine's Lord of The Rings Online cost $40 to buy and of course was subscription at first. Last year, when they converted to free-2-play, their revenue tripled.

More info about Zynga!

Zynga has 60 million active players everyday. Which is more than the next 14 game developers combined. These players interact with each other 416 million times a day. You're right about their dependence on Facebook. In fact that is a small part of why the IPO didn't exactly sizzle.

Their Texas HoldEm poker game only has 30 million players a month. It's most popular game, CityVille, attracts 51 million users a month. Farmville, is a close second. Just some of their other games are Mafia Wars 2, CastleVille and Empires & Allies.

They are using Facebook to build peer pressure to mulitply social pressure well beyond what occurs in the physical world. Zynga games are fun, and they are more fun when played with and completing against your friends. As I said above, 60 million people interact with each other 416 million times every day.

Zynga works hard to get friends to join each other in-game by giving social awards for joining up. It's been fine-tuning this balance since the company launched.
This is Zynga's marketing engine. The customers, even the one's who don't pay, are emissaries. It is this social interaction that earns them $820 million last year.

The fact is Zynga's games are EXTREMELY socially interactive. The only reason they made $820 million dollars last year is because of an INTENSIVE FOCUS on social interaction.

One of the reasons these games are so successful is that they help people do something they are already keen on: keeping up with their friends online. In CityVille, for example, there are incentives for players to help with the running of other cities managed by their friends.

Zynga's IPO was the largest US internet company since Google's (in I believe 2004). Google raised 1.7 billion, Zynga raised. 1 billion with its IPO.

Zynga is profitable unlike other Web outfits like Groupon.

Forbes and business analysts after the IPO said that "It's [Zynga's business strategy] is absolutely the right way to run an online game business". "Zynga will do well with its new cash war chest. And we will see an explosion of businesses built in the cloud". "There is change afoot, exciting times coming and money to be made. Thanks, Zynga"

(BTW, I made a shorter version of this post, and I was gonna post it behind a spoiler tag, but I wasn't sure if it would work cuz I'm on the app. And, if it didn't work then this post would have been even longer.)

The future of gaming is:

Mobile
Free-to-play
Social (e.g. Facebook)
Cloud (thin-client)

There will be some console gaming, but not anything like we know.

Honestly, STS is not doing anything that the almost the entire gaming industry isn't doing. The future is really free-to-play.

[drewcapu]

How many of their games can you actually chat with someone (besides hold'em and yoville)? FarmVille, no. Mafia Wars, no. Haven't played much of any of their other games (they once had an app that was a Risk knock-off which had chatting, but they've abandoned it). Clicking on a link on a wall post or notification that a friend has given to you isn't social interaction, it's basically like clicking on an ad or spam.

For me, chatting is a big part of gaming. It's what keeps me coming back. For me, SubSpace/Continuum and other games developed by JeffP (Infantry/Cosmic Rift) had awesome chat functions. Rodvik even posted about it:
*Suggestion* Password Protected Private Chat Channels

But back to Gauntlets...

This will spawn a new kind of guild. Basically, guilds that farm gauntlets. But, it will only be a success if the farmers get enough good pinks to offset their plat usage. For those with bottomless plat, that won't be an issue. These will be the new uber-merchants. But if they merch improperly they'll end up hurting themselves by driving down prices, especially for end game gear.

But hey, I'm all for seeing crafted longbows at 300k!

[Samhayne]

Hey guys, there are some remaining things that the team wants to change, so this patch is sliding out a day to Tuesday, Jan 10th

[JaytB]

Hey guys, there are some remaining things that the team wants to change, so this patch is sliding out a day to Tuesday, Jan 10th

Thx for the heads-up

[Snakespeare]

In general this concept eludes me... If I used to have to pay for extra cheese at Subway and beginning today the extra cheese is free, can I really ask Subway to refund all my previous extra cheese purchases? I think they would laugh at me.

[Engelhard]

So it looks like we will have snow in Texas and in Alterra for one more day <(^_^)>v That being said I guess I will hunt for another snow gun before its to late