I see players as falling into 3 categories; Veterans/hardcore, Intermediate and Newbie. Mixed in there I talk about F2P since they populate all 3 categories.
First I will share my observations on each. Bear in mind I do not claim to speak definitively, only from my own perspective. Second I will explain the vital role each plays in the success of the game. Finally I will share my opinion on what needs to change and why.
Veterans/Hardcore: These are the people like myself, admittedly not representative of the population of the game, we represent the top 1-5% by my own estimate of the player base, but we are the ones that are watched more than the rest of the 95%. We are the ones who dominate the leader boards, whose alliances show up at the top. We are the people who have 10-11 Maxed out 141 toons and are not heartbroken over the nerf to Spiderman because we can take it. We spend money, and lots of it. Take a look at how many Dakens have almost all their covers and are in the 100’s.
F2P: The F2P ones who have 5+ 141s that they earned through blood sweat and tears are the one that demonstrate that you can win at this game without refinancing your home to do it, they are the truly hardcore. These are the ones who do a lot of research on their characters and make sure they spend their ISO effectively. F2P are hybrids of the four groups I identified, they are Veterans/Hardcore, intermediates and newbies alike. The F2P eventually transition to paying, or hold onto their F2Pness like a badge of honor.
On a lighter note, some of our self identified F2P are like Celibacy club members who hook on the weekends, not everyone is honest about their spending habits, and really it doesn’t matter.
Intermediates: are the working class of MPQ, these are the ones that are working toward their transitions, they have the full range of rosters, 1* Storm maxed out, 2* Thor/OBW/Wolverine working on Ares. You name it they got it. These are the ones that are the most likely in my opinion to make the tip and start spending money on something other than Roster Slots… Just hopefully they did not use their first IAP to buy Spiderman’s last blue, or C Mag’s Red.
Newbies: These are the guys that just came out of Prologue and want to see what the fuss is about, they are in no way vested in the game and want to see if it is fun enough to keep playing, they have not made up their minds about IAP, but they are curious to see how stupid the exchange rates are for currency. They want to try PVP and see what their 17+ 1* roster can do.
Who is most important of these groups? The unsurprising answer is all of them are important. Veterans/Hardcore are the people that the Intermediates and F2P look at and want to join the ranks of. Without the Veteran/Hardcore population being strong and vibrant the Intermediate and Newbie population get wary of the future and decide to keep their money in their pockets. Veterans/Hardcore burn out and fade away all the time, but what is important is why they fade away. If they leave because they are bored, found something else to do, wife left them etc. Then no harm no foul, new intermediates graduate into the hardcore and the cycle continues. If the Veteran/Hardcore population starts leaving because they become disillusioned then things get bad. The Veteran/Hardcore population is small, but it is vocal and it is influential. (I know, what a bunch of Divas right?)
Intermediates are the lifeblood of the game, these are the ones the Devs need to convince to start spending money. The Hardcore/Veterans already do, they are deeply involved in the meta-endgame where they spend 3-4X as much ISO in shields and boosts every PVP just to take first place. Those guys are already spending money, hell I have my Daken ready for the 1100 point reward and 3x covers from the next PVP featuring him and he will be maxed out.
But the intermediates are still on the fence, they have fun with the game, but they are not sure it’s worth the cash. Is the game going to be fun enough in the future to warrant the investment? The answer to that question lies in the vibrancy of the Veteran/Hardcore population, and it also lies in the accessibility of events for them. Moreso the events than the Veteran/Hardcores of course.
Next we talk about the Newbies. These are the most temperamental of all of them, they might have downloaded it just because someone recommended it and have no idea if they want to even play more than a couple of matches before they go back to Clash of Clans. These are the ones that will be the future of the game if they get hooked.
Finally a note about F2P: Everyone starts out F2P, even if they never spend a dime they keep the population up and give targets for PVP, their contribution matters even if it is not a direct monetary gain.
Challenges: The challenges I see facing the game now are the aging population, the Veteran/Hardcore group is growing and getting deeper, this is good, but they are demanding as hell and vocal. They are also determined to find ways around controls set in place to limit the things they do not like.
This growing population however feeds brutally on the intermediate and newbie player base. It is common knowledge how to tank your MMR down to the level 6 1* MMR range and beat on people who just started the game because it is the fastest way to gain ISO.
The devs have figured out ways to protect the newbie’s by sharding the brackets and putting all of the intermediate and Veteran/hardcore players together and leaving the newbies in relatively protected brackets. Sure they still get preyed on by the higher levels because of MMR but they have the ability to take first with a low level roster because of bracketing. I think this is a good thing. The new players need to be protected, but then again so do the intermediates.
So, the newbies are happy, the intermediates are pissed because 10th place requires over 1000 points to attain and those point spots are all filled with 141 rosters. The veteran/hardcores are pissed because all they really want is more ISO to level up their 40 slot rosters, and now there is much harder competition for that ISO reward in the tournaments.
Every one of these groups is very important and interdependent. Even the elite/veteran/hardcore/A-holes are necessary even though they do not spend as much as the rest of the 95%. Don’t forget they were part of that 95% before they broke away from the pack.
If you have had the patience to read my other posts you already know my personal opinion of the direction the game should go. Change is needed because the player base is maturing, and it will be REALLY loyal if it is nurtured.
We need a risk vs. Reward structure. once you hit the top echelon of the game you should be making more ISO per fight than newbie and intermediate players. There needs to be an incentive not to hit the weaker rosters and more incentive to hit harder targets that take longer to kill.
2 tournaments with different reward structures where a player can pick only 1 but not both. One tournament with lower level rewards and lower ISO per fight, but with covers that help you transition to 3*. And one that has a higher ISO per fight with better covers and then only let the player choose one. Let players decide which brackets they enter. It will go a long way to stave off people feeling like they got screwed by the Hogwarts sorting hat.
I also think we need to have fewer tournaments count toward the Season goals, allow people to take breaks from their alliance obligations and reduce burnout.
