Yes, we are all outraged about Galactus, but I want to shine the spotlight on an underlying philosophy on the developer side that is the cause of this and other debacles: stinginess. Nowhere has this been more evident, if not offensively blatant than in this Anniversary event. 2 years of maintaining an active database is a huge milestone for a mobile AP. The market is absolutely saturated with apps of varying quality and both becoming noticeable and not being easily replaced by the newest thing is an incredible achievement. What I’m trying to say is that a second anniversary is a cause of celebration much bigger than simply twice the accolade of a first anniversary. A rare chance of giving back to the community that has stuck with you through the thick and thin and supported your product and your livelihood. There is NO reason to hold back. Whatever generosity you display, is a once-in-a-year occurrence that will not badly skew your bottom line, but will generate lots of good will and loyalty.
And yet, what we got is not only not superior to what we got in the first anniversary, but arguably worse. And the worst thing is that going by a few select words by IceIX here and Kabir in Reddit, we can conclude that the developers believe otherwise! They actually think they are being very generous without noticing that every single act of “generosity” is being gated, limited or “compensated” in ways that end not being generous at all.
Let’s see some cases in point:
-After lots of players complained about the badly decreased rates of drawing good stuff (and bafflingly, increased rates of drawing chaff) we were told that it’s ok because they are giving away many more tokens… which sounds ok until you realise a couple things: First, they are not giving that many more tokens than the ones that were given in Anniversary 1 since we had the 20-man Lightning Rounds back then, which were a token (and ISO!) galore. Without an explanation that was not included in this second Anniversary even though it was one of the most beloved features. Second, and this is the actual infuriating part because it sounds as though our intelligence is being doubted, we all know (mostly because D3 is quick to remind us whenever someone complains about not opening anything in a 42-pack) that ODDS ARE “PER-DRAW”. Meaning that higher odds are much more reliable than increased draws! The only people who don’t understand this are the gambling addicts who’d happily exchange one draw with 100% certainty for two 50% draws in the hopes of scoring twice even if that means a good chance of getting nothing at all.
-It seems that after players generated a reliable strategy to beat Galactus, based on pre-release information, the event was tweaked to overcome those strategies, resulting in the ridiculous abomination that we all got to experience now. And I have to ask: why? What’s the matter if some enfranchised players found a good strategy (something that as a “puzzle” game you literally encourage)? What’s wrong if the relatively small slice of the userbase that frequents the forums caught wind of that? Hell, what would be the problem if most of the playerbase learned of it and used profitably in this anniversary event? LET THEM. Again: It’s a once-in-a-year occurrence. Whatever is the issue in having a relatively easy event (if you care enough for the game to be an active participant in the forums and learned it) allowing people to get Cyclops reliably. They will still need 10+ covers (and a crapload of ISO) to get good use out of him, which translates in players engaged to play the game even longer. Why do you feel the need to wrap this alleged anniversary “present” on spiked wire and spite? Because “it’s Galactus and he’s supposed to be difficult?” Tell that to Squirrel Girl in one of her latest comics! Whatever flavour spin you want to put to explain the obscene, frustrating and un-fun difficulty of the even can also be spun with similar accurate flavour and make it fun and relatively easy for everybody as an anniversary gesture.
-Lack of 20-man LRs. It just bears to be mentioned again. It’s basically like celebrating Christmas without a tree. I’m pretty sure you had your reasons, whatever they are, but again, they are likely not grave enough that couldn’t be waved away with a good-natured “ah what the heck, it’s our second anniversary, let’s make people happy!”
The system is already fine tuned year-long to exploit the gambling tendencies of a few or the willingness to grind of the majority and there have been, you have to admit, several low points in the history of the game. And yet, here we are. The people that believe in you, that love your product and jumps though the hoops you ask of them. Is it really to much to ask than in rare, special occasions you show a bit more largesse, when it costs you nothing?
