Dear EA: A reasonable solution to "Unicorn Chomper"

Let me tell you, I can't get enough of how much people want it. Their envy is palpable, and I drink in their desire for something so awesome. They call us selfish (If we have it) and they mock us when we tell them that, to endure that infinite-hour grind was an absolute torture. Variety is that spice of life.

So let me give you a big ol' tip -- Your PvZ franchise (Though purchased and not originally yours) is amazing, and you placing a "You hit Max Rank in the previous game, so here's a really rare reward" business model is a beautiful piece of architecture found within your series here. So here's my tip:

Keep it up! Keep the Loyalty rewards open (From GW 1 -> 2, then from GW 2-> 3 if applicable)

This will ensure people will continuously buy and play your previous installments in the series. If players know that a super awesome character is obtainable only through the previous game, they will purchase and play it. Sure, they'll still complain about the time taken, but they won't be held down by deadlines, there will be no confusion regarding the character as the answer will be simple - Buy the old game and play it.

You don't have to allow anybody to transfer old characters (To ensure people are forced to grind hours on your game, and even possibly purchase coin packs, resulting in a higher gross at the end of your fiscal year)

On a final note, please let me say that I appreciate all of you who want the Chomper and defend the ideal that you shouldn't have to do so much work for it and should only be able to buy it. But no matter what the price, it won't be expensive enough. If EA makes it so you can grind it at any time, it will give a fair opportunity without giving a cheap shot to the people who had done so prior. You farm it and see, and you'll know why it's not worth it to let someone just purchase it.

And to you EA, I think if you allow people to grind it out -PERIOD-, you will see digital sales for your first game go up. Not only for those who only began playing on PvZ GW 2, but for those who were playing PvZ GW 1 and didn't take the loyalty deadline seriously.

(Gimme XP for this if you agree, I'm curious to see if people would rather lazily buy it or grind it with the chance to)

Ziago_J
8 years ago
What I mean, is allowing players, at all times, to go back and get to maximum rank in Garden Warfare 1. And by doing so, unlocking the Unicorn chomper.

I also imply through my post (Though it's full of rambles), that the Loyalty Rewards (All of the previously unlocked variants in the first game) should not transfer over.

13 Replies

ShavedThronel0
8 years ago
I think what you mean is remove the deadline? What I don't understand is that people want a stupid reskin of a character. There is only 1 reason valid reason to get the unicorn chomper. It is to get those 45 levels. Then you see lots of people crying about not having the unicorn chomper because what? Only about .01% of the people who want the unicorn chomper, are not maxed ranked because they don't have the unicorn chomper. The other 99.99% of people are crying about not having a character thats a redskin and will never get to max rank.
Ziago_J
8 years ago
What I mean, is allowing players, at all times, to go back and get to maximum rank in Garden Warfare 1. And by doing so, unlocking the Unicorn chomper.

I also imply through my post (Though it's full of rambles), that the Loyalty Rewards (All of the previously unlocked variants in the first game) should not transfer over.
Anonymous
8 years ago
Approved
Well sir let me explain to you real quick why that in my opinion is a bit unfair when the game came out i played it consecutively but i did not played it to do the challenges i played cus its fun. I only put 455 hrs on that game to which compareing to some people out there thats nothing but that alone is a good chunck of my life to one game and considering i have a job and school (responsibilities) .. Now it is a good game but it is definitely not the only game out there: titles such as "battlefield", "gears of war" or "the last of us" are really good to not play them. soo my point is why do i not deserve to get it for enjoying the game in a different way. i disregarded the challenges, yes, its my fault but at the same i just enjoyed playing for what it is. I have read people arguing like "well just play it for consecutive months and you'll achieve it" but to that logic only people without responsibilities that have too much free time can really achieve that task. Or yes over time but it will take longer. i wont stop playing other games thats just being too greedy from Popcap and EA for that game. I believe people who played for the enjoyment of what the game is, deserve that unicorn chomper as much as the ones who decided to max out the characters. If anything the reward should of been based on hours played not challenges met cus thats all it was, not really about characters like pvz2 because you get nothing in the ingame for reaching them level 40 on pvz.
Or under your logic if anything for achieving max levels that character (unicorn chomper) should of been unlocked for that game pvz 1. How can you enjoy the new one if you have to keep playing the old one to be able to collect every character in pvz2.

I honestly hope they put it up for sale. All of you who achieved maxed ranked have had at least 1 year minimum with that character so yeah you had a whole year to show off your accomplishment.
but if they continue that trend then most people are already lost because by pvz3, pvz 2 players wont have their collection completed due to the missing unicorn chomper( unless popcap do not take that character into account for the next installment).

But like i said all of you who claim you guys deserve it cus you met the challenges its a bit unfair and greedy when there's people who invested the same amount of time but instead of just doing challenges they just played it for fun.
Ziago_J
8 years ago
I never achieved max rank. I don't think an alternative way to unlock the character is feasable, and if you want it you should have the option to -AND BE FORCED TO- grind for it.

This way, by the time PvZ GW 4 or 5 comes out, you can always go back to PvZ GW 1 and grind it out there. With the chunk of life that it took everyone else, or simply buying enough packs to use enough stars to get max rank. Not only might this ensure the use of the cash shop for certain desperate people to try and buy their way to the top, but this might give longetivity to the servers as we don't know if EA will even continue hosting GW 1 after GW 3 & beyond happens.

Technically, if you can pay for coin packs to grind the max rank, it's exactly the same as paying for it period.

Since EA will refuse us any chance to go back and grind it... well. That's that.
Anonymous
8 years ago
Approved
I wrote a nice article in another thread but, I may as well put an abridged version here.
I completely agree that the offer should remain open indefinitely. (At least as long as servers are up.) It seems like a wasted opportunity on EA/Pop Cap's part to discontinue it. Some people say they would pay anything. That means even paying for GW1 coins to grind to 313. (Sounds like good money to me.) I also think it is a very poor business move to lock anything away behind a limited time door. Especially when many games get a resurgence in sales once the price goes down. (IE right about now.) Its just begging for unhappy customers.
I will say that I understand the point of view of people who play for fun. I myself played GW1 many, many hours. (I would bet money on it being over 1000.) But, since the challenges were the only thing that made the grinding interesting I made a point to avoid using skip stars. (Under 5 in fact, and those were only because my brother got impatient.) Never the less, the requirement for the Unicorn was 313. And, while I personally disagree, I would rather that be the requirement indefinitely over nothing at all.
I do also want to say that it was uncool to put a time limit on such a large grind. I may not have gotten all the way 313 but, I know the time it took to get to the 100-200 something I did reach. (Really wish I had XBL still so I could look it up.) For anyone with a life, I can't imagine the stress that would put on them. I saw testimonials of people doing it in a month playing hours per day. I will say again, that is uncool. If it was an indefinite offer it would have reduced a lot of stress for a lot of people. (This goes for all limited time things.) Just something to think about in the future Pop Cap.
As a last note, I have a differing opinion on the transfer of older accessories and variants. It is terrible to put effort into these sticker books only to have to start over in addition to the new stuff with each installment. More importantly, the inability to transfer variants undermines the backwards sales. Think about it, GW1 = Unicorn in GW2. But, if GW2 doesn't allow transfers to GW3 then the need to play GW1 is lost. If closing the servers is their goal it would make sense. But, when something like TF2 has had servers for over a decade it looks pretty poor for the competing origin/EA to drop servers after only a few years.
MorbidBEARBOY
8 years ago
It would really be great if EA would come to the realization that those of us that are approaching the maximum of 5419 have put in greater than 500 hours of game play should be allowed to obtain the unicorn chomper. I am one of your oldest players and my biggest disappoint came when I found out I was not going to be allowed to complete this game because EA was not going to give me the opportunity to do so. It's like working on a puzzle for days only to find you don't have the last piece 😞
Iron_Guard8
Legend
8 years ago
I have the Unicorn Chomper thanks to hitting max rank in GW1 despite not playing it anywhere near as much as GW2 but I used a LOT of challenge stars to bolster that rank before the window closed to get it.
I have zero issue with EA/PopCap making it available for a longer period of time by playing GW1, heck as suggested by the OP here, remove the deadline entirely so people can unlock it. It encourages people to play the first game again, which I do from time to time even at max rank, and for people like me that want all the things but may have lacked the time or other resources to unlock it, lacking this character would be irksome.
I'm also open to other ways to get it. Not sure what other ways would be on par with getting max rank in GW1, but I never felt like I was grinding for it. If you want to see a serious grind play World of Tanks once you get past tier 6 in a tank tree. >.<
Anonymous
8 years ago
Approved
I reached max rank with one of my profiles, then on my 2nd profile it took me 9 months straight. Mind you I work 60 hours a week. So on Saturday and Sunday I played on average 12 or so hours a day. I made the deadline by about 1 week.

Hell GW2 I already have 530 hours in and I'm close to max rank on both profiles.

Final Fantasy X Remaster took me only 160 hours to platinum and to unlock everything. 500+ hours is just insane. Also I only started GW2 since Christmas 2016 so 9 months again of hardcore turf takover action.
Anonymous
8 years ago
Approved
They can´t extend deadline once it was. It´s no step back. It´s not they´re fault that you won´t get it.
Master that character in Mystery Portal Event.
NerdBunker_Sam
8 years ago
sorry if i am wrong about this but:
isn't the unicorn chomper meant to be a little faster than other characters, also its ability to warp which no other chomper can use which is annoying.