Jedi Rey Event
I've pondered posting this for a while but I feel like the dev team values feedback. I'm among the many that won't be getting Rey (Jedi Training) this first pass. Like many, I'm bummed - though I understand I won't be able to get every toon immediately as a light p2p player. However, I wanted to highlight some differences between CLS and Rey's requirements. My perspective and goals with this post are to highlight the apparent player base CG wanted to unlock each toon and to express my feelings as a long time dedicated player.
_My Situation_
I have 2.5m GP. I've played the game since December 22, 2015. I have over 100 7-star toons. I do not consistently pay - I've bought a couple small things over the years but am mostly f2p. I grind like crazy for stars on toons and I place top 2 in both squad and fleet arenas daily.
_CLS_
With the exception of R2, every one of these characters has been in the game since it launched. Two are available via stores, and the other two are available via cheap cantina nodes (both on 8 energy nodes). The packs were not as enticing, but Old Ben and Storm Han were meta characters for a while (especially Storm Han). R2 was the tough piece of this requirement in that you needed 5 7-star Empire toons, but Zader, Palpatine, and Tie Fighter were widely farmed. Tarkin was an easy farm and gained value at that point as a capital ship commander. Many people leveled Royal Guard, Magmatrooper, or another fifth. Not a huge deal.
I understand not everyone had Old Ben and Farmboy at 7* going into the event, but I had someone in my guild literally go from 50/330 on Luke and 0/330 on Old Ben and finish them with the help of the 80 shard Old Ben pack - no other money spent. That's a rewarding experience for someone who focuses on the goal. CG appears to have had a goal of making CLS available to anyone who had played the game for a decent amount of time and could put in a decent farm regardless of money spent.
_Rey (Jedi Training)_
At this point, Rey and Finn were both toons you could expect most of the player base (who have played 6 months or more) to have at 7*, or at least have had the chance to do so before this event. Finn's zeta is widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best, zeta and it's usable at a low gear level and star level. BB-8 was tougher than R2 simply because the First Order farm is much more challenging and not the "main focus" for many dark side focused rosters. They are a great team - but Empire and Sith are more mainstream farms, especially since the Empire faction pass early in 2017. I managed to get BB8 at 7* this time around but only had him at 6* after the initial event.
Then come the vets. A good friend of mine had a discussion about the vets and their likely requirement for this event. I simply said it came down to this:
CG would put both the vets in a late stage cantina battle if they did not want the general player base to get Rey, no matter how dedicated or seasoned, without spending money. I argued vehemently with my friend that CG would not do this. In all of 2017, there was not a single toon I had to pay money for in order to unlock. Thrawn, R2, CLS, BB-8, Talzin, Wicket, etc. - all free at a low star level. I argued that it would not be easy for f2p to get both vets to 7, and that one of the two may end up in stage 8. However, for CG to put both in stage 8 would be a slap in the face to people in my position.
Well.. there it is. I'm disappointed. I did farm the vets for double drops both times. I farmed consistently in between the double drops too. But I did not earn enough crystals, even with 850-900 a day between arena rewards, to do enough refreshes and purchases from the store. I wasn't even close to 50/100 with both to consider spending $30 (which I would have done).
My takeaway between these two events is this: CG wanted people to experience an iconic toon like CLS regardless of their p2p status. They did not want people to experience an iconic toon like Rey (Jedi Training) unless they had at least a moderate p2p status. I've looked for any other way to defend the decision. I can't come up with one.
The Cantina Battles Store has not received since the phoenix dropped in February (They did get Cassian's U-Wing, but no new toons).
The Galactic War Store has not received any new toons since Zeb in February.
The Squad Arena Store has not received any new toons since Kanan in February.
Any of these three spots would have been a viable spot for one of the vets. Leave the other one on a stage 8 cantina node - no big deal. It would still be a hard grind. I may or may not have made it. But I would have had a chance as a dedicated player. I probably would have gotten to the 50/100 mark on both and been able to give CG $30 to say thanks. As it is, I'm scratching my head as to why a veteran player such as myself would be so blatantly excluded from a marquee toon in the Star Wars franchise. I don't think toons like this should be easily available to all players - I realize the grind involved. I do feel, however, that my status as a dedicated member of the player base (daily login for 700+ days in a row) didn't matter even one bit since I wasn't willing/able to spend a decent amount of money to supplement a cantina farm with shard purchases via the store.
That's how I feel. My final comment is this: CG has been *overwhelmingly* kind to my type of player over the year. If the business decision was made to paywall Rey (Jedi Training) to throw a bone to those who choose to regularly pay for faster advancement, I honestly can't fault them. I hope I'm still allowed to be bummed, to feel shorted, but to also realize that it's their choice to cater new toons to anyone they'd like to. I don't think it's a conspiracy, I am not mad at them. I'm just disappointed.
_My Situation_
I have 2.5m GP. I've played the game since December 22, 2015. I have over 100 7-star toons. I do not consistently pay - I've bought a couple small things over the years but am mostly f2p. I grind like crazy for stars on toons and I place top 2 in both squad and fleet arenas daily.
_CLS_
With the exception of R2, every one of these characters has been in the game since it launched. Two are available via stores, and the other two are available via cheap cantina nodes (both on 8 energy nodes). The packs were not as enticing, but Old Ben and Storm Han were meta characters for a while (especially Storm Han). R2 was the tough piece of this requirement in that you needed 5 7-star Empire toons, but Zader, Palpatine, and Tie Fighter were widely farmed. Tarkin was an easy farm and gained value at that point as a capital ship commander. Many people leveled Royal Guard, Magmatrooper, or another fifth. Not a huge deal.
I understand not everyone had Old Ben and Farmboy at 7* going into the event, but I had someone in my guild literally go from 50/330 on Luke and 0/330 on Old Ben and finish them with the help of the 80 shard Old Ben pack - no other money spent. That's a rewarding experience for someone who focuses on the goal. CG appears to have had a goal of making CLS available to anyone who had played the game for a decent amount of time and could put in a decent farm regardless of money spent.
_Rey (Jedi Training)_
At this point, Rey and Finn were both toons you could expect most of the player base (who have played 6 months or more) to have at 7*, or at least have had the chance to do so before this event. Finn's zeta is widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best, zeta and it's usable at a low gear level and star level. BB-8 was tougher than R2 simply because the First Order farm is much more challenging and not the "main focus" for many dark side focused rosters. They are a great team - but Empire and Sith are more mainstream farms, especially since the Empire faction pass early in 2017. I managed to get BB8 at 7* this time around but only had him at 6* after the initial event.
Then come the vets. A good friend of mine had a discussion about the vets and their likely requirement for this event. I simply said it came down to this:
CG would put both the vets in a late stage cantina battle if they did not want the general player base to get Rey, no matter how dedicated or seasoned, without spending money. I argued vehemently with my friend that CG would not do this. In all of 2017, there was not a single toon I had to pay money for in order to unlock. Thrawn, R2, CLS, BB-8, Talzin, Wicket, etc. - all free at a low star level. I argued that it would not be easy for f2p to get both vets to 7, and that one of the two may end up in stage 8. However, for CG to put both in stage 8 would be a slap in the face to people in my position.
Well.. there it is. I'm disappointed. I did farm the vets for double drops both times. I farmed consistently in between the double drops too. But I did not earn enough crystals, even with 850-900 a day between arena rewards, to do enough refreshes and purchases from the store. I wasn't even close to 50/100 with both to consider spending $30 (which I would have done).
My takeaway between these two events is this: CG wanted people to experience an iconic toon like CLS regardless of their p2p status. They did not want people to experience an iconic toon like Rey (Jedi Training) unless they had at least a moderate p2p status. I've looked for any other way to defend the decision. I can't come up with one.
The Cantina Battles Store has not received since the phoenix dropped in February (They did get Cassian's U-Wing, but no new toons).
The Galactic War Store has not received any new toons since Zeb in February.
The Squad Arena Store has not received any new toons since Kanan in February.
Any of these three spots would have been a viable spot for one of the vets. Leave the other one on a stage 8 cantina node - no big deal. It would still be a hard grind. I may or may not have made it. But I would have had a chance as a dedicated player. I probably would have gotten to the 50/100 mark on both and been able to give CG $30 to say thanks. As it is, I'm scratching my head as to why a veteran player such as myself would be so blatantly excluded from a marquee toon in the Star Wars franchise. I don't think toons like this should be easily available to all players - I realize the grind involved. I do feel, however, that my status as a dedicated member of the player base (daily login for 700+ days in a row) didn't matter even one bit since I wasn't willing/able to spend a decent amount of money to supplement a cantina farm with shard purchases via the store.
That's how I feel. My final comment is this: CG has been *overwhelmingly* kind to my type of player over the year. If the business decision was made to paywall Rey (Jedi Training) to throw a bone to those who choose to regularly pay for faster advancement, I honestly can't fault them. I hope I'm still allowed to be bummed, to feel shorted, but to also realize that it's their choice to cater new toons to anyone they'd like to. I don't think it's a conspiracy, I am not mad at them. I'm just disappointed.
