Let's Talk About Pre-Crafting (2.0)

"Moe_Betta;593893" wrote:
@ShaolinPunk
You geared with 1-2* right away? Of course you did. The first one is free from every node.
You got a team full 5* in a week by paying? Great. That's the first thing you picked up and pieced together for each toon... and probably made some nice additions.

Reread my post and the question. How long would it take someone, starting from scratch (Right Now), to get a perfect set? I know it is random. We all know too very well that it is random. I am asking an actual question. How long to find speed on every slot for 5 characters? Make a guess, figuring in max spending, at an approximate timeframe for someone to reasonably expect their mods under the current system.

And then keep in mind that some were able, through preparation and max spending, to get that set in 2 days.

I answered your question: a couple days-to a few weeks. These are new and different questions from your original post, specifically, now you're asking how long 'new' players have to work for a "perfect set" and/or "Speed mods". The answer is variable. And it again, it completely depends on the players choice in playing for free or not. I didn't spend anything to get my first team of 5 fully modded with 1-2* mods, I had enough crystals for enough energy refreshes over several days. A new player? Like, starting today? Yeah, they're gonna be playing for months before they get to end-game (mods are end-game). Playing for free, maybe 6-9 months is my guess, if all things remain the same. This question has some interesting roots though. How long do you personally think a player starting to play today should have to play to catch up to those who've been playing since launch?

I was "able, through preparation" (saving up a couple thousand crystals, I try to sit on around 2k at a minimum), "to get that set in two days". That set was not maxed level speed mods, you have introduced that in your above post. The maxed 5* speed mods still a ways out for me, I figure several months. My point is, any of us can speed the process with a little money. Including players that started today into this "pre-craft" argument, completely changes the parameters of this discussion and isn't about "pre-craft 2" anymore, it's about speed of progression. That's why I'm asking you a question about yours, how long do you think a player should have to play to catch up to those who have a 9-10 month lead?

I believe that is your real question.

"MandalorianZulu;593969" wrote:


@ShaolinPunk this situation is directly analogous to the first pre-crafting issue, and the long-term ramifications are actually quite difficult to predict. Any sort of advantage a player gets over the competition has the potential to compounds itself manifold over time. Better mods allow players to reach higher ranks in arena, purchase more refreshes, complete galactic war with greater frequency, earn higher rewards in raids, build up their roster faster with their higher influx of credits, crystals, and guild currency, and ultimately speed up their progress in being able to complete T3 mod challenges and farm high tier, potency, speed, and crit damage mods. The initial advantage does not simply dissipate over time, but often expands in unseen and indirect ways. This is why pre-crafting issues are so important to discuss. Advantages are considered fair if they are paid for by people who want to expedite the grind. No one has a problem with that. But in this case, the fundamental mechanics of the game were changed- it's not like those who failed to pre-craft simply missed out on a temporary event, giveaway, what have you. I'd like to give the devs the benefit of the doubt and believe that this was not intended to be presented to us as an opportunity to spend money to get ahead, causing players to clamor and boosting revenue in the short term. This appears to be a case of severe lack of foresight couple with a disproportionate overreaction. And we should consider the impending consequences.

We're gonna be splitting hairs and semantics on whether this is "directly analogous" but yes, long term has too many variables to predict any definitive outcomes. The "potential to compounds manifold over time" is highly speculative. That assumes all players will play for the remainder of their time in game as f2p, krill, perch, bass, dolphin, squid, whale, or whatever they've done up to this point. Then the ramifications change when you start comparing someone who started at launch with someone else who started at launch vs someone who started at launch with someone who started in April (or any other time). Again, all a player needs to do is play to progress. If they want to be competitive, they need to spend more crystal. As long as there are players who do (spend crystals), it's the only way to catch up. The difference in crystals between those who got 100% drop on mods over 36-48 hours (or whatever it was) and leveled them for cheaper and those who didn't, is marginal. The more time passes, the smaller that margin gets.