[MEGA] State of the Galaxy: November 2021

2) get rid of the ability to look up an opponent’s previous defenses. We shouldn’t have to do internet research homework to play a game.

THIS, A THOUSAND TIMES THIS.

CG assumes that we have infinite amounts of time to spend just on this game. No. The benefit of Squad Arena (and there were many disadvantages, yes) is that it was predictable and you only had to worry about it for 1 to 3 battles 1 time per day if you didn't want to engage with it -- you could even just enter the battle and leave again if you really hated it.

Knowing that I can spend an hour to 90 min fighting 4 to 8 battles (depending on overnight RNG of how many times I get attacked) if I want 500 crystals is nice, but the main thing is that it's predictable, it's at the same time every day (which you can manipulate if you choose), and it rewards longevity (since long time players can end up in an Arena shard with only a few hundred active players, this literally encourages players staying with the game and makes us feel like the time spent over the years has benefited us).

Also? If you miss your window, you don't have to worry about it for 22 to 23 hours. It's over. GAC, on the other hand, sits there staring at you for the full 24 hours as you consider when you might have more time to do this or research that, so it sucks away your attention even when you don't mean it to do so by virtue of you having to come up with a plan about when to tackle the GAC tasks and how long to spend with them. Arena doesn't require that daily investment.

GAC doesn't reward longevity and the expectation that we will research opponents is just horrible. Couple that with increased expectation of investment and for people who are already playing the amount of time they want to play in this game, the switch is a punishment to them rather than a reward to people who decide that they want to up their amount of play time even more.

BTW: The fog of war idea is good. Being able to save a complete GAC defense that I can load with a single button is good. But generally GAC is a significant step down in QOL.