Sorry I don't understand what you're saying. You like or don't like the refresh contest? You define inferior teams based on lack of grinding (at our level in shard, everyone top 20 has done the grinding), but how does that relate to refresh? Currently in my shard we refresh even though we are equivalent, and that means we have gone through two non play (resource mgmt) prerequisites just to get to play (grind through RNG, and pay the crystals). I'm saying it doesn't have to be that way. I'm surprised if there are players who like that (better than the alternative), or rather who like that now and continue liking it for a year+. Of course that assumes they know what the alternative is, and I don't think many here (at least in this thread) do. Which is why I'm not directing my post at them, because it serves no purpose toward the development of this game. (Though I would be happy if others found something they like, that's a bonus)
Btw here are game design principles that my shard agrees that work in all situations:
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PRINCIPLES OF GAME DESIGN
This started from a conversation we had on defining what 'fun' means, as we were also talking about things that are 'not fun'.
P1) progress requires effort, effort should require and enforce (more than diminish) player agency / choice, and effort is rewarded commensurately (in a way that encourages further progress)
P2) there is a competitive element (whether it's players vs. the game AI or players vs. other players) that encourages (more than discourages) further gameplay (or encourages you to progress so you can be better than the AI or other players)
P3) it is very replayable (gameplay is not boring or stale, there is always something new to do or new variations to try out that make it seem like you are doing new things to get new experiences you didn't have before)
For whatever you think of as a game (even life), stress test it against these principles. Let us know if anything should be changed.
For SWGoH, based on this definition of what a 'fun' game should be, are there any aspects that violate these principles and therefore are 'not fun' for the majority of players?
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I've stated what I think are not fun based on that. I don't think it's beyond the development team to make those things more fun and still profitable. (If other games can do it, then they should be able to) But that depends on their goals.
