Returning Players Should just auto-quit
I had been gone for four years. I paid a lot of money into the game when I first played--too much probably which I own and take responsibility for. I came back to see what the game is like, and en...
Forum Discussion
HOWEVER, what I saying, is that returning players should also not be punished the way that they currently are. Why am I saying this? There is no incentive to keep playing.
No.
What you're saying is that ALL of the incentives are to keep playing and none of the incentives are to take a break. That actually makes sense from CG's perspective. They don't want you to take a break in the first place.
Many of you have suggested basically, "git gud, farm up one of the meta fleets." Think about what you're saying. Where is my crystal flow coming from without fleet crystals or GAC crystals?
I did think about that when I recommended farming a single meta fleet.
Remember that while you were gone I had to farm up Executor, Profundity, and Levi. You get to pick just one.
And you're getting GAC crystals. And you're getting crystals from dailies. You should easily have an income of 250/day, with bonuses flowing to you after major events (like the end of a GAC cycle or Territory Battle).
250/day means 2 refreshes/day on fleet energy and 3 on regular energy.
Moreover, after 1 year, characters are accelerated and thus you get characters (though not ships) in half the time.
On top of THAT, they've implemented a new raid reward system since you left (and since I got Profundity). That reward system allows you to pick the gear you most need instead of piling you with gear you do not.
And while it also means you have less "free" gear to convert to relic mats, the raids also provide you a way to purchase relic mats directly (which is only worth it for the r6 mats and up, but the r5 heatsinks you can get with Mk3 Holos which are also purchasable and the others are either easy to get (chromiums) or can be farmed for regular energy/fleet energy which you'll be spending anyway.
None of this means it will be easy, but it wasn't easy for me either. And yes, I've taken a long break (not as long as yours, but 6 months) so I know what it's like to come back to the game and look on everything with despair.
But the truth is that if you focus on getting a meta fleet, you can have one in about 3 months, probably, 6 at the absolute worst.
What that means is that ... your choices are constrained. You can't go after anything you want. You have to focus on that fleet for MONTHS. Sure that's no fun, having your choices made for you, but, again, I and the others who have all the meta fleets have ALSO had our choices constrained to various degrees at various times for far longer than 3 or 6 months over the course of the last years while you've been gone.
I'm not saying this is gloriously wonderful.
What I'm saying is ... it's actually basically fair. The whole game is a grind. That's what this game is. You work your tuchus off for weeks or months on a single thing to meet a single goal before you get what you want, then you shift goals and do it again.
Maybe you just don't like that? Maybe that's what caused you to quit in the first place? Or part of what caused it?
Ultimately, it's a game. If you're not having fun, you shouldn't play. I hope you can find some fun in this game set in the universe you've enjoyed. But if you want a catch-up mechanic you're going to have to propose one other than
1) getting to skip fleets that others had to get in order to stay Arena-relevant
2) getting accelerated characters
3) getting to choose your own raid rewards
4) the chance to purchase a pack now and then that others either didn't have available or had to pay a higher price for back when the pack was new.
That's all there for you right now. Do you have other ideas? Because I'm not hearing them. I'm just hearing that you want it easier. But skipping the grind isn't how this game works.
