The Cost of Blurring the Lines: Whales and FTP
I've looked at the rancor (the word, not the monster) on the forums this past week, the visceral bitterness, and I think I know why CG have ended up with this barrage of hate.
The lines between whales and FTP (I'm including dolphins here) have been blurred over a period of time. CG is now course correcting, and FTP don't like it.
Hard Nodes
You used to get 3 attempts, then it was changed to 5, then it was changed to 8!
Refreshing your attempts used to cost 50 crystals, now it costs only 25.
Daily Crystals
You used to get 500 crystals for placing first in squad arena, now you get an extra 400 crystals for placing first in fleet arena.
Legendaries and Journeys
The impact of the above two gifts to FTP players is that they can obtain legendary and journey characters and ships much easier.
In comes instantly meta JKR with so much time to prepare and hoard, obtainable with severely under-geared characters - and he returns within just 3 months. Furthermore, slower and less well modded JKR teams can beat the very best on the shard with ease.
The result of this? Large numbers of FTP can now get #1 in arena for the first time, and they love it (understandably)! Add to this the Falcon, which is equally effective at 5 stars as it is at 7 - again, large numbers of FTP can get #1 for the first time. Easier than ever to hoard crystals.
Then in comes the heavily leaked DR with more time to prepare than ever, everyone knew he was coming, a FTP hoarder's delight, and once again obtainable with under-geared characters.
Remember Those Whales?
Guess what the big spenders are thinking about all this? Well, they're wondering why they bought the characters and ships from marquee packs and shipments with ... you know ... MONEY. They're wondering why they paid so much just to be batted out of the top 20 by players with half their GP and pitiful mods.
Like it or not, this is a mobile game, and people used to understand that whales got a significant advantage after the first release, then dolphins and FTP got to catch up later.
But now, because the lines have been blurred, the FTP Revan Horde expect to get everything else on the first release - hence the entitled Malak outrage.
Really? So what is the actual point of whales spending on this game? And what will happen when they inevitably stop?
Conclusion / TLDR
CG are course correcting, and yes it's hard to take things away after they've been given, but the whale > dolphin > FTP ecosystem has been unbalanced for some time, and that delicate balance MUST be restored if the game is to survive.
Whales get slapped in the face all the time by CG constantly eroding their advantage, particularly during this last year, but they don't have the numbers to generate the kind of outrage and petitions that we've seen this past week. They just quietly quit and walk away.
If paying for an advantage isn't worth it, then the game is truly done - and I for one am glad CG have remembered this important fact.
The lines between whales and FTP (I'm including dolphins here) have been blurred over a period of time. CG is now course correcting, and FTP don't like it.
Hard Nodes
You used to get 3 attempts, then it was changed to 5, then it was changed to 8!
Refreshing your attempts used to cost 50 crystals, now it costs only 25.
Daily Crystals
You used to get 500 crystals for placing first in squad arena, now you get an extra 400 crystals for placing first in fleet arena.
Legendaries and Journeys
The impact of the above two gifts to FTP players is that they can obtain legendary and journey characters and ships much easier.
In comes instantly meta JKR with so much time to prepare and hoard, obtainable with severely under-geared characters - and he returns within just 3 months. Furthermore, slower and less well modded JKR teams can beat the very best on the shard with ease.
The result of this? Large numbers of FTP can now get #1 in arena for the first time, and they love it (understandably)! Add to this the Falcon, which is equally effective at 5 stars as it is at 7 - again, large numbers of FTP can get #1 for the first time. Easier than ever to hoard crystals.
Then in comes the heavily leaked DR with more time to prepare than ever, everyone knew he was coming, a FTP hoarder's delight, and once again obtainable with under-geared characters.
Remember Those Whales?
Guess what the big spenders are thinking about all this? Well, they're wondering why they bought the characters and ships from marquee packs and shipments with ... you know ... MONEY. They're wondering why they paid so much just to be batted out of the top 20 by players with half their GP and pitiful mods.
Like it or not, this is a mobile game, and people used to understand that whales got a significant advantage after the first release, then dolphins and FTP got to catch up later.
But now, because the lines have been blurred, the FTP Revan Horde expect to get everything else on the first release - hence the entitled Malak outrage.
Really? So what is the actual point of whales spending on this game? And what will happen when they inevitably stop?
Conclusion / TLDR
CG are course correcting, and yes it's hard to take things away after they've been given, but the whale > dolphin > FTP ecosystem has been unbalanced for some time, and that delicate balance MUST be restored if the game is to survive.
Whales get slapped in the face all the time by CG constantly eroding their advantage, particularly during this last year, but they don't have the numbers to generate the kind of outrage and petitions that we've seen this past week. They just quietly quit and walk away.
If paying for an advantage isn't worth it, then the game is truly done - and I for one am glad CG have remembered this important fact.
