We need a competitive game mode
I know this most likely has no effect at all, but I still want to vent.
I am a highly competitive player. And for me most of the fun is within competitive game modes.
With the introduction of Datacrons to previously competitive game modes, player knowledge, skill or rosters are no longer the most determining factors for a win.
Datacrons trivialize mods. Many of us built strong mod rosters over many years. Investing a lot of money into well working and well tuned teams.
@CG_SBCrumb mentioned in Hynseys live stream that CG is well aware of the workload of TW officers and tries to keep it the same. After 4 TWs with Datacrons as a TW lead I can only say: You failed. Hard.
In case one of you actually reads and listens: At a competitive level counters to teams come and go in a certain pattern: Somebody finds/theorycrafts a counter, it gets tested to know boundaries and limitations, then the guilds modding is adjusted to get it working reliably and after some TWs your guild feels comfortable executing the counter and it becomes a staple.
The time demanded for the game has gone up significantly for everybody with Datacrons without adding any significant value. Some things are interesting. But since they are not well accessible, they are more harmful than anything else.
Datacron abilities and mechanics are not well thought through. Chapter 1 Economy was bad. 2 Must have lvl 9 Datacrons (Rey & JMK), a must have lvl 6 (GAS) and at least 2 very impactful lvl 3 (LV, SK).
2 more strong lvl 9 DCs (Aayla and 2nd Sister) and a few more for other teams.
If you could get all these must-haves as a F2P with proper engagement in conquest and 3/4 TW wins, then that would have been okay.
Then TW and GAC would still be competitive game modes.
I gave Datacrons a good shot. I digged well into them and have collected quite a lot of strong ones. Awesome I can beat Caw Patrol guys in GAC now. Looks great on paper. my pesky little 9M GP account with half the mod depth of CP players suddenly has the high ground against some of them.
Does it feel rewarding? Mostly no. Yes the top 100 GAC matches are a little different. It is interesting, mostly because it is new, but thats it.
The previous 5v5 matches around top 500 against strong players of my size felt more rewarding.because no Datacrons were involved and it all came down to how well we could execute counters and how well we built our accounts.
I don't mind making TW and GAC your Datacron playground, but at least offer the old stuff again. If you want to shake up the meta, then give everybody a fixed amount of materials that you can't increase with money.
The more money is involved the less competitive the game becomes.
Look at GAC now. Does anybody truly believe Kabuki, Sashaisha or Aesop Rock are the best players in this game? They are the best among the heavy spenders, not more not less.
TL;DR: Give us a somewhat competitive game mode again. And if Datacrons are here to stay, then make them less impactful (+120% damage just from stats is flat out stupid) and more accessible. A player who properly engages with Conquest and TW should be able to get all impactful Datacrons so that chapters only change the meta, but don't exclude F2P or light spenders.
And looking at the person who leaked Datacrons ahead of time: He had the best intentions. He wanted to protect you CG from ruining your own game.
I am a highly competitive player. And for me most of the fun is within competitive game modes.
With the introduction of Datacrons to previously competitive game modes, player knowledge, skill or rosters are no longer the most determining factors for a win.
Datacrons trivialize mods. Many of us built strong mod rosters over many years. Investing a lot of money into well working and well tuned teams.
@CG_SBCrumb mentioned in Hynseys live stream that CG is well aware of the workload of TW officers and tries to keep it the same. After 4 TWs with Datacrons as a TW lead I can only say: You failed. Hard.
In case one of you actually reads and listens: At a competitive level counters to teams come and go in a certain pattern: Somebody finds/theorycrafts a counter, it gets tested to know boundaries and limitations, then the guilds modding is adjusted to get it working reliably and after some TWs your guild feels comfortable executing the counter and it becomes a staple.
The time demanded for the game has gone up significantly for everybody with Datacrons without adding any significant value. Some things are interesting. But since they are not well accessible, they are more harmful than anything else.
Datacron abilities and mechanics are not well thought through. Chapter 1 Economy was bad. 2 Must have lvl 9 Datacrons (Rey & JMK), a must have lvl 6 (GAS) and at least 2 very impactful lvl 3 (LV, SK).
2 more strong lvl 9 DCs (Aayla and 2nd Sister) and a few more for other teams.
If you could get all these must-haves as a F2P with proper engagement in conquest and 3/4 TW wins, then that would have been okay.
Then TW and GAC would still be competitive game modes.
I gave Datacrons a good shot. I digged well into them and have collected quite a lot of strong ones. Awesome I can beat Caw Patrol guys in GAC now. Looks great on paper. my pesky little 9M GP account with half the mod depth of CP players suddenly has the high ground against some of them.
Does it feel rewarding? Mostly no. Yes the top 100 GAC matches are a little different. It is interesting, mostly because it is new, but thats it.
The previous 5v5 matches around top 500 against strong players of my size felt more rewarding.because no Datacrons were involved and it all came down to how well we could execute counters and how well we built our accounts.
I don't mind making TW and GAC your Datacron playground, but at least offer the old stuff again. If you want to shake up the meta, then give everybody a fixed amount of materials that you can't increase with money.
The more money is involved the less competitive the game becomes.
Look at GAC now. Does anybody truly believe Kabuki, Sashaisha or Aesop Rock are the best players in this game? They are the best among the heavy spenders, not more not less.
TL;DR: Give us a somewhat competitive game mode again. And if Datacrons are here to stay, then make them less impactful (+120% damage just from stats is flat out stupid) and more accessible. A player who properly engages with Conquest and TW should be able to get all impactful Datacrons so that chapters only change the meta, but don't exclude F2P or light spenders.
And looking at the person who leaked Datacrons ahead of time: He had the best intentions. He wanted to protect you CG from ruining your own game.
