Game Changer

[Shade Glow]

I feel like someone who has ordered a coffee with cream and sugar, but then the barista started adding cheese sauce to it while I was drinking it. Is this a "game changer"? Sure it is, but not in a good way.

I'm afraid I don't approve of the direction the game is headed. First of all, I am not a fan of PvP games. I have always enjoyed Eternium, because it's a PvE game. I can't say that the beta introduced true PvP, considering that you're actually playing against A.I, but it's certainly not what I signed up for when I decided to give Eternium a try. That said, I hate games that limit the amount of free matches you can play in a day, while providing additional matches for a premium. I would absolutely never, under any normal circumstances, shop for or search for or download any game that includes that kind of gameplay.

Only being able to play 12 PvP matches per day is underwhelming. Fortunately, the rewards people have been reporting also seem underwhelming. For now, I may be able write this off as an annoying feature that I'll mostly ignore like I did with Misty Island. However, if PvP is to be tied to events that offer valuable or necessary rewards that can't reasonably be ignored, and those rewards can't be obtained without spending gems to play extra PvP matches, I'll undoubtedly quit playing Eternium forever. This is the kind of pay-to-win gameplay that turns me off. It's really quite a deal breaker for me, and it's the kind of fundamental change that could be likened to adding cheese sauce to someone's coffee.

[Tin Man]

I was also underwhelmed with the release of the beta, even though Travis declared my feedback as irrelevant. I have lightened up about it a bit since I have realized that v1.5.22 is not an update to Eternium but actually the rollout of a new app Eternium: Arena. This is no different than a spinoff television show or movie. Sure, they share a starting icon and also share some minor resources, major in the case of gems. They really are two separate apps, however.

I seriously doubt that you can take your pushing hero and dump it into Arena, even if they fix the AI issues. This means having a completely different hero configuration for Eternium: Arena from Eternium. Aren't players already complaining enough about enough space for pushing, experience and farming gear before adding an additional gear type to stock, Eternium: Arena.

Sure, there are players that want and will fall in love with Eternium: Arena. There are players that will want nothing to do with Eternium: Arena. As long as Eternium: Arena participation does not become critical to playing Eternium, then it is easy to ignore and just continue on. If Eternium: Arena participation becomes mandatory for playing Eternium, then I know there will be players that cease participation in the Eternium universe.

We are on the same page.

Only time will tell how Eternium: Arena impacts Eternium.

At least they got "PvP" out of their queue so they can focus on the Unreal port, as they previously stated unless I am mistaken.

The fun part will be that blessed day when the Unreal version drops. I doubt there will be a direct transfer of heroes and stuff between the versions. Would mean starting over for everyone.

Please, anyone, correct this assumption if the assumption is erroneous to the best of their knowledge. I am making a leap here.

[LodWig]

Please, anyone, correct this assumption if the assumption is erroneous to the best of their knowledge.

Assuming the assumption is that the port to Unreal (or any other engine) would entail a reset: To the best of my knowledge, it’s erroneous.

I have no insider information here, it’s just that I can’t see why it could be true. Why would players data be tied to the engine used?

[TheExorcist]

PVE?

"is that a player should expect to face the majority or entirety of their opponents in the form of computer-controlled opponents. This is where the term comes from, as the idea is to fight the world and the creatures within. Because of this, the answer to what is PvE is simple – it’s playing against the computer."

PVP?

"Players still work against the same types of NPC combatants and encounters that PVE players do, but are also subject to attack from other players anywhere in the open world"

Which one do i choose:?

after doin a lot of thinkin:

Definitely 100% PVE

Thank you

[Heikki Gross]

Here is a fitting video from ECHO, the name of the video is about DI, but he talks about the energy system in mobile games and this is exactly what eternium is doing with the PvP part. Next step will be that you can only do x number of trials free per day.

[Shade Glow]

That is very fitting.

[NoSuchReality]

Those all become, install, play a few days with initial free load, unistall at the virtual paywall.

Its quite unfortunate for the Devs, I was quite content doing 50 ad views a day, 1500 a month which is a nice little monthly quazi-subscription fee.

[Travesty]

I also abhor PvP, because I understand the underlying psychological manipulation it taps into. Every single game dev convention/symposium preaches that nothing manipulates players into impulse spending like losing to another player (even if it's a player bot/Ai). PvP is a cash grab, plain and simple.

Limiting daily attempts while offering to sell more is that cash grab. It means that if you're out of tickets for the day and someone beats your bot, you lose ranking and have to spend money to regain your rating. And it would be too easy for an algorithm to to exploit that and prioritize offering matches against players with no remaining daily attempts to lure those players into spending to regain LB position.

Selling attempts also means that any PvP leader boards will be more likely about spending than skill. That's just plain ol' pay to win. And to insure players do indeed pay, leader board rewards will likely contain can't-do-without enticements (my guess is some sort of new OP crafting mats only obtainable via PvP or 'value packs', hence the crafting stash increase).

I'm afraid I too will be ending my Eternium journey if this turns out to be the case. It's most certainly the end of my spending on this game.

I previously said here to be careful what you wish for because any PvP scheme would be egregiously monetized and likely P2W (and unbalanced, FWIW). I also said nearly three months ago when ad gems were removed that they wouldn't be replaced and we would instead get something that requires spending more gems.

This beta seems to be it for both. And it saddens me.

[Travis | Support Mgr.]

FWIW, some (if not all) of the devs are against any sort of "energy" system. Trust me when I say that limiting the number of matches you can play in a day is not just a monetization strategy. There are more important reasons behind it and it might not even stay in place. Please keep in mind that this is a first iteration of a big new feature that has a lot of moving parts. Give them time to process feedback and make changes. This is literally the purpose of beta.

[LodWig]

This.

[CarnivorousDeathParrot.2]

"Time to process feedback and make changes"

. . .as in

"time to find a replacement for the ad boxes" ???

[Heikki Gross]

"Trust me when I say that limiting the number of matches you can play in a day is not just a monetization strategy." so you are saying that it is a monetization strategy and then also something else. If limiting matches a day and selling additional matches isnt an energy system, then maybe all of us have misunderstood what exactly is the energy system. This is your game, you can do what ever you want with it, we are just pointing out that this kind of approach is not welcomed well in western countries. In asia, P2W is the only way to go to have some success. So maybe you are now trying to focus that market and are willing to loose most others. Just remember to go and delete that line (There is no limiting stamina or energy. The best things in the game are obtained by playing, not paying.) from the playstore game description, otherwise it will appear silly from your part because it will be impossible to compete free against high rollers in PvB ladder.

[Ozymandius]

A lot of players have been asking for PvP on this forum over the last couple of years, so I am not surprised that the Devs have been working to develop a PvP option, even one that is initially limited to playing against an AI opponent. Hopefully, this will be just an "add-on" that won't change the dynamics of playing the core Eternium game. Sort of like when they added The Gauntlet, but then tweaked the settings to prevent players from completing their daily quests by just using the auto-attack mode in The Gauntlet.

So far, none of the gloom and doom prophecies that have sprung up with every change in the game have turned out to be true (e.g., the addition of Glory will make it PTW and kill the game), and I doubt that the offering of PvP will either. I feel that the Devs understand that Free to Play is what attracts new players to the game and are dedicated to keeping that option open. The only thing that would truly kill the game for me would be stagnation. As long as they keep coming up with new gear options and challenges, I will continue to play.

Ultimately, what I would be more interested in seeing is the ability to fight along side other players in cooperative quests that require more than one hero to complete.

[Shade Glow]

That is a great perspective! I appreciate your optimism, and I certainly hope that it does not turn out to be a pay-to-win feature. It is set up to function like one, but we will just have to wait and see if they'll offer outstanding rewards that can only be obtained by purchasing extra Arena matches. The best we can do is to inform of them how we would feel if that were to come to fruition.

Ultimately, I also would like to see multiplayer co-operative gameplay in Eternium soon.

[Quercus]

A lot of players have been asking for PvP, but they don't have it, it would be making fun of the world to call it PvP seriously.
They keep coming up with new features, great, but shouldn't they take care of fixing the existing problems first ?

It's a bit exaggerated, of course, but when you smell bad, you don't add perfume, you wash yourself.