[SUGGESTION] An "auto-play" option
Greetings, dear Adrian (Developer),
I hope this message finds you in the best of health & spirits.
Pre-Script: This is a humble suggestion from someone who stumbled across your amazing game 4 years ago, instantly fell in love with it (& still in love), played it obsessively for over a year, pushed 5 heroes to Level 70, reached CL 300+, developed acute cervical radiculopathy, was forced to stop playing for over 2 years, and have now tentatively re-started playing (despite a faint throbbing pain in my right arm)...
Some MMORPG (e.g., Olympus Rising) have an optional "auto-play" feature on the game map. This functionality allows the player to play the hero on an auto-attack mode. Here, the player first builds & prepares the hero with all the necessary gear & abilities. Once ready, the player opens the game map & clicks an "auto-play" button, which enables the hero to automatically run & hit the targets as the character moves towards the end of the map. The default setting is the manual-play mode, so the auto-play button has to be clicked by the player to start that mode.
Eternium is an addictive game that gives hours & years of enjoyable game play. Playing such a game for long hours can cause arm pain (if PC) or neck pain (if mobile) for some players who are prone to such injuries (because of the kind of work/ lifestyle they are in). Enabling an "auto-play" functionality addresses their problem & retains those customers for a longer duration. Specifically, elderly players (i.e., pensioners, who could be well-paying customers) would like to get everything set & then sit back to enjoy the action. Personally, I have greatly enjoyed those games wherein my preparatory efforts on the hero are seen bearing fruits in the attack map on auto-play mode. It feels like a coach, having prepared her star player well, sits back & enjoys the kid in action on the playground. The Gauntlet (Story 12) does give this experience, but in a limited way.
Given below is a visual depiction of this suggestion. The "auto-play" button is provided in the top-left corner of the game map.
Here, once the auto-play mode is activated, the hero uses only the Primary attack ability (for programming simplicity sakes). Utility attacks can be triggered by the player themselves as per the enemy situation, by timing keypress 1/2/3 with the left hand, giving the right arm a much needed rest. When nearing a risky boss that requires the hero to move differently, the player can quickly switch to manual mode by clicking the auto-play button again.
Of course, all this is easier said than done... but surely this is a challenge worthy of your awesome team.
Please consider.
Thank you & best regards, as always.
Post-Script: Eternium is one of those extremely rare games wherein I can see the love & care of the developers towards their customers. To cite a few...
I hope this message finds you in the best of health & spirits.
Pre-Script: This is a humble suggestion from someone who stumbled across your amazing game 4 years ago, instantly fell in love with it (& still in love), played it obsessively for over a year, pushed 5 heroes to Level 70, reached CL 300+, developed acute cervical radiculopathy, was forced to stop playing for over 2 years, and have now tentatively re-started playing (despite a faint throbbing pain in my right arm)...
Some MMORPG (e.g., Olympus Rising) have an optional "auto-play" feature on the game map. This functionality allows the player to play the hero on an auto-attack mode. Here, the player first builds & prepares the hero with all the necessary gear & abilities. Once ready, the player opens the game map & clicks an "auto-play" button, which enables the hero to automatically run & hit the targets as the character moves towards the end of the map. The default setting is the manual-play mode, so the auto-play button has to be clicked by the player to start that mode.
Eternium is an addictive game that gives hours & years of enjoyable game play. Playing such a game for long hours can cause arm pain (if PC) or neck pain (if mobile) for some players who are prone to such injuries (because of the kind of work/ lifestyle they are in). Enabling an "auto-play" functionality addresses their problem & retains those customers for a longer duration. Specifically, elderly players (i.e., pensioners, who could be well-paying customers) would like to get everything set & then sit back to enjoy the action. Personally, I have greatly enjoyed those games wherein my preparatory efforts on the hero are seen bearing fruits in the attack map on auto-play mode. It feels like a coach, having prepared her star player well, sits back & enjoys the kid in action on the playground. The Gauntlet (Story 12) does give this experience, but in a limited way.
Given below is a visual depiction of this suggestion. The "auto-play" button is provided in the top-left corner of the game map.
Here, once the auto-play mode is activated, the hero uses only the Primary attack ability (for programming simplicity sakes). Utility attacks can be triggered by the player themselves as per the enemy situation, by timing keypress 1/2/3 with the left hand, giving the right arm a much needed rest. When nearing a risky boss that requires the hero to move differently, the player can quickly switch to manual mode by clicking the auto-play button again.
Of course, all this is easier said than done... but surely this is a challenge worthy of your awesome team.
Please consider.
Thank you & best regards, as always.
Post-Script: Eternium is one of those extremely rare games wherein I can see the love & care of the developers towards their customers. To cite a few...
- Ideas like an optional PvP enable PvE aficionados to peacefully rest without worrying over the reversal or destruction of their years of effort.
- Gentle (& gentlemanly) ways of selling in-game products that do not force pay-to-win game play make even miserly players like me buy because that is the right thing to do for such a wonderful effort from your team.
- Efforts behind such a well-designed & managed Discord server (https://discord.gg/eternium) adduce the thoughtfulness towards customer support. Of course, having Travis | Support Mgr. in your team is your greatest advantage in supporting players.
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