Updates from the News Frontier - September 10 2020

Welcome to the News Frontier!

We hope you have been enjoying Septembers events so far. The Mongolian Allies are some of my favourites so far and we aren't done yet! The Magus Mongolian Archer will be coming in an event next week!

October is going to bring more events and more Eddies and Allies which you are not going to want to miss!

We will not be having a live stream at the end of this month to reveal anything about October, but this is because we are planning an even bigger stream that is currently set for the 3rd week of October (provisionally). In this stream we will be holding a Q&A session with myself and 3 developers and engineers. There will be a way to submit your questions in advance in order to get you the best possible answers to as many questions as we can manage! We will also include a chance for Twitch chat to ask live questions too.

In the coming week we will open up the Question submissions and start collating these for the team to start answering, so get your thinking caps on!

He's got that X-Factor

As you all know, X-Factor Eddie is on his way to the game and we have been sharing exciting images of his development. I have A LOT to share in the coming weeks, but I am going to spread it out!

So today, I have some of his Ability images to share. Let me know in the comments what you think these Abilities will be called and what kind of Damage and Effects he might be dishing out.

Attachment 8737

Attachment 8738

That's all for this week, more details for the Q&A stream will be released in the coming week.

Signing off,

Ceeg

Ceeg, since this night's update featured a new Oni Eddie T3, I have to ask if that will be coming out at a different point where we can earn it. Locking cosmic (and characters) behind payments isn't cool.

Oi, how about some balance for a change instead of more and more frag chars that take 5k ironite to unlock?

Passives used to be easy to understand stuff along the lines of "if you get first blood, your team gets an extra move". Now its a paragraph, plus the bespoke cosmic talisman and the 5 set that is better than any 6 set.

There's a reason bugs keep popping out and character combos freeze the game. Lads, do a cleanup. You keep shoving stuff in, stuff breaks. On top of that all the wonderful work the art team does (well, not the models, but concept art looks fine) goes to waste since chars are already chaff less than a month after introduction, unless they are so OP you have to design entire chars and talis to counter them.

Oh, one last thing, if anyone with law experience can shed some light: How does the soul system works for people in places with strict anti-gambling laws (for videogames)?
Say, Belgium. Sure, we "can" earn Ironite to buy souls, but the amounts required and earned are ridiculous. Main way to get Ironite is through IAP's. The game after all uses the appeal of the band for its promotion, and since the game is not age-restricted in the Play Store, kids could easily fall into the gambling scheme. I have disposable income and bought my way into Genghis Khan, but it's still a game of chance.

Question: does Sparton still work at LoTB? Players were really rough on him. He tried, but I think he cracked. Ceeg, you’re doing a good job at a very difficult job, which is, dealing with LoTB players... Keep up the good work!

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Originally Posted by RobG-9641

Question: does Sparton still work at LoTB? Players were really rough on him. He tried, but I think he cracked. Ceeg, you’re doing a good job at a very difficult job, which is, dealing with LoTB players... Keep up the good work!

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It's hard being a community manager for a game that players want to love and enjoy but is riddled with bugs and mediocre customer support which dampens the enjoyment. On top of that the community doesn't feel heard when it comes to feedback; less than one Q&A per year isn't enough to have a healthy conversation between developers and players about the game.

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Originally Posted by Hank93

Oi, how about some balance for a change instead of more and more frag chars that take 5k ironite to unlock?

Passives used to be easy to understand stuff along the lines of "if you get first blood, your team gets an extra move". Now its a paragraph, plus the bespoke cosmic talisman and the 5 set that is better than any 6 set.

There's a reason bugs keep popping out and character combos freeze the game. Lads, do a cleanup. You keep shoving stuff in, stuff breaks. On top of that all the wonderful work the art team does (well, not the models, but concept art looks fine) goes to waste since chars are already chaff less than a month after introduction, unless they are so OP you have to design entire chars and talis to counter them.

Oh, one last thing, if anyone with law experience can shed some light: How does the soul system works for people in places with strict anti-gambling laws (for videogames)?
Say, Belgium. Sure, we "can" earn Ironite to buy souls, but the amounts required and earned are ridiculous. Main way to get Ironite is through IAP's. The game after all uses the appeal of the band for its promotion, and since the game is not age-restricted in the Play Store, kids could easily fall into the gambling scheme. I have disposable income and bought my way into Genghis Khan, but it's still a game of chance.

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The current Cosmic maiden from this event that is only obtainable via "luck" of opening souls, and since souls can be only purchased via ironite and ironite can be purchased for real money (unlimited), this crosses the gray line and would be classified along the lines of lootbox gambling. NF was already playing with fire with their model, but for a long time, all things could be earned within a set of limits, like, open 75 souls and you get 10 frags each and you can buy the toon if unlucky. So there was a ceiling to the gamble.

It is quite alarming that they thought a toon only available through sheer luck that is tied to a method to gamble unlimited for RL money was introduced and they need to give their head a shake.

Anyhow, it is quite easy to report them about this as quite a few players already have. Only NF would have the audacity to "gamble" on this latest greed grab.

I know a guy in our clan who opened 270 gems chasing her and never got her. Do the math to see how that looks...

1) I have no love for the P2W Oni Cosmic.

2) Or the way Cosmic Maiden must be acquired, currently.

3) Buuut... this game is way more generous with its F2P features than almost any other App I have ever downloaded. Let’s take a step back, here. Cosmic Talismans available for purchase only are nothing new to LoTB. The fact that this is a Bespoke cosmic... should not make a difference. Bespokes are not make-or-break, and Oni is not a character you need to have to be successful. Until now, all the stuff that is available for purchase (or at least most of it) has been available later in some form or another not-for-purchase... the purchase just gets you the shiny quicker.

As for Cosmic Maiden, I have played games where all new characters are earned this way (chance) and nothing is ever guaranteed. This is not an uncommon model. In LoTB, I have yet to see a toon that was only available once via one transactional method. Even Cosmic Lilith, who is not EASY to earn, can be picked up eventually if you missed her. I suspect Cosmic Maiden will appear as a Heroic Soul summon somewhere down the line at the very least. And she is not necessary to play the game... no single toon is.

Unfortunately, LoTB is not required to pump time and energy into a bunch of new content and give it all away, right away, for free.

However, (again):

4) Some transparency about when Cosmic Maiden and when/if the Oni Bespoke will be available (not for purchase) again would be welcome. Even, you know, an estimate or a vague promise.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GrimDusk

Ceeg, since this night's update featured a new Oni Eddie T3, I have to ask if that will be coming out at a different point where we can earn it. Locking cosmic (and characters) behind payments isn't cool.

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Yes it will be available in a future event. It is my understanding that we have never released an Eddie or Cosmic item for purchase, that will not be made available in another way (event reward etc) at some point in time in the future.

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Originally Posted by RobG-9641

Question: does Sparton still work at LoTB? Players were really rough on him. He tried, but I think he cracked. Ceeg, you’re doing a good job at a very difficult job, which is, dealing with LoTB players... Keep up the good work!

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Sparton hasn't been around since before I started. And I have been here a year this week!

I appreciate the compliment, many of you make the job very enjoyable!

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Originally Posted by Brickster

It's hard being a community manager for a game that players want to love and enjoy but is riddled with bugs and mediocre customer support which dampens the enjoyment. On top of that the community doesn't feel heard when it comes to feedback; less than one Q&A per year isn't enough to have a healthy conversation between developers and players about the game.

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I plan on changing that. We want you to feel heard, cause believe me, we do hear you. It may not mean more than one Q&A a year. But it will look like more live streams, more State of the Nations and hopefully a few new ways for everyone to get together and collaborate a bit.

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Originally Posted by Puntwothree

1)

4) Some transparency about when Cosmic Maiden and when/if the Oni Bespoke will be available (not for purchase) again would be welcome. Even, you know, an estimate or a vague promise.

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The best I can give you is "in a few months". That is pulled from a message about the event that is planned for the Talisman.

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Originally Posted by Ceeg_LOTB

I plan on changing that. We want you to feel heard, cause believe me, we do hear you. It may not mean more than one Q&A a year. But it will look like more live streams, more State of the Nations and hopefully a few new ways for everyone to get together and collaborate a bit.

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Want a know a great way for us to be heard? Not letting tickets sit around for over a month with ZERO interaction on the team's part. With events coming and going faster than the response, we have (at least) two very negative side effects:

1. Bugs that get introduced with an event stick around and keep impacting events as they aren't getting addressed
2. Getting the support becomes irrelevant and if you missed out on anything, tough luck because the support team has proven they won't provide any compensation for their inability to do their job in a timely manner (just ask Caesar or any of the others who missed out entirely and not for lack of trying on their part)

Fix the ticketing system so that it's actually worthwhile and I can guarantee players will feel more heard

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ceeg_LOTB

Sparton hasn't been around since before I started. And I have been here a year this week!

I appreciate the compliment, many of you make the job very enjoyable!

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I hope spartan resigned because he was too good to be fired :) speaking of other forum contacts, haven’t heard from Mia is awhile. Is she still around? Seems Ceeg took over her forum duties :)

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Originally Posted by Ceeg_LOTB

Yes it will be available in a future event. It is my understanding that we have never released an Eddie or Cosmic item for purchase, that will not be made available in another way (event reward etc) at some point in time in the future.

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So Ed Hunter, Guy Fawkes, Bonfire Talismans, Firestorm Talismans, and Sirius should all be available at a later point. Good to know. The only characters I don't see returning are the Angry Birds crossover Eds.

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Originally Posted by GrimDusk

So Ed Hunter, Guy Fawkes, Bonfire Talismans, Firestorm Talismans, and Sirius should all be available at a later point. Good to know. The only characters I don't see returning are the Angry Birds crossover Eds.

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Sirius was available from an event. That's how I got that toon.

Ed Hunter and Guy Fawkes I look forward to.

PS: Also, you forgot 2019 Tour Eddie and Lone Star Eddie.

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Originally Posted by Cefiar

PS: Also, you forgot 2019 Tour Eddie and Lone Star Eddie.

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Lone Star was available during Wasteland Ed's debut. I doubt 2019 Tour will come back, since we are now in 2020 and the tour is over.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ceeg_LOTB

I plan on changing that. We want you to feel heard, cause believe me, we do hear you. It may not mean more than one Q&A a year. But it will look like more live streams, more State of the Nations and hopefully a few new ways for everyone to get together and collaborate a bit.

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I know you do your best and I know most annoying things are out of your range. But hey, how could I feel heard if my ticket 51970 remains unanswered since february 13?

Beside that, a Q&A don't make me curious anymore. Good stuff will be discuss here latter, so no point to watch the stream, since the last Q&A was more intentions than improvements, like:

Quote:

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Quote Originally Posted by AhabsHarpoon
"When offering items that can only be purchased with particular soul fragments, could you please provide the NAME of the particular soul? A lot of the fragments are starting to look similiar (at least to me). Regardless of the player's quality of vision, I think it would be beneficial to ALL players. Thanks."

I agree. Accessibility features are important to a number of members of the team (myself included), and I think this is a good idea. there are some associated tech limitations, but maybe we can do something to help solve this. I'll look into it.

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Quote:

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Quote Originally Posted by Muzzleloader View Post
"How can we get rid of a few single frags that are not enough to convert to precious souls?"

We've been tossing ideas around in the office to resolve this very problem. This lives on our quality of life backlog. Hopefully we'll get to a solution for it soon.

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Quote:

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Quote Originally Posted by mikmar View Post
"I've got only one but for me very very important question:
Can you develop a separate brave new world dungeon for each talisman color ? So 5 dungeons instead of 3 ? It's not good when you're searching for runes of a specific color and the drops are the color you don't need ..."

Something we can consider, yes.

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So, it is nice to talk to the team, for sure. But there is a limit of what can be done with limited resources, so a lot of things we will ask will be put in consideration, but not be implemented.

Anyway, you are doing a great job Ceeg, this is not a personal complaint.

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Originally Posted by Alvorada

Beside that, a Q&A don't make me curious anymore. Good stuff will be discuss here latter, so no point to watch the stream, since the last Q&A was more intentions than improvements, like:

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That's a great way to put it. Last Q&A was a lot "we'll look in to that" or "it's on the table to maybe be addressed in the future". Where I'm sitting I have 0 faith in a Q&A being of much use beyond providing some form of accountability for us as players to say "hey we went through an official channel and still nothing happened".

I already do not receive an auto-reply for an e-mail request

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Originally Posted by Azile

I know a guy in our clan who opened 270 gems chasing her and never got her.

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I stopped at roughly 200.. never saw her.

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Originally Posted by MuzakMaker

That's a great way to put it. Last Q&A was a lot "we'll look in to that" or "it's on the table to maybe be addressed in the future".

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Ot questions were completely ignored... or a game of semantics was played.. Sure the AI is "streaky", but there's no "boost" - mean really, there's a difference? Much like WASTELAND EDDIE'S FURY.... it still ain't fixed "Mike".

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Originally Posted by Yup

Much like WASTELAND EDDIE'S FURY.... it still ain't fixed "Mike".

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The problem is, Yup, that this is the first time you've mentioned this. Likely the devs don't know about this issue.

/s

Ha! Hilarious! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alvorada

Anyway, you are doing a great job Ceeg, this is not a personal complaint.

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Same, my comment in this topic wasn't a complaint at all. More just stating a matter of fact that it must be hard doing what you do.
I know we (devs and players) all love the game.

Looking forward to more streams and updates. Thank you!

How long until the shipwreck fragments can be converted to something usable?

Hi HuckFinn150!

We'll be making these fragments convertible in our next update, which is due out at the end of this month.

Wasteland Eddies Fury needs fixing still -- months after his release.

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Originally Posted by Leviathan

Hi HuckFinn150!

We'll be making these fragments convertible in our next update, which is due out at the end of this month.

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For real this time? Or will it take a second update after it's missed like the Martyr frags?