Updates from the News Frontier - September 10 2020

[Ceeg_LOTB]

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.





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

Signing off,

Ceeg

[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.

[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.

[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!

[Brickster]

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!

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.

[Azile]

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.

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...

[Puntwothree]

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.

[Ceeg_LOTB]

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.

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.

[Ceeg_LOTB]

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!

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!

[Ceeg_LOTB]

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.

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.