PvP: Attrition

[Nicko]

They need 2 slow down on the updates! U just get used 2 things & bam,they change it! Why I'm sitting on 75 skill shards & 160k badges! Well, plus all the freezes!!! All they're doin is introducing new toons/talismans 2 counter the previous ones! Gets old fast!!! What's gunna happen now, can't b many new toons left=boredom! And this shit of introducing OP toons in hopes we all shard em & then nerf em??? Fuck that...not me!!!

Others have expressed that same frustration SK - so you're not alone - but I'm not in that camp. For me - the changing metas keep things fresh. Yes - toons get sharded that aren't used anymore (both my Wraths are sitting on a bench right now) - but because 4-6 shards come every week I'll take the challenge of new toons and changing metas over a more static environment. I may be an exception there.

Where this DOES get potentially frustrating is feeling compelled to chase those toons. VHE is great - but Shaman - and Mystic - and Aces High are 5* Eddies as well. A variety of teams should be viable - that in itself would encourage variety - not a combination of six different toons...

[Silentknight]

Others have expressed that same frustration SK - so you're not alone - but I'm not in that camp. For me - the changing metas keep things fresh. Yes - toons get sharded that aren't used anymore (both my Wraths are sitting on a bench right now) - but because 4-6 shards come every week I'll take the challenge of new toons and changing metas over a more static environment. I may be an exception there.

Where this DOES get potentially frustrating is feeling compelled to chase those toons. VHE is great - but Shaman - and Mystic - and Aces High are 5* Eddies as well. A variety of teams should be viable - that in itself would encourage variety - not a combination of six different toons...

I agree that the constant updates make things fresh BUT it's too frequent! Christ, imagine the players that dont have access 2 forum...omfg! Confusing as all hell! Also the problem is toons are not balanced when introduced! So here comes another update. All u gotta do is look at lists...50-80% VHE...really! Prisoner was never this bad & it was a problem, although that was his passive but still OP is OP! Or balance...call it what u want! Makes 4 very unenjoyable game play! Sure it could be a combination with immortality but those are here to stay so VHE needs another nerf or other Eddies need buffs.

[Askora]

Congrats to GMAC, another excellent run. Congrats to Nicko and Slauki as well. I was rooting for Nicko even though GMAC is a former trooper. Think all of you deserve it as do a few others. From Nicko's excellent posts, to Slauki's great character guide and Gmac's ferocity you're all legends in the game.

I retired, but it was short lived as things in my life switched gears a little bit. One thing that changed for the better is I lost a few excellent troopers from the forum. On the one hand it stinks as the camaraderie is part of the draw of the game, on the other hand I'm at 40 troopers (only a few forum members) and it gives the game a more casual feel.

Hats off to Nicko for starting this thread, I'd planned to start one similar but he beat me to the punch. Great minds think alike. I do think the big question is what in-game goals are there for an end game player. The latest and greatest character? My offense and defense in PvP don't depend on them and I can beat BNW at level X without much difficulty. So, that's simply a novelty. New content? Aside from the bugs and botched launch of BNW, it took some less than a day to conquer it. Run for eternal? Not for everyone. I'm more pve than PvP, but I do like the challenge of facing the different defenses (except when they're all nearly identical as is currently the case).

I finished the week at 33, a new high for me. Better offense, a still semi-effective defense, slower PvP than usual and the attrition of long time players are the main factors for it. Also, my account is cursed with always getting Sow on lower tier sacrifices. Seeing as I'm not big on PvP, it only makes sense. So, add a bunch of extra Sow for chasing blue buzz and that got me to 33. Might have been able to place higher, but chose to take Saturday off and do other things.

As endgamers, most have contributed some amount to the game and I think that's a big positive. What would keep us interested though. I think chat would be great, as for many of us the friends in the forum are what keeps us coming back. Need to fix the crashes before that though because it's frustrating enough to lose when it hangs up, would only be worse if it was because someone said hi. Bugged characters and effects while aggravating are something we all manage to work around, so my opinion is they are a little lower priority.

Sorry for the long post, just wanted to share my thoughts on things.

Cheers!

Askora-8071 (Kevin)

[Zapathusara]

About the arena, there was a moment saturday I checked out the ranks, and I saw 4k beeing enough to top 5. In a normal week this points is no guarantuee to top 25. I think it's a sign that everyone is a bit off the game (and sadly, we have Irma too).

As a gamer (and a ex-dev) I think I can say that is normal to have some issues in the endgame spectrum. High performance teams will be somekind similar in any game (MTG has a lot to say about that). Balance is difficult to mantain and one way to shake the meta (in short time) is if nearly op toons.

But that's no excuse. I do think the game are much much better than the days of beta pvp. We gpt sacrifice and fragments. We had two awesome events in 300/500 pvp week and the 5* eddies rush. BNW was a looooong promise, even more for the few that preffers pve, and it was a let down.

So, what can we do? I still dream with a coop raid like mode. Group boss, call your troopers to beat some faces. I saod faces, since obly one kind of boss make us tired soon. But a hard pve coop mode can keep things fresh for endgamers. And of course, made this mode with more kind difficults for the others too. PVE needs the same attention as pvp.

In pvp, some toons will always be netter than others. That said, I would increase IA and some aspects of others eddies (Vision could be turn back to its glory days).

VHE is a fav of mine, but it does too much. I would made its fury grant crit only to the toons alive, not for the revived ones.
And maybe, just maybe, reduce 15% dmg of dusk. VHE is much superior than Nav and others 5*.

As always, this is my wall of text for today (I just can't keep it simple). Lot's of ideas in mind, but I feel like I took to much time already in this post. See ya all.

PS: took some days off arena/game too. Maybe I come back this week. Maybe.

[mjmxiii]

Hey Nicko,

So glad to see you take this post back!! I didn't see last weeks until last night but SK nailed it when he wrote that it just feels right with you as the OP. I think you said it, they need to do the obvious things, but (as I've stated in the past) they need to stabilize the PvP environment. This revolving meta where one toon gets clipped and another gets augmented or released and takes the throne is annoying. You once wrote that the meta would need to keep changing in order to avoid growing stale but it's evolution has become an ever changing meta that is a victim of it's own counter programming. This vicious cycle to keep things fresh has become it's own worst enemy and has made all these great long term players give up on a game that still is nowhere near full potential.

I'm not much of a gamer either, but Iron Maiden has been a part of and a major influence in my life for near 40 years so there is no other option as far as I'm concerned and I sure as hell won't be wasting my time playing a bot-fighting game because it doesn't have bugs when the game itself sucks balls (No apologies F2F crew, just IMHO). I'll choose to waste my time here and remain on the sinking ship and stay true to my loyalties. If Nodding Frog gets its shit together, great... and if they don't... well they will have squandered an opportunity to follow through on the most Metal (fiberglass bots don't stand a chance ) game I've ever enjoyed playing.

A few things that need to happen to fix obvious stuff, i.e. better drop rates, new content, fewer bugs, PvP variety, etc, etc...;

• Stabilize the PvP environment (bugs seem to be a direct result of the ever changing meta)
• Restore toons like Prisoner, AoP and VE to previous glory (if you nerf one, another will take its place)
• Boss characters that can lead PvP/PvE teams other than Ed (changes team compositions and disables Prisoner passive, adds variety to PvP when you don't need to have an Ed on the team)
• Make Fragment Claims selectable (would help the lack of better drop rates and prevent Eternal dupes after a month of fragment chasing)
• Finish Night City and Silent Planet in a timely fashion (please!)
• Somewhere in Time World (a world based on the classic album is an absolute must)
• 7th Son World (a 'hell freezes over' world that finally gives us the half-body Ed we want)
• Trooper World (this so we can collect the Trooper at long last)
• Beasts Revenge World (a world where Ed is captured and we have to use Boss Chars to lead our team and defeat the many different variations of Ed to get him back)
• Beast Mode (a mode that gets unlocked at LvL 100 where all enemies are fully maxed in all respects)
• Hallowed be thy Name World (a world based on this sick drawing of a crusader Ed by Dan Mumford)

[Silentknight]

MJM, u have some of the coolest pics & ideas!!! Nice 2 c Nicko kept ur top 10 list even if it was only 5! I mean he's no Letterman! Lmao!!!

[mjmxiii]

MJM, u have some of the coolest pics & ideas!!! Nice 2 c Nicko kept ur top 10 list even if it was only 5! I mean he's no Letterman! Lmao!!!

Lol thanks SK, he's no Letterman but I'm no Nicko! Wish NF felt the same about my ideas as you bud... That pic is licensed by Maiden too.. only 200 of them on a silk screen that sold for 50 bucks back in 2015... I missed out on that one!

[Silentknight]

Lol thanks SK, he's no Letterman but I'm no Nicko! Wish NF felt the same about my ideas as you bud... That pic is licensed by Maiden too.. only 200 of them on a silk screen that sold for 50 bucks back in 2015... I missed out on that one!

Wow, $50!!! I'd kill 4 that! I have a coloured Live After Death flag that's the 1st thing that gets hung up whenever I move. Also, seeing as how I know ur a hockey & LA Kings fan, I also have a Gretzky/Howe painting #???/250! Can't remember & packed away.

[gmac]

Hello everyone

Lots to talk about.

First, thanks Nicko for this thread, and MjM too for keeping it alive.

Arena This Week
I was not planing on trying Eternal this week, but as Nicko pointed out, things were slow... 7 hours to go 700 pts... I started playing, figure out what was causing the crashes (for me it was MCR, that is bugged) made few changes and all of a sudden I saw I had a chance. Great battle with Nicko. Felt a little like first week. And almost a win win situation, If I lost I'd be happy too, Nicko getting Eternal is something that should have happened before. Slauki getting 3rd was icing on the cake, this was a horrible week and glad it ended this way.

Record Tied
After I saw Carlos spreadsheet (thx for it man) I think I stared at it, both hands on my head, for about two minutes. Lots of things crossed my mind.
First, being tied with Jofer just feels wrong. He is a different player, with lots of experience in other games, where he was also very successful. Truth is I would not have as many Eternals if he was playing, he is on another level then all other players over here, including myself. Nevertheless, I'm tied, and it's a great honor.
Also, looking at the sheet I think it was the first time I really realized what I have archived in the game and how far I have improved as a player. Like Jofer I have more Eternals than all other players combined. This is unthinkable and really special. (and also feels wrong btw)

Thoughts of Quitting
After Valkyrie event and blue Buzz fiasco I really started considering quitting this game. Problem for me really is that I can't use my rewards to get toons I want or feel I need for PVP competitiveness... And buying 90 souls and getting ZERO Valkyries... what a fucking rip off!!!
There is little motivation for me to chase Eternals, rewards are always dupes and IC I can't use. I have 143k(!) IC, 53 ss, 100k tp, 30mi gold... but what for? I really wish I could use what I earn playing to get toons I need. Make it super expensive. 25k IC + 25k tp + 10mi gold or something like that.
Plus, game does not motivates me to try and raise the bar, let's say go for 20k, or something stupid like this. That is probably why Jofer left, and why I'm considering it too.
Feels like the more successful you are, the more the game pushes you away. Invest a bit more, get zero events rewards. Get Eternal, how about another dupe? Lv6 sacrifice, 2ss for you. etc.
I wanted one more Eternal, to leave the game on a high. And this might be perfect, one last Eternal with a classic Saturday run on a great battle with Nicko to tie Jofer's record. Could not have scripted it better.
So... will see, truth is also I don't really wanna play other games, this one is Iron Maiden's game damn it! And I like this community a lot. I've made lot's of friends and got to know amazing individuals. I don't want to leave it.
At the same time I can choose to do other things with my time, start other challenges, invest in other things etc.
Don't know how it will go, I wish things would change but my hopes are really low.

About The Suggestions
Slauki, MjM, Nicko, Ravi, SK, you all posted great ideas.
I'm really sad to see long time players leave... (add Killhouse and Go80sMetal to that list!).
I do feel fixing bugs and stability are paramount. (this is THE BASICS)
But yes, things to do with troopers - missions, raids or something, that would be great. (this is the key for PVE)
Then ways to get specific toons/rewards with lots of hard work. (this would be the key for PVP)
Of course new content with a shorter time frame would also be welcome. (this is a plus!)
I don't mind meta changes, just wish they did not happen so often, and so close to Arena deadline.
I also don't mind final fantasy toons. Devs said they brought Valkyries to try and reach a different player base...how about making this game great to try and reach that?!? This is Iron Maiden game and it deserves to be great!
Again, I'm not hopeful, but maybe a miracle. Patrice? lol

Cheer guys
have a good week!
gmac

[Silentknight]

Add PizzaFriday as well!