New Content Mini Challenges Feedback Thread

[Morb]

I never heard of your username until recently, and I'm beginning to suspect you're some kind of "plant" because you're really the only person insisting everything is fine and we should all just try harder because we only fail for our own lack of preparation.

Yes, there are times when people come to the forums and complain because they didn't do one iota of research about the thing they're trying to do and then have unreasonable complaints when they fail at it. I'm not one of those people. I was prepared, I read the beta boards and the wiki and had a quest list. My guild was also warned and prepared and it still took 1 of my members 2800 diamonds to complete the 2nd Rival. The rest of us refused to spend anything on it the 2nd time.

It is NOT possible to complete Rivals even 1 time without spending diamonds unless you have an extreme amount of luck getting 4 star and 6 star boxes and the right color every board, and never spend any extra tickets, boosters, or wildlife coins except for when Rival is active. And if a player has managed to do that once, which is extremely unlikely, there's no way that player completes Rivals without diamonds a 2nd time because all the resources that were used to do it the first time can't be gained again unless you open your wallet and use a lot of diamonds.

See ya next Tuesday.
Edit: And here's a video, how a well known player "lies" to his audience, how he completed the Rival for free.

 

[vfrmark]

It is actually 100% possible to finish the rival quest without spending diamonds. I just did on 3 worlds. Just lookup UBERnerds guide on YT, use his overview from the quests and it’s a piece of cake

I think you are mostly correct and using UBERNERDS guide i think theres a 50% chance someone could finish it, but its pretty impossible without such advice. ie knowing not to collect a ticket from event 3 days before the start of rivals so you can use it after rivals starts is not that logical. The real 50% is how oftern you get the right colour for collecting or making 4x6 star chests, Yes if right colour you should finish, wrong colour you cannot finish without diamonds, a couple right and a couple wrong could go either way. Being able to understand all the quests and knowing next one is collect 60 yellow when your collecting Green is fabulous. but you must give up the normal way of playing most of the time and concentrat on Rivels only.

Sir Kyrstan, just liked your post and great advice to anyone who thinks its not possible, many thanks

 

[Agent327]

I never heard of your username until recently, and I'm beginning to suspect you're some kind of "plant" because you're really the only person insisting everything is fine and we should all just try harder because we only fail for our own lack of preparation.

Don't you know? Everybody that does not go with the flow of complaining is a "plant".

It is NOT possible to complete Rivals even 1 time without spending diamonds unless you have an extreme amount of luck getting 4 star and 6 star boxes and the right color every board, and never spend any extra tickets, boosters, or wildlife coins except for when Rival is active. And if a player has managed to do that once, which is extremely unlikely, there's no way that player completes Rivals without diamonds a 2nd time because all the resources that were used to do it the first time can't be gained again unless you open your wallet and use a lot of diamonds.

It is no problem at all to complete Rivals without spending diamonds. You do not even need luck. Just use the right boosters. Yes, it is not smart to spend extra boosters, tickets or coins before Rivals, but you knew it was coming. It is the same with people claiming it is impossible to get the main prize. It isn't if you make the right choices. Rivals even makes that easier.

I know it. I am a "plant".

 

[Ariana Erosaire]

Don't you know? Everybody that does not go with the flow of complaining is a "plant".



It is no problem at all to complete Rivals without spending diamonds. You do not even need luck. Just use the right boosters. Yes, it is not smart to spend extra boosters, tickets or coins before Rivals, but you knew it was coming. It is the same with people claiming it is impossible to get the main prize. It isn't if you make the right choices. Rivals even makes that easier.

I know it. I am a "plant".

LOL you're much worse than a plant. I waited around for you to get fired from US and EN servers as a mod and finally it happened. Ode to Joy.

Time will tell how many people want to play this game with the direction Inno is going and how many get fed up of being asked to turn it into an 8 hour job AND squeezed for money all the time for the privilege of "keeping up" with ever harder/semi-impossible/luck-based outcomes like what we are getting with Rivals. Just remember where everyone was standing, on the right or wrong side of history.

 

[Sir K.]

I think you are mostly correct and using UBERNERDS guide i think theres a 50% chance someone could finish it, but its pretty impossible without such advice. ie knowing not to collect a ticket from event 3 days before the start of rivals so you can use it after rivals starts is not that logical. The real 50% is how oftern you get the right colour for collecting or making 4x6 star chests, Yes if right colour you should finish, wrong colour you cannot finish without diamonds, a couple right and a couple wrong could go either way. Being able to understand all the quests and knowing next one is collect 60 yellow when your collecting Green is fabulous. but you must give up the normal way of playing most of the time and concentrat on Rivels only.

Sir Kyrstan, just liked your post and great advice to anyone who thinks its not possible, many thanks

The events in foe are like IKEA furniture. Of course you can go in blind and make the best of it when assembling it, and sometimes it works out fine. And sometimes it doesn’t and you make a promise to yourself (and your spouse ‘:-) ) you’ll read the manual next time.

As there’s tweaks in the recurring events yearly, I always make sure to watch one of the videos about it on YT before the upcoming event starts. Those 10 minutes make my life easier and the game more fun if I actually prepare a bit for the event :-))

 

[Agent327]

LOL you're much worse than a plant. I waited around for you to get fired from US and EN servers as a mod and finally it happened. Ode to Joy.

I have never been a mod on the EN server. I was on the US, but if I really was fired, wouldn't I be the last one to defend Inno's choices?

BTW, sorry for the long wait.

 

[Emberguard]

I think you are mostly correct and using UBERNERDS guide i think theres a 50% chance someone could finish it, but its pretty impossible without such advice.

Yeah, that's the real issue.

Not "is it possible?" but rather "do I need to map out and/or track requirements just to complete this?"

I like the option to just sit down and play on the fly without knowing what's coming up and still accomplish something.

If I wanted to track everything and math it all out to refine the strategy there's nothing stopping me from either writing my own Guide or looking one up, but it's so much more fun when it's not required to look things up to complete it

It is NOT possible to complete Rivals even 1 time without spending diamonds unless you have an extreme amount of luck getting 4 star and 6 star boxes and the right color every board, and never spend any extra tickets, boosters, or wildlife coins except for when Rival is active. And if a player has managed to do that once, which is extremely unlikely, there's no way that player completes Rivals without diamonds a 2nd time because all the resources that were used to do it the first time can't be gained again unless you open your wallet and use a lot of diamonds.

I skipped the first Rival, completed the second but needed to reach Quest 38 and used up all the tickets (excluding Gold ones). So extremely close if you're not using a Guide, but really it's the needing to know it's coming from a Beta source (or playing Beta) and how much to save up beforehand to get that result I take issue with.

If that information was readily available through the (Live) game interface itself in some form then at least you could plan without needing to look up a Guide. Even the forum announcement omits the Rival entirely, you have to go to the support page to be clued in on it existing

Even if all they did was have Rival visible from the start with: "Rival starts in X days. Quests will consume a minimum of X coins via spend X tasks. 32 Quests to be completed" that would give a heads up without needing to track every tiny detail during Beta testing


The way it's designed currently reminds me a lot of how a child or highschool teenager would design a challenge when they think they're being clever by introducing outright impossible requirements. The way the Rival speaks in the flavor text gives off the same sort of vibes: like a giddy child. But I'm not looking to beat a child at a game of the impossible challenge. I'm looking to play the mature adult Rival who knows how to intelligently design a challenge so that it does challenge you but if they win it's fair and square. I know the developers are capable of making intelligent design. I would like to see the Rival with something that's a reasonable challenge without needing Beta knowledge.

 

[Ariana Erosaire]

The way it's designed currently reminds me a lot of how a child or highschool teenager would design a challenge when they think they're being clever by introducing outright impossible requirements. The way the Rival speaks in the flavor text gives off the same sort of vibes: like a giddy child. But I'm not looking to beat a child at a game of the impossible challenge.

Yes, I've been struggling to put into words why I find it so annoying, and that description is coming closer.

I know the developers are capable of making intelligent design. I would like to see the Rival with something that's a reasonable challenge without needing Beta knowledge.

Intelligent design seems like an oxymoron at this point. And yes, needing study guides and fore-knowledge on everything because if you make a wrong move, it's going to cost you premium currency or you won't be able to complete it - what's fun in that?

I look up stats and plan my city, and I like puzzles, but this is not a puzzle, this is more like trying to avoid a trap. It changes the entire feeling from positive "I can solve this puzzle!" to negative "One wrong move or unlucky board, and I'm going to fall into their trap!"

 

[DaFunkyMonkey]

Hey there everyone. This is a feedback thread for our latest announcement - the mini challenges! Read all about it here, and post any feedback below!

I would like to talk about why Space Age Titan is so bad? Do you got any answers for that?

 

[Agent327]

I would like to see the Rival with something that's a reasonable challenge without needing Beta knowledge.

You really do not need beta knowledge or someone to figure it out for you and give you a walk through. Two days give you plenty of time to do the challenges. Once you open a board you are used to let the board lead you. You focus on finishing the board. The moment the Rival challenges start you should focus on the challenges and stop on the board the moment you finish a challenge. At that time you should immediately look at what the next challenge will be. It is a different mindset, but once you adapt to that it is not that hard. Is it fun? Absolutely not. Game is becomming more tedious with everything new they come up with. Beats me how mobile players can keep up with this. Because of it all I am now only playing my main worlds. All other worlds I just collect once a day. Can not be bothered with anything else for those anymore.

 

[JTRipper]

This candy drop game is ridiculous. It is very nearly impossible to achieve enough frags to complete the main building because of the scarcity of animal paws. So, collecting the upgrades is mostly a dream, not a reality. Furthermore, unlike a lot of the main building prizes, you make it even more difficult to acquire with the amount of upgrades required. You have to get 11 levels to achieve the full building before being able to add the Silver (or Golden) upgrades, when most others are only 9 levels, what the hell is that??? I call BS!

 

[Vesiger]

Yeah, that's the real issue.

Not "is it possible?" but rather "do I need to map out and/or track requirements just to complete this?"

I like the option to just sit down and play on the fly without knowing what's coming up and still accomplish something.

If I wanted to track everything and math it all out to refine the strategy there's nothing stopping me from either writing my own Guide or looking one up, but it's so much more fun when it's not required to look things up to complete it

Exactly.

I know the developers are capable of making intelligent design. I would like to see the Rival with something that's a reasonable challenge without needing Beta knowledge.

I did complete the first set of Rival quests (on the previous event), although admittedly that was only because I happen to have a mature city and to be a hoarder who saves up items like 'complete all production' boosts on principle without ever using them...
The trouble with these Rival quests is that they are tied to the event mechanic - which is not in itself at all a bad thing, and provides a lot more variety than the standard 'complete twelve 4-hour productions'/'gain 34,000 happiness' tasks, but which introduces some major non-negotiable constraints, like the requirement to throw away all your existing moves and start a new board in order to pass various of the quests, plus the killer element of certain colours being randomly unavailable at the point where they are necessary to do the task on hand.

I think somebody calculated it at ten tickets to complete forty quests; that means a minimum of four quests per ticket, which is in itself a massive challenge and not an average that I think I could do, but every time you hit a quest like 'pop forty yellow tiles' on a board with zero yellow tiles, you are pushing the average number of necessary quests-per-ticket up yet further.

 

[Vesiger]

First task of new Rival quests: pop 15 blue tiles. Done (somewhat laboriously in a board dominated by yellows).
Second task: buy 5FP (gets cumulatively more expensive across the entire game, not just per task) and pop 15 red tiles. This board is yellow, green, orange and blue, in that frequency , so I immediately have to throw away all 18 remaining moves...

 

[Morb]

First task of new Rival quests: pop 15 blue tiles. Done (somewhat laboriously in a board dominated by yellows).
Second task: buy 5FP (gets cumulatively more expensive across the entire game, not just per task) and pop 15 red tiles. This board is yellow, green, orange and blue, in that frequency , so I immediately have to throw away all 18 remaining moves...

Both tasks in same first ticket?

 

[Vesiger]

Both tasks in same first ticket?

First task in first ticket.
Second task requires a second ticket since it cannot be completed on the existing board. (16 moves wasted).
The third task is then to spend a ticket, requiring the mandatory use of a third ticket (18 moves of second ticket also wasted).

 

[Morb]

First task in first ticket.
Second task requires a second ticket since it cannot be completed on the existing board. (16 moves wasted).
The third task is then to spend a ticket, requiring the mandatory use of a third ticket (18 moves of second ticket also wasted).

So there were no red blocks on the first board? Did I understand that right?

 

[Morb]

Conclusions and observations after completing 3 Rival challenges.

Was it possible to finish them for free: Yes
Boards without the needed color for quests: Yes
Did luck change the outcome of finishing Rival quests: No
Did I use diamonds: Yes (was impatient to get few dozens of coins from quests to finish the 3rd Rival )
Time to finish: 20h, 2h30min, 3h
Was it possible to finish Rivals without tickets from event quests: Yes (if no errors were made on the player side)
Were these quests made to fail the player: No (if that was the intention, they failed at it )
Was I forced to use diamonds: No
Was it fun: certainly not
Was it rewarding: Yes

As previously discussed, to succeed at Rivals:
Don't use coins, boosters for regular games
Save all tickets from event quests and event rewards
Finish all daily challenges (coins and boosters) and collect all incidents (coins)
Have 3 regenerated tickets before the Rivals
Use lightning to pop certain color blocks
Play 1-2 quests ahead

Rewards were certainly worth it for a small size (38 mil ranking points) city like my:
3 Alligator swamps and Tapir trails
42 FP/day (including 20% from Forgotten Temple, excluding Blue Galaxy)
138/day current age goods (excluding Blue Galaxy)
90/day guild goods (excluding Blue Galaxy)
15/96 Attack and defense for attacking army
21/117 Attack and defense for defending army
300% defense for attacking army boosters from Tapir trails

9 golden tickets
A much easier life if I decide to go for Silver league (since 1st Rival have been barely holding in Silver)

 

[Forwandert]

Was it fun: certainly not

Pretty much agree with you and especially this point. It complete derails the way you are playing wildlife and events.

Everyone knows how to play by now and tbh I rarely even play the wildlife event, but this wierd limited time pressure in order to stay competitive in the middle of my working week isn't needed.

There's nothing entertaining about it, it's just something that requires prep and having to constantly read lists and watch vids that external sources are creating in order to maximize output and it's getting old now. It was enough adding frags and frag buildings to create an extra layer to events and clicking without this further layer.

What's next a pre event event? so you can collect the required resources to use in the event and a post event event to gather the cement to build the building after.

There's no point someone making statements and focusing solely on X amount of events if they're getting made longer and requiring additional input year on year.

 

[Morb]

It complete derails the way you are playing wildlife and events.

Nope.
What's the purpose of an event? To do something fun and get something extra. Rival questline in itself doesn't change that and doesn't punish a player if left partly done or not started at all. You still get to participate in an event and have the chance of getting the main(!) event building.

There's nothing entertaining about it

this wierd limited time pressure in order to stay competitive in the middle of my working week isn't needed.

So you have a choice to leave this part of the event unattended, without being stripped from the chance of getting the main event building. All good, right? As a famous meme person on some video said "my choice."

 

[Forwandert]

Nope.

Yes.

If you're playing for daily prizes you would aim for the chests and gaining as many of them as possible, If you're aiming to get the main building you would be aiming for paws.

At no point in anybodies thought process on how to maximize either would be the thought to try and collect 2 x 6 star chest of a certain colour (possibly not even available) or to continue using 5 plays several times unless you have a lot of things to drop down.

That is a derailment from what you would usually do in the event. How many times did you attempt to create 2 time yellow chests with 6 stars last year?