Agent, the reason I'm here, the only reason I'm here, the only reason I come to these forums, the only reason I take the time to post, the only reason I'm replying now is because I love the game. There is no other reason. I'm not a complainer, I'm a lover. I'm not a whiner, I'm a lover. I love this game for lots of reasons, it's brilliantly put together. A lot of heart goes into the game. The attention to detail is superb. The game is immersive and has many features which I enjoy coming back to every day. The game has been well thought out, and there are some brilliant people working on the game. I love the graphics, I love GE, I love the social side to the game. I love the way the game has been integrated into the online experience it is. I love everything about the game with one exception.
This is a free to play game, and you have to make money, but much of the changes to the gameplay is not designed by people who love the game, it is designed by people who don't care about the game, they don't care about the players, they don't care about anything except how much money they can wring out of it. They're never happy, they're always looking for more, always taking things away from the players to try and sneak more diamonds out of them. Doesn't matter if they have a good year, next year they want more and more and more, so they continue to sneak things away from the game to try to sneak more diamonds out of us.
My intent isn't to complain and whine, it's to try and find ways to make the company money. You can't do that designing gameplay developed by accountants whose only aim is to wring more money out of it. Players feel gameplay. They may not know what goes on under the hood, but they can feel the engine, and they can feel when something has changed. Like the time when the forge point bar was cut off at 10 forge points when it used to flash and go up to 12. I could list perhaps 15 to 20 similar small changes over the last couple of years, all designed to take away from the players gaming experience to try to get more money out of them. Players can feel the changes because lovers love from their hearts and they know when they're being loved back and when they're just being used.
Players who feel loved will spend more money voluntarily. Players who feel cheated will spend less. Don't underestimate the power of love. Spurned lovers will not make you money.