I really loved this game, but since the last update, for the first time, I've begun to have feelings of leaving. I'm not there yet, but the game has taken very bad turns in the last few updates.
The #1 problem is the Stronghold. The community originally asked for extra troop cards to be limited or eliminated from world war. Unfortunately, the developers took the idea and made it 100x worse. The stronghold limits extra troops on offense, sure (if you call 4 a limit...I'd prefer 1 or 2 max), but having the extra troops DEFEND is what is killing the game. The last update that makes ALL the troops spawn was the nail in the coffin, basically requiring purchase of cards to be competitive. Maybe this isn't a problem for the vast majority of players, but in the top 20 alliances, war is simply unsustainable now. Every tough war means you have to pack strongholds with premium cards, which cost money. To have even the slightest chance of getting a 5-star, you now have to use premium troop cards on offense too. This means, on average, every player is using 12 (TWELVE!!) premium troop cards every war (4 to donate to defense and 8 for the two attacks). That is crazy. It has turned into pay to win in the worse possible way. If you don't buy premium cards and use them in these competitive war, you have ZERO chance of victory. Sure, some skill is required, but the money element is now essential, and is a big put-off for me. It didn't used to be like this. When war was first introduced, it was all skill, no money involved. Now it's 50% money, and 50% skill. This isn't the same game I started playing. I came from Clash of Clans, and Dominations was originally refreshing and fun, but now it's turned into a pay to win horror show, getting worse each update.
The ability to put paid-for buildings in war is also a problem. It used to be you could only put buildings won in events in war. That was fine, as everyone was equal. You had to use that building or lose it. Now the devs sell bazooka towers at cost. Again, it's pay to win.
I really don't care about the tactics change. It's fine really, as it affects everyone equally, and doesn't require money to be spent. I think there were far better solutions to the problem than what was implemented. The way the developers did it, basically means you must get the brandenburg gate, and nobody will every use betrayal or protect now. Poor choices.
One quick note about the dock: it's useless at higher ages. Surely the same "data" used to justify the tactics change can show the devs lvl 7+ docks are rarely used. Why? Because 5 workers and 5 days is never going to be worth one troop. Even worse, some of the multi-day expeditions return stuff you can get in literally a single multiplayer battle. The community has put forward many solutions, but the devs haven't even acknowledged the problem, let alone work on a solution.
I've said this many times, but the developers need to focus their revenue schemes on advancement and cosmetic changes, but keep world war money-free. You've already opened the can of worms that is the Stronghold, but you can still fix it. I'm under no illusions that you will remove the stronghold, but at the very very least, revert the 5.5 change that makes all troop cards spawn from it when destroyed. Even better, remove all defensive troops from the stronghold. Instead of selling insanely over-priced troop cards and packages, focus on cosmetic enhancements. It will have no impact on war, but you'd be amazed how many players would pay for cosmetic items. Decorated buildings (at cost), special statues on the edge of their base, etc. Plenty of players will pay for that. But please, let us have our war back. Money should not be a prerequisite for victory in war.
It's not all negative though. I do like a lot of things the devs have done recently too. I like the 3 new uni leaders. This was a huge improvement over the initial set of leaders, and has really fixed what was broken (the insanely long research times). The friendly challenges are great too, thank you. The atomic age release was great too, for the most part. Just wish the devs would listen to the community more. The game is great, but just seems for every step forward, it's two steps back, at least recently.
The #1 problem is the Stronghold. The community originally asked for extra troop cards to be limited or eliminated from world war. Unfortunately, the developers took the idea and made it 100x worse. The stronghold limits extra troops on offense, sure (if you call 4 a limit...I'd prefer 1 or 2 max), but having the extra troops DEFEND is what is killing the game. The last update that makes ALL the troops spawn was the nail in the coffin, basically requiring purchase of cards to be competitive. Maybe this isn't a problem for the vast majority of players, but in the top 20 alliances, war is simply unsustainable now. Every tough war means you have to pack strongholds with premium cards, which cost money. To have even the slightest chance of getting a 5-star, you now have to use premium troop cards on offense too. This means, on average, every player is using 12 (TWELVE!!) premium troop cards every war (4 to donate to defense and 8 for the two attacks). That is crazy. It has turned into pay to win in the worse possible way. If you don't buy premium cards and use them in these competitive war, you have ZERO chance of victory. Sure, some skill is required, but the money element is now essential, and is a big put-off for me. It didn't used to be like this. When war was first introduced, it was all skill, no money involved. Now it's 50% money, and 50% skill. This isn't the same game I started playing. I came from Clash of Clans, and Dominations was originally refreshing and fun, but now it's turned into a pay to win horror show, getting worse each update.
The ability to put paid-for buildings in war is also a problem. It used to be you could only put buildings won in events in war. That was fine, as everyone was equal. You had to use that building or lose it. Now the devs sell bazooka towers at cost. Again, it's pay to win.
I really don't care about the tactics change. It's fine really, as it affects everyone equally, and doesn't require money to be spent. I think there were far better solutions to the problem than what was implemented. The way the developers did it, basically means you must get the brandenburg gate, and nobody will every use betrayal or protect now. Poor choices.
One quick note about the dock: it's useless at higher ages. Surely the same "data" used to justify the tactics change can show the devs lvl 7+ docks are rarely used. Why? Because 5 workers and 5 days is never going to be worth one troop. Even worse, some of the multi-day expeditions return stuff you can get in literally a single multiplayer battle. The community has put forward many solutions, but the devs haven't even acknowledged the problem, let alone work on a solution.
I've said this many times, but the developers need to focus their revenue schemes on advancement and cosmetic changes, but keep world war money-free. You've already opened the can of worms that is the Stronghold, but you can still fix it. I'm under no illusions that you will remove the stronghold, but at the very very least, revert the 5.5 change that makes all troop cards spawn from it when destroyed. Even better, remove all defensive troops from the stronghold. Instead of selling insanely over-priced troop cards and packages, focus on cosmetic enhancements. It will have no impact on war, but you'd be amazed how many players would pay for cosmetic items. Decorated buildings (at cost), special statues on the edge of their base, etc. Plenty of players will pay for that. But please, let us have our war back. Money should not be a prerequisite for victory in war.
It's not all negative though. I do like a lot of things the devs have done recently too. I like the 3 new uni leaders. This was a huge improvement over the initial set of leaders, and has really fixed what was broken (the insanely long research times). The friendly challenges are great too, thank you. The atomic age release was great too, for the most part. Just wish the devs would listen to the community more. The game is great, but just seems for every step forward, it's two steps back, at least recently.
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