The New Update

[Kakaru]

So, the new update... It really does feel like a bait and switch to me personally. New content is always appreciated, but it feels lackluster and rushed to attempt to smooth over the previous update that introduced the gacha mechanics.

We got some new items from W5 boss: armor, obols, uniques, and the new weapons. Can't complain there - but the reason it feels rushed to me? The boss does nothing. It's nothing but a DPS check. The mole healing mechanic is annoying with how much they heal - certain classes cannot deal with moles well at all to begin with. Personally I don't think this was the W5 boss design philosophy, but something had to be put out to appease players.

Another aspect of this update: the gacha. It got a pity system, sure - and it is at least retroactive for players. However, the price/time is steep: still far, far too steep. It's either ~$500 recycling pets to get Doot, or ~3.85 years to get Doot as F2P (presuming you go dry and have to pity roll it). As of now a pity roll cannot obtain Doot - the developer has stated they might poll pity roll giving Doot (presumed people wanted it tradeable supposedly...). Once other pets get introduced it dilutes the pool - I feel like it's only getting worse from here. The gacha needs rate increases and a lower pity system in my personal opinion.

How does everyone feel about the updates in general? Please keep this to about the game and not other drama. I'd rather keep this on topic and appropriate to the rules of the community discussions - if you have feedback/criticism please remain constructive with it.

[kone]

This update really helped me...solidify my dissatisfaction in this game. No point in playing seeing as where the game is headed.

If the DPS check, dummy boss of W5 is what is being pushed and intended to make us excited for the next world and boss, then I don't have any more hope in this game. It really seemed the updates have had a slow crawl and descent into how expansive the game felt.

I don't feel the bigger-number aspect of this update with only new gear, upgrade stones and rare boss drops are satisfying at all, and certainly nothing in scale to any update in progression either really.

The gacha was not a mistake, and Lava's text response made it clear. It makes money and gives the game attention. There's no longer a worry to keep long-time players satisfied or competitive. The MMO aspect of the game is abandoned in practice. The pity system as it is, worthless and the bare minimum - makes it still so enticing to play the game more to wait it out or maybe even spend money to have a chance at the system. It's perfect.

NPCs, quests, secrets and bosses have all been split apart heavily since W3 and are few and far between content-wise and time-wise.
Inbetween the drama and community cannibalisation Lava allowed to happen, hype about the game is also dead. He didn't hype up this content or the previous contentious one with the pets in the discord server, which was a way to keep the community engaged in general. It was thrown upon the game so no one can offer any sort of feedback. Who knows why he stopped, really. Too much work? Or tired of being criticised and wanting to get away with these lukewarm updates.

The updates as they are now aren't for long-time players. It's for new players. It's a clear distinction that the updates that came before were celebrated and enjoyed, hyped and provided healthy feedback inbetween the developer and the community. Now, the game's philosophy isn't as it is anymore. The game is rushing along to be as big as it wants to be, not as it needs to be. For money.

[Zymmer]

I would like to point out that the pity system for companion pets does *NOT* include pets you claim for free. It *ONLY* counts pets purchased with gems. So this doesn't impact F2P players at all, only the ones who spend real $$.

The lack of a dev response to the new companion system and its awful pricing is what sealed the deal for me. I started playing this game when it released on steam, and the dev is no longer the same person as he was then. I've spent over $100 on this game and these recent real money transactions adding things that are 100s if not 1000s of times better than the combined purchases I've made in the past are...infuriating. I feel duped.

[Ov Å̪e̞oη̣s]

To be fair, why spend a tonne of time on designing bosses when all the players want is to kill it in one hit and get drops? It more feels like a disheartened response to the troll/chizoar effort. Troll had the trolling gimmick but in the end we were allowed the 'ok i'll let you hit me once!' cause people complained they had to wait or do dumb tasks. Chizoar was well designed as an alt to w1/2 but still just want to oneshot it in the end.

I can totally understand a long term earning for doot but yes, the time gating tactic is really cheap, it does not feel like there is any progress, but it is also not a skill. Since breeding was brought in i had really no idea how pets were going to get handled and he obviously didn't really know either. More of a 'just add them i guess' press button to acquire rather than designing a skill to progress. Unfortunate.

[Kimbee]

I'm a relatively "recent" addition to the IdleOn community—I've only invested a little over 270 hours into the game. So if it crashes and burns with this update (or any other down the line), I'm not out much, though it's disappointing given I hopped onboard with the understanding that the game was, minus optional cosmetics and boosts, "free." Hence, I've never poured one penny into the game, and this update only serves to tighten the strings of my purse. Can't say I'm all too surprised with the direction the dev has taken—based on past behavior and the general nature of human beings—and I doubt he or the whales of the community care. Even so, this update essentially destroys whatever credibility IdleOn had with longtime players and I don't see, at this point, any course correction capable of making amends. A sad state of affairs for a clever game, but as the Good Book says: "The love of money is the root of all evil."

As for me, I'll continue to log on and advance, for as long as the current state of IdleOn allows. But I'll be "mooching" along with all the other "entitled brats" of the community—1,000% free of charge.

[Ov Å̪e̞oη̣s]

Originally posted by #83:

I half-theorized when the companions update launched that this was Lava's way of doing one last cash grab before abandoning the game, and the half-hearted design of Kattlecruk is really only supporting that. If I hadn't already dropped the game, I'd be leery about continuing to invest my time in it at this point.

Makes me wonder about that info graphic about 2 more worlds and 2 more sets of elite classes... I have thought of a kick back with a support pack since i played so much but not jelling with that thought at this point, maybe i'll get one with google survey money later lol

[(ง ͡ʘ ͜ʖ ͡ʘ)งBonesMcSpook]

I disagree.

[Underlaw]

I loved the update, i loved the pets (but i think pet you already get should be scalate like +1.15% for the second same pet, +1.10% for the third, and so on) this way free people that get 3 times same commom pet dont feel bad.
But overall i think the game is going for better animations, better pixel arts, and have so much to make...this game is a game to play for more 3 4 years non stop.

[DrakjägarKonny]

Yes these last two updates belong in the circus.

[Halabaloo]

Lava has never handled any level of criticism well, so I can see him fleeing this game. When tasks were introduced, the second tier of gear was not, which breaks with how things progress. so now we have the w5 base gear and the boss gear. To me, this shows how desperate he was to put out something so he could pretend he hadnt just introduced a scummy gacha system.

[Eddie]

To the people still buying Gem Packs
Why? To speed up your progress.

It's a Idle game, it's ment to take a while.

When you complete the game, What are you gonna do? That's right, Get bored and quit.

You're essentially paying to end the game quicker. Well played you're a fool.

And then theres these extreme cases of people dishing out 100$ to 500$ just for 1 simple companion. Bravo you have graduated clown school.

Also, People upset about p2w or gambling. Just ignore it. Don't let it ruin your ''fun'' if u can honestly call this game ''fun'' theres already something wrong. But that's none of my business

[bunies]

wow lava did thing becaues people complained about previous boss having lots of retarded mechanics

now you complain new boss does not have retarded mechanics, face_palm.jpg

[Kakaru]

Originally posted by bunies:

wow lava did thing becaues people complained about previous boss having lots of retarded mechanics

now you complain new boss does not have retarded mechanics, face_palm.jpg

And this one is any better how? It's literally a damage check in the current state. Moles heal way too much - if you're not doing crazy levels of damage you're not taking down Nightmare that's for sure. It's uninspired and comes off as rushed.

[Yerc2]

I am also of the opinion that a gacha itself does not ruin a game.

However, a game is ruined when the developer is immature, irresponsible, and attacks the playerbase for criticising updates that are significantly worse than anything else added to the game.
It's clear as soup that the developer has either given up on making quality updates, or he just doesn't care anymore.

I can understand why Lava would prioritise profits over game balance and the satisfaction of the players. I can't hold that against him.
Although I dislike the game heading in a more predatory and money-walled direction, that's not the end of the world.

Lava's outburst and deflection is a much bigger red flag that the gacha itself.

[bunies]

Originally posted by Kakaru:

Originally posted by bunies:

wow lava did thing becaues people complained about previous boss having lots of retarded mechanics

now you complain new boss does not have retarded mechanics, face_palm.jpg

And this one is any better how? It's literally a damage check in the current state. Moles heal way too much - if you're not doing crazy levels of damage you're not taking down Nightmare that's for sure. It's uninspired and comes off as rushed.

I wouldn't even know what moles heal for seeing as they never make it to the boss

also nightmare is always absurd hp for current tier, that is why it is NIGHTMARE, heck chaos is supposed to be hard on current tier

if you tried to do chaotic amarok on W1 he would bend you over a barrel and have his way with you, dont even need to talk about what nightmare amarok would do

[bunies]

Originally posted by Yerc2:

I am also of the opinion that a gacha itself does not ruin a game.

However, a game is ruined when the developer is immature, irresponsible, and attacks the playerbase for criticising updates that are significantly worse than anything else added to the game.
It's clear as soup that the developer has either given up on making quality updates, or he just doesn't care anymore.

I can understand why Lava would prioritise profits over game balance and the satisfaction of the players. I can't hold that against him.
Although I dislike the game heading in a more predatory and money-walled direction, that's not the end of the world.

Lava's outburst and deflection is a much bigger red flag that the gacha itself.

i have litteraly played a game before where the gacha pets would 1 shot people in pvp with no counters, so please stop the crying about this game because you have no idea what you are talking about

you understand this is an incremental game right ? there is no blance, there can be no balance, it is a game that effectively scales upwards in a logarithmic scale

also i have no idea where you are getting this lava outburst nonsense from, you understand he isnt the one banning the crybabies on discord and reddit right ? he doesn't have time for that ♥♥♥♥

Originally posted by #83:

Originally posted by bunies:

wow lava did thing becaues people complained about previous boss having lots of retarded mechanics

now you complain new boss does not have retarded mechanics, face_palm.jpg

People didn't complain about Troll because it had extra mechanics. They complained because the mechanics were more frustrating than genuinely challenging/interesting and because there was no way to progress to the point of being able to efficiently farm him. Adding the free hit mechanic to one of the upper-level tasks was a good solution, allowing people to farm him if they'd scaled properly while still making people work through the mechanics at least a few times (which, though annoying, were just part of the vision for the boss).

Responding to those complaints by making a boss that's a brainless damage check doesn't avoid that problem. It just means the boss is *never* particularly fun or interesting to fight, no matter how far you've progressed.

Originally posted by Yerc2:

I can understand why Lava would prioritise profits over game balance and the satisfaction of the players. I can't hold that against him.

I can. I *understand* wanting to take advantage of an easy cash grab opportunity, but as a player all I care about is having a fun game to play. Yes, the dev needs to make a living in the process, and I'm fine with supporting that, but when taken to this extreme and at the expense of the game's enjoyability, I can absolutely hold that against him, to the point of dropping the game over it (especially where, as you said, his response to the whole thing has been to double down on being greedy and censoring complaints instead of to try and improve).

omg a boss who is litteraly a troll has mechanics that troll the player, seems to me you really dont get this game do you

no boss is "particularly fun or interesting to fight" once you scale past a certain point because they all get ONE SHOT

also the fact that other people having a shinny toy that you can't have somehow ruins the fun for you seems very much like a you problem, maybe you need to work on that flaw in your personal character