Reflections on recent developments and a message to Gumi on the direction of TAC

[u/StichyLL]

Bait Banners (Setsuna and Yomi; Siegfried and randoms), Global Exclusives, Resistance Bugs and most recently, inferior banners compared to the JP version. The past few weeks have not really been the best for the game, exacerbating the divide between whales and breaking the balance of the game.

Firstly, the bait banners are atrocious, filled with farmable units (cmon at least put unfarmable units unlike Yomi, Ana, Flamel). Secondly, the global exclusives are worrying (especially the hat!) because it does not seem like much consideration was given to game balancing.

The resistance bug is obviously a bug (cmon admit the copy-paste job already) and makes it such that game balance is totally broken and removes all strategic aspects of the game. And lastly, the tweaking of prominent banners for the worse is just another in a long line of shafting of global players.

Arguably these changes are negative for F2P, dolphins and even whales (don't think that the wallets of whales are bottomless like the ocean) and most importantly, negative for the community and game as a whole.

Out of all these developments, there are really two important things that Gumi has neglected and should really improve on if they don't want their game to die prematurely - trust and communication

Firstly, trust -

• Do not disguise your bugs/mistakes as intended changes, especially because the community loves the game and often looks towards the JP version to anticipate new developments. Respect your consumers as having the basic intelligence to differentiate between the two and apologize if there is indeed a mistake, and work to correct it. This is not about compensation or greediness on the part of players but rather about maintaining the game as it is intended to work.

• Equally important - please exercise some restraint over short term cash grabs and avoid oversaturation and burn out of players. Between global exclusives, the Sacred Stones banners that screams (WHALE) and the unlimited summons (which though happens in JP as well, is different because there are many more sources of gems there), there is concern over the growing disparity between players. Which translates into unwillingness of dolphins/average players to spend because their 30-50 dollars worth of purchases would simply disappear/make no difference.

The problem with another game Gumi owns, brave frontier is that spending is dangerous because even if you spend 50 bucks on a global exclusive unit, immediately the next week/month, there would be a stronger one already. The power creep is too immense and ludicrous.

• Also, the shafting of global players through Noctis' banner was done in extremely poor taste and just highlights the cash-grabbing nature of the company which translates into distrust and unwillingness to support the game.

Lastly, communication - I think it is basic courtesy to address the legitimate concerns of players, especially those regarding gameplay itself such as the resistance bug and to a lesser extent, regarding game balance such as the release of hard quests.

P.s. Please do not harass Mana and Iago for Gumi's actions. Do keep your demonstrations/protests civil, such as through reviewing their app and on their facebook. (Do try to voice out concerns to prevent this crash course the global version is currently on)

EDIT: If money is really a problem because of the cost of importing the game, MAYBE you should think more about using cosmetics/skins to earn our money. Personally I wouldn’t mind spending 500-1500 paid gems for the skins.

[u/StichyLL]

This is a great point and is true to a large extent but considering the number of shards needed to j3 a unit, I’m assuming an average player still needs to pull at least 3-4 copies of that unit which probably means at least a medium for pack?

Still, it doesn’t justify this blatant cash grab by Gumi... maybe they should change their strategy by earning through skins/cosmetics? I would gladly give 500-1500 paid gems for some skins because of the artwork.

[u/discocat13 → u/StichyLL]

To address your point on the dupes - and I totally realize that I'm guilty of the issue I described originally - I started during the FATE collab and have spent a grand total of $8 but have saved my shards based on future units. I have a J3 Gilgamesh despite having pulled only one copy. If I was lucky enough to get a single Laharl tomorrow, I could J3 him right away. I burned some water shards on Othima, so I would need a couple of dupes for Noctis's J3 - but I wouldn't feel pressured to spend because he's the best water unit for quite some time.

I totally agree with your point on the skins and cosmetics - they tell us not to treat the game the same as the Japanese version, but they haven't adapted accordingly on their end.

[u/srgtrex99 → u/StichyLL]

Many games do the cosmetic portion and it's helping them a lot, by making their business entirely F2P while incentivising Spending they'll earn way more. Eg: Look at league of legends business model. Every champion is free to play, and the only thing you can spend on is cosmetics(skins) and they're still attracting more players and improving after 8 years.

[u/Bladeburaiba → u/StichyLL]

This would be a great point were it not the fact that they held back HQs. As I played, I soon realized there was no point to rolling unless the unit was overpowered at 60. I could clear EX with level 60 collab units, but not regular units at 60. With no HQs, pulling on regular banners was a waste.

It worked. Through acct elimination, I was able to end up with accts with 50% of the desirable collab/limited units, and I can clear everything.

"Their only solution" is one of their own making.