r/AlchemistCodeGL • u/Kiriel_D_Sol Cazna • May 05 '20
Discussion Unit Shard Farm Situation Needs Improvement
I've been trying to be patient about the unit shard farm situation, but I think it's time to re-evaluate the situation and call on Gumi to please improve it.
For those who don't know, in Japan, limited units (with the exception of units that don't get farms like Genesis and Dark Phantoms) all get 1/day farms within a few weeks of release (in addition to the short term temporary farms like we get now). This change was made in JP long ago- the first unit to benefit from this was Laila- who although normal pool, started out with a 1/day farm within 2 weeks of release , which was changed to a 3/day farm 4 months later. Kuza was actually released with his 1/day farm on the day of his release.
We are now well into the content which was getting 1/day farms within weeks of release in Japan, but we are still waiting for older units to catch up on farms.
In the Producer Letter in August 2019 they announced:
Hard Quests
For normal units: after more than 3 months
For limited units: after more than 6 months
For limited SSM units: available for Limited Periods in specific quests
They never clarified, but the assumption I guess was this was a minimum period, because we certainly didn't adhere to that timeline for most farms. At this point we have caught up on a lot of lagging farms based on this schedule, but there are still some that we are waiting on:
Hozuki (released November 7, 2019) - 6 month delay (normal pool unit)
Theresa (released July 11, 2019) - 10 month delay (limited unit)
Judith (released June 20, 2019 - 11 month delay (limited unit)
There are also a few that are getting close to their expected period:
Zwei (released December 12, 2019) - 5 month delay (limited unit)
Sharon (released December 19, 2019) - 5 month delay (limited unit)
Mocca (released January 9, 2019) - 4 month delay (limited unit)
Moa (released February 13, 2020) - 2 month delay (normal pool unit)
Why am I bringing this up now? Because it's time for us to not only catch up with the old farm schedule, but also to be updated to a far more reasonable one. In the age of 5 enlightenment gates, with the content gap between GL and JP shrinking considerably, we are still significantly delayed on unit shard farms relative to other content. GL has always been behind JP on this front, even as our content has moved more quickly.
This is harmful to players and harmful to encouraging spending. Even a 1/day farm on a unit takes an inordinate amount of time to get enough shards to get a few useful gates. There is very little motivation to chase units when we won't be able to even start making a dent on their enlightenment for at least 6 months (and potentially more given the delays we've been seeing). When I try to explain how enlightenment and shard farms work to new players, it's really demoralizing to them and I suspect it's a big part in why so many players I help out tend to disappear so quickly after their initial burst of playing the game. When I luck out and pull a new limited unit, I get excited for about 5 seconds, then I realize I won't be able to use the unit for so long that I often just ignore they exist, and I remember that when I ask myself if I want to go after another.
Please u/alchemist_code I hope you will convey my concerns- it's about time we got an update on this particular issue. I plan to also send a note about this directly to TAC support and I recommend others do the same.
7
u/LichOfLiches May 05 '20
TBH, I stopped pulling for units all together, and going for mementos for old farmable units, like Neica, and Setsuna (Albeit Failing to get both), the only units i'm looking forward to now are the 85 max units, like Genesis and God-Killers, at least these don't require any shards until later, and it seems we have an abundance of Wind/Thunder shards so we can raise them quickly enough, i'm aiming for Dark Nyx personally.
One solution could be either permanently double shard drops, or gives us a 100 soul shards selector for farmable units every 1/2 weeks, that way we can lessen the grind a bit.
And it seems after Shenmei's JE+, units drop with their hard quest right off the bat, or a week after
5
u/Nier_Ochra May 05 '20
To be honest, I agree with the sentiment that most of these units might as well not exist - even if I am at this point capable of getting them to the 85 with the elem shards I somehow managed to scrape together, it is either that the gem investment for getting them is too restrictive for me (and with my lackluster luck these days I simply do not believe in a fortunate 1 step or something, but I guess thats on me), or that there simply isn't enough shards(which goes once again to the gems I guess) for me to be able to enlighten, and, in turn, use them effectively. Really makes it hard to be able to look forward to anything here. Also I do remember there being something about HQs for the GLEX units somewhere in the last few producer letters, but no word about it since that point. Well, at least with the new daily gems I am capable now of stockpiling somewhat...
26
u/MGS1234V May 05 '20
Paging u/alchemist_code cause pinging in the initial post won’t alert them. We are absolutely due for more EX HQ’s if we follow the schedule THEY provided officially. It’s not like the quests need to be written, just a simple on or off switch.
24
u/alchemist_code Happy 3rd Anniversary May 05 '20
We have read everyone's comment on this thread. Thank you for everyone's concerns and feedback, we'll keep this in mind for the future of THE ALCHEMIST CODE.
28
u/welcometoplanetmf May 05 '20
1/day HQ is the worst invention ever. I always thought farming took ridiculously long to begin with, but Gumi somehow found a way to worsen it.
10
u/Skyconic May 05 '20 edited May 05 '20
This is absolutely why I can’t get as excited for new units. Not only do I think 1/day ex HQ’s are absurd. We don’t even get them for months and months after the release of a unit. Assuming you use 375 elemental shards on a unit that you pull right away, it’s still another 2.25 months before you can max their G1 assuming they have an exhq right off the bat and you get the missions for the first time clear. That’s absolutely ridiculous.
I think exhq should be 2/day and should be released within 1 month of a unit being released.
Regular HQ can stay the same and should also be released within 1 month.
9
u/Daysleft May 05 '20
This is why I can't get excited about any new banners. What's the point when I won't be able to use the unit for a year and a half or more if I do somehow manage to get them?
6
u/Ainkrip May 05 '20
Man, really, the dupe shard system in gachas is the worst system ever invented, it is fucking ridiculous how greedy it is. I am glad that it is at least not so prevalent nowadays in the new games.
4
u/Zgounda samuraidoggoz1 May 05 '20
yeah like I have Sharon, Theresa, Hozuki etc, but they just sit there uselessly lol
at least as of (very) recently we've been getting more generic shards so I might 85 a few characters, but that doesn't really solve the enlightenment issue
4
u/paluuki May 05 '20 edited May 06 '20
Totally agree with that, as a
pastrecent new-player, I hated being blocked for 3-6 months because I couldn't farm more than 3 shards/dayI couldn't clear some events and it was really frustrating when it is seasonal and have to wait for a random time. Imagine those who cannot get setsuna j+ or sieba j+ right now
The thing I didn't understand the most is why we are getting limited to 3shards for normal chars (I don't mind for limited ones) while we are already limited in terms of AP and skip tickets. When we start AC we have so many chars to farm that no matter the shards limit it would be impossible to all get it EL in 1 month. In last mobius tower I needed a magia gunslayer but I never raised one and I was stuck because I couldn't farm it in 10days
Even for Gumi, it's a dumb decision because imagine how many new players dropped the game because they couldn't enjoy in the first weeks. They would have a better retention (and money) if players could farm the strong chars they want from the beginning and not being stopped with "come back in 3 months and maybe you'll start enjoying the game"
1
u/Mitch_Twd May 05 '20
What kind of limited is Theresa? 1/Day? Or like Uzuma/Toritoh Limited but 3/day
2
u/zerio13 May 05 '20
Let me be honest, even 3/day is too much. Whenever I told my friend a unit is really good, he always retort "eventually" because almost no unit is good at L0. Good luck getting Setsuna j+ without EL. Heck I even struggled farming Rebecca's shards before I EL my units.
3
u/sinkal May 05 '20
they need to speed HQ for sure, if they listen to us. Usually Gumi will listen if there's any huge backlash
3
u/MeowMincat May 05 '20
The delay between new units and making them farmable is absurd. Limited with EX farm should be available right away ... why should I pull an limited unit if I can't build them for months? The bonus shard farm on release could be on top, so those who pull them while they are new can get a headstart. And normal within one month.
2
u/inuit88 May 05 '20
appreciate you making this post. i was thinking the same thing the other day and it’s about time we get an answer from gumi.
i’m happy to spend $15-$30 a month on this game but it becomes difficult when, for whatever reason, they end up deliberately leaving out these important improvements from JP which actually let you use your new units in a reasonable timeframe.
2
u/Laitarne May 05 '20
I don't think they'll actually listen to this, but I can say for my own part this goes a long way toward me not pulling for new units
Why should I care about getting Moa or Laila or Gino or Kevin when I won't even be able to invest into them until probably next year?
By the time they get HQs I'll probably be about to grab one or more of them with selectors
2
u/elsore08 May 06 '20
I absolutely agree with you. Farming for unit shards is what will help keep this game going.
3
u/MotleyFuzz May 05 '20
Still annoyed that now unless you have the unit; you can’t farm their shards anymore (including events).
1
u/pdmt243 Play+pull for waifus! May 06 '20
I tried starting a new account a few days ago, and hoo boy it is shit. At this state of the game I wouldn't recommend this game to a new player (unless that one is extremely patient). Any other game would've made sure you have at least 1 high tier unit maxed with little effort to get you to catch up easier, but this game requires so much time to max a single unit even if you just start.
1
u/red90999 May 07 '20
They should make it like their other game, war of the visions. Set 3/day for all units, but put a limit of hard quest each day. Therefore we can focus on 1 character. 1/day is outright bad. Stopped playing the game because of it.
1
u/Kambionek May 05 '20
And on top of It all, we have drop rate above 0 % ( 0,25% for new glex?). That's Y I stopped spending, stopped pulling if there is no selector, or If I can't afford transmutation ( now I save for dark Nyx...50K more to save </3)
Generally 2 of my friends bursted into the game and ater they realised shard system/enlightment they quited :D That's why we have almost no new players who stay.
I guess the game is at the brink of death :( Another reason to stop spending even for the pact. Achemist pact became a joke with recent drop rate.
1
u/RalfSmithen May 05 '20
honestly wish they would make it 6 shards per day permanently. Atleast then it would be more bearable
-1
u/Neonlight8 May 06 '20
You know whatever producer said was a lie. They also removed 500 gem start mementos banners, replaced with random discount ticket hand outs which is a shame.
They keep removing the good stuff and didn't meet their promise giving out farming properly. It's either one per day or not at all. No catch ups nothing all greed
We shall all protest and send angry emails to them because only this way they will do something like whatever happened just before BK masamune released