Why Would Battle Bay Devs Change The Game?

So there is gonna be more fixing this week ryt?? Though i have no problem with current state.

 

I'm too busy now. I just check your thread. It's a very interesting thread. Great Job!
The problem is that you can't compare Battle Bay to PUBG or Fortnite. (I'm talking about mobile apps)
I didn't play Fortnite before (It's for kids ), but I played pubg mobile since it was released (I have a beta version on my emulator), so I will talk about my experience in PUBG.
I used to play PUBG mobile a lot. PUBG mobile attracts many people because it's like a brand. The PC version of PUBG is so popular, so everyone wanted to try the mobile version of PUBG.
However, PUBG is so repetitive. When you reach a specific rank then it's pointless to play more. It will take you one-two months to reach the top. I used to play it 5/10 times per day. Now, I play couple matches in PUBG after each update. I check new weapons, options, mods, maps... It's still not worth playing because nothing changed, and there's nothing interesting. Now, I rarely play PUBG. I play couple games with some friends occasionally (btw I met those friends in Battle Bay).
How does PUBG attract new players? They simply don't do anything. PUBG is a brand which is slowly going down. There's a stage for all teens when their friends ask them to play PUBG. They are like: "You didn't play this game yet?! Come on you should try it."
A regular PUBG player plays it for couple months then he moves on to another game.
PUBG don't care about old players.
PUBG/Fortnite are just a stage in teens lives. This stage is going to end in couple months when your friends leave it. Soon, you will leave it too. Otherwise, you will be addicted to it.
This is why PUBG is so popular. Players invite their friends to play with them. Soon, they will leave PUBG mobile, and their friends will leave it in couple weeks... They might try console/PC versions of PUBG, but as I said earlier there's nothing interesting to keep playing it.

Battle Bay is so different. Battle Bay is based on progress. It will take you more than one year to reach the top.
First, devs should find a way to keep old players. We literally don't do any progress. We are already at the top with maxed weapons. In each season, more skilled players leave the bay. Now, they bay¹ is full of good² players who think that they are the most skilled players in Battle Bay. It hurts me a lot when I see more "kids" in the bay. They think that they are PROs because we both have similar infamy³. We need more leagues. We need more content...
Second, easily gained is easily lost. I already have a long discussion with devs about this point, but I will repeat it: Stop giving op event rewards to new players. This is just too much. Faster progress means that they will leave quickly. New players will leave Battle Bay in couple months. Why? Game progress for new players is too much boosted. In couple months, they will collide with slow progress at mk5 then they won't feel like they are doing any progress. why are we collecting these weapons?! What's the point of playing ranked games?! They will leave... The game is dead... Many people believe that the game is gaining more players using this, but in the reality we are losing more players. Each month, the number of active players in Battle Bay is dropping. This is causing a lot of problems in Battle Bay. I agree that progress was so slow in the past, but now it's too much. I already discussed my point of view in different threads. Im too tired to repeat this over and over again.
Progress becomes slower each time you level up.
Too Fast Progress = They will leave the game in couple months when they start feeling that their progress becomes so slow. It's just a collide, and they won't like it. It's not worth playing anymore.
Why does this matter? They build it this in one-two months. They can build it again whenever they want. It's just so similar to PUBG players who don't spend more than one-two months in PUBG.
Progress should be balanced.
Now, if you check any profile at lvl20-30, then you will notice that the majority of players keep a mk1-2 ship. They are sealclubbing. Moderators⁴ are sealclubbing. Devs themselves are sealclubbing. The game is dead.
How do we solve this problem?
• Add more content to old players
• Add more leagues
• Improve leagues rewards
• Add more "Creative" events
• Events should be replaced with two-three arcade modes available all the time
• Nerf event rewards*
• Balance progress

Plus:
• Invite your friends to play Battle Bay.


¹ When I say the bay then I mean the top of the bay: Nightmare League
² They aren't as skilled as top players who left or are leaving the bay. They're learning, but at some point there won't be any skilled players to learn from them.
³ I'm not even trying to push for infamy.
⁴ It hurts, but it's the reality. I saw some mods/devs who were using their lowest mk ships with weak gear instead of using their best ship/gear during events.
* Never give someone rewards better than his league rewards. Arcade matches rewards should be negligible compared to ranked matches rewards. What's the difference between events matches in Battle Bay and Arcade matches in PUBG? Battle Bay devs killed ranked games when they added events with op rewards while PUBG devs kept classic matches as the main objective of the game with negligible rewards for arcade matches.

@YerJokinArnYer Add a link to the thread about game progress to your post.

Edit: I won't be available for one week(or more), so I only have time for constructive criticism.

 

Read the whole 3 page thread in one sitting. Fascinating! Many hits and a few missing.

Just reading @Nicolas 's post and want to start there. Crazy how two players can have polar opposite experiences! Like the power cell, some complain about too many, some about not enough! He thinks progress is too fast, yet I feel it is too slow. I have put in 15 months so far and have very little maxed, which is a shame. RNG, 50 types of game economy etc, all can cause disappointment and stalling of one's progress. I also have just earned one legendary from pieces (and one unlocked) to show for all my hard work. I would say that this progress is a big deterrent and reason why people leave early. If I had max everything in 6 months, yes I would need more content. I am not saying we do not need more content because I would like the top players to continue too. But the amount of players leaving the game because they have everything has got to be infinitely small compared to the early and mid gamers who quit. I see no reason why Rovio should not be throwing more parts at everyone.

I understand why you would want to compare this game to competition. Yes they are both pvp or team fighting. But different strokes for different folks. I picked up BB because it was not another COD war game. 5 on 5 boat combat is such a refreshing take on things. And the waves are perfect. Remember when it was the same call of duty core but it went to space? And what happened? Everyone hated it. It was practically the same game with a different skin. Biggest thing competition has going for it that I see is the skins and personalizing. It is endless and people eat up that stuff. We love LOOT! Add it in! Colors, skins, an official guild flag. Charge some bucks for gold plating, etc.

Which brings me to my next point - 5 on 5 boat combat can be two types: realistic and arcade. I feel that the agility took a realistic boat feel and made it too arcade-like. I think that is why people are most upset, but I have yet to see it voiced in this way. And I am giving it a shot and feel some aspects have merit, but maybe rovio's biggest mistake was it happening too fast. It could have been rolled out in 25% increments every two weeks.

New weapon is great, please continue with it. But I caution that every time they do something like this it effects all skill trees and other weapons. One way to keep adding new content is to release variations of the same weapons. Instead of the legendary perks like wildfire for torp, new torp weapons could be released that had less damage but added flame. Etc. Release different point variations of existing weapons. What would a 2-point cannon do or a 1 point explosive? They would use the same skill tree. Or why not have a weapon specific progression tree? The more I use flare, the more skills I can unlock. This gives some purpose for working with a new weapon. And it would remove this lame retraining!

Another note of caution with adding new content. Weapons or a ship. Resources are so scarce that more does not = better. If I had more resources I would have some flexibility to level up that other ship or wep I dont play much. Right now the only reason I am diverting funds to other weapons is because I am having a duplicate drought. I dislike that i have to focus on one until it hits 50, and only then I will be able to spend some time with other new stuff.

 

Very good post @benguin8. The new agility broke many strategies and weapons that took months and years to build. I play since global launch and only have 5 max epic. I am more lucky that I got 6 legendary combines (rudder, ballpark, box, rudder, cannon, and Telsa bolt) yet none of them is useful too me. Ballpark, box, and bolt are decent but I got epic versions the same level or better.
I put up with all the walls impeding progress in this game because of the realistic of the battle. I would be happy with 10-20% increase in agility and speed but keep the realistic aspect. Arcade style is exciting but the interest for it is easy come, easy go. Lastly, I think player should unlock all talents at each level to keep all the item training balance and allow players to use all items more freely. I can't think of a way that it could hurt Rovio's pockets when players are allow to build more items. If anything, that increase revenue.

 

You never really answered why PUBG became popular enough for friends to invite friends though. Even with a couple months' worth of progression, they seem to keep getting players at a far faster pace than Battle Bay. Why is that? (It's a question... I don't know).

You seem to go back and forth on this, but I think you are on the right path. Let me summarize your thoughts and then add my slant: You want to nerf event rewards so that they are less than the ranked mode. You need to talk more about how to do that though, as there's almost nothing in ranked mode that offers progress other than a handful of Gold and an RNG marketplace that only offers enough Epic items to evolve something once a month.

Guilds and Events were the right thing to do to speed up progress, but it needs to scale with the player. That's they key here... scaled rewards might even convince you to keep Events as they are as long as low level players don't have the same access to Legendaries that NML players do, correct? I notice today that low infamy players have a lot of Legendary items due to Events. I've always had an issue with the way Legendary items were given out by RNG (or P2W).... it's a way to shortcut both effort and training... an instant T5R calibur item with absolutely no work! I don't think that's the right way to go, and particularly not the way Events gives them out to newbies. For Ace/NML, it's working fine as is.

In other words the 500 Infamy player should be getting their hundreds of Rare parts and Cells to evolve T5R equipment, instead they are being gifted Legendary pieces and Perks from events, bypassing the entire item progression system. Instant T5R caliber items without even needing to train to T5. Meanwhile I'm desperate for Epic pieces, Epic parts, and Epic cells... they trickle in, but that RNG progression system is broken for me even with Guilds and Events.

I'm on my 17th month in this game and still don't have a T5E Weapon to use... and as a Shooter that's just devastating. Everyone else seems to be running around with them so I don't know what went wrong with my account 298 Epic items later and only a T5E Big Shield to show for it. There are only 34 Items in total (33 prior to this week), which should have given me 9 copies of each item on average, so you would think I would be good, but obviously all those extra copies were a whole lot of crap I didn't care for, over and over again (I'm looking at you, Green items, Lubes, Rudders, Big Shields, and oh so many mortars). I regularly use 7 Weapons, maybe 3 more on occasion, but have 6 copies of only 1 of those, the one I use the least, and I can't afford the cells and parts to build it. RNG is a poor progression system... but I digress.

Guilds and Events have sped up progress in a good way, but but what that tells us is that the ranked match rewards and league rewards are almost useless relative to Events and Guilds. What players consistently ask for is scaled rewards. Not the crappy "Hey you jumped up a league and now you get a single Legendary Piece instead of an Epic piece once every 2 weeks" or "Now you get +10% battle rewards." It should be something that truly incentivizes players to go up the rankings, but at this time they are incentivized to farm gold by dropping down in infamy to get escalated rewards.

In fact without scaled progression handouts, Rovio may as well removed Common, Uncommon, and maybe even Rare items from the game at this point, but then we'll be left with a shell of a game.

As to longevity, it's really based on this: Either the skill aspect of the game should take a long time, or the progression aspect should take a while, and both should continue to be interesting. BB's progression system is a work in progress, and the skill aspect was eroded with the last release, so players are asking the legitimate question, mainly "WTF is going on?" BB devs have a lot of work to do to keep this thing going.

 

If New players are your concern then i dont understand following points.....
1}devs encoraged seal clubbing,even now lvl 10 are sealclubbing lvl 1-5.nothing changed in this update.
2}Infamy Stagnation- so many complaints in global chat...new players just cant progress beyond 1000.mk4 are fighting against mk7.Even myself at 3600 infamy,if i open a new account,same thing will happen to me.

 

Strong points, I've noticed after some time that the new mechanics (max agility for all) are starting to get really fun, and I can see it pulling in more new players.

 

When you (and most of us) started playing there wasn't ship mk level balancing like there is now where both teams are supposed to have the same level mk ships

 

The game can attract as many players as you want, but I assure you after they reach level 10 the majority will give up and quit after facing mk6s and 7s

 

IMO this statement might be harsh any game would be better off players who are at 1000 infamy being a mk6/7 ( in case of battle bay).
Trying to keep matchmaking fair for such players is causing problems for new players. Either
1) Provide different ways to gain infamy so that new players can bypass this zone ( zone for lesser skilled players).
2) Provide different play modes which requires less skill and is action packed for those who want to just enjoy the action.

In order to compete with newly hyped games, if we change 'what made the game unique' how long we're going to be in the competition?

 

Part of the problem for me, is the huge disconnect between the level that you play at, and the experience you earn. How long did I have to endure mk5s, in my mk4? How long did I have to fight mk6s, in my mk5? How long was I out gunned by Epic weapons, using only Rares? Too long.

For me, that’s where the game fails. Upgrades are too time dependent. No matter how well you play, or how often you play, you’re ‘probably’ not going to reach ace before Captain Level 30, and getting to Captain Level 30 is just time and sugar. It doesn’t really matter if you push yourself to constantly face harder opponents, or you tank your infamy, and club newbs: the journey is the same length.

This actually punishes players for doing what they are supposed to be doing: playing well, trying to win, pushing their infamy. Because the harder you push, the more stale your progress starts to feel.

 

This is why I really like the idea of giving/taking varying amounts of infamy to each player on the team depending on their contribution. Typically, as you rise in infamy and begin to face tougher opponents, your cintribution per battle starts to decline. With a system like this in place, your infamy would also start to rise more slowly as things got difficult, and it would fall more quickly on defeat. The actual matchmaking itself remains unaffected and this change should only really affect the individual player.

Contribution-based infamy distribution should potentially allow for better win streaks without quickly reaching the territory of overpowered opponents. It also gives overpowered players at low infamy a quicker boost into a more reasonable infamy level.

As a side note, this would low-key punish floaters/suiciders by giving them harsher infamy drops.

 

I think that would actually make the situation worse. Contribution is already quite bias towards damage dealers and bigger ships, but there is more to winning than damage.

The current Infamy system is actually a good measure of how much a player contributes to wins. If I’m able to maintain my infamy while consistently coming 4th - 5th in damage, that doesn’t mean I’m playing badly. It just means I’m finding other ways to support my teams. Which is actually what I do. I try to shut down fixers, eliminate damaged ships, light up ships and call shots, get vision for my team, and most importantly get behind the unfriends and draw fire away from my team (divide and conquer).

None of that stuff gives me any extra contribution, but if I’m not doing that, then the big hitters on my team (who really do get all the contribution), they would have much harder games, and possibly lose.

In the current system, I’m merely an unsung hero, but at least I can gain infamy. With your system I would be actively punished, getting the worst rewards when we win, and the biggest penalties when we lose.

My solution would be the complete opposite approach (although I’m mainly talking Exp rather than Infamy).

If you are a mk2 and you’re able to consistently hang in games with mk5s, then your journey to mk5 should be significantly accelerated. The system should actively help you to quickly get on a level playing field with the ships you’re actually facing (not keep you down for months on end, waiting on overly long trainings).

This would also help to fix infamy tanking, because a mk5 who is consistently matched against mk2s would feel the opposite effect. He’d have easy games, but get almost zero experience. If he ever wants to make mk6, then he’d need to push, so he’s at least fighting players at an appropriate level for his gear.

 

I don't get u here.



The game has been downloaded 10M + times. And yet there are only around 3000 Nightmare players. So, the question u should be asking is where are the remaining Millions of players? Are they still playing? Are they all stuck in warriors league or in ace?

There are plenty of players who play this game in my opinion. But still there's somehow Match making problem.

 

Matchmaking problems will never be fixed. The entire format of the game, where you upgrade for advantage, is inherently unfair. That provides the impetus for people to upgrade (and hopefully spend money).

The problem is, you quickly reach a point where you’re looking at either: months of beatdowns to catch up with everyone else, or tens of thousands of dollars. Obviously, people who have the time/patience OR money, to stick with that, are going to be extremely niche.

 

PUBG and Fortnight must have at least hundreds of employees. Battle Bay doesn’t.

They can’t be compared because that would be unfair. Battle Bay should be Battle Bay. More music, more interaction, more uniqueness.

Devs just need to listen to us, or at least to those who spend money on their game.

 

On two of my accounts, highest infamy is both around 1.1k, and on both accounts, I have yet to face any mk7's in ranked battles. And mk6's are also rare. I doubt you'll be facing them as soon as you reach level 10.

 

Some luck you have because you do face them right away.

 

Neither PUBG or Fortnite are P2W games like Battle Bay, and there may be a lesson learned there. To be honest I expected Battle Bay to back off of it's P2W niche and more toward the skill based progression that @ViscountSniffit wants to see, but so far that has not happened. Guilds and Events helps progression, but that's more grinding than being rewarded for skill.

Battle Bay seems to have been designed for casual play, but it has much better potential for long-term stickiness outside of this niche. I think a key to getting excited new players also happens to cater to keeping long time players engaged: in-game tournaments and competitions. Casual progression only goes so far, but when a game is focused on the competitive aspects, that's when things can really blow up (in a good way). Wouldn't it be better to get players interested in watching Youtube videos for hints on how to progress their skill rather than watch someone do an RNG redeem? If I'm watching a NML player's video I'm discounting most strategy because it tends to be based on items I won't have for another year. So yea, I do think the key is to improve progression based on skill at least as much as waiting around for training and item duplicates.