Dissatisfaction in the game and ideas on how to fix it
Edited by LordEranda at 2018-11-19 03:01Hello there :)
I'm new to this forum. I enjoyed this game so I thought to share some of my veiws about the game and hopefully this will create a good discourse among the community.
This game is obviously dying. Since adobe is going to discontinue flash soon, the game is likely to end anyway. Regardless of the game's future, I think the game is dying mainly because of its lack of competitiveness. I know the devs have put efforts to make it more competitive in ways such as server merges,void, CSB etc. However, it is obvious that strategy has not worked. The majority of the players that stuck around are the P2W players. Before you jump to conclusions, no this is not a rant about F2P wanting more free stuff. Free stuff is no fun if you don't have to work for it. However, you cannot deny that the game is highly biased towards P2W. And there lies the problem.
I have been both a F2P and P2W at some point in the game. Here's my view from both perspectives.
Looking at it from F2P view
As i was browsing through the internet I come accross a game that I haven't played in years. Oh shi*, Bleach Online is still there. I wonder what is new. I go into a new server get free rewards for each task I do, I get instantly addicted ...again. Now I play through the game using all the tricks in the book to compete with P2W players who gets more goodies. I go to ES, refresh like crazy. I bearly manage to stay in the damage ranks because the P2W do two hits for my one. Make partner combinations like there is no tomorrow while praying for purple reishi (purple reishi maan.. <sigh>). Regardless, I still rank at top 10 in the arena using strategies to counter the P2W players (sado love). Suddenly, some of the P2W's were doing tripple the damage they were doing previously to ES. I was confused, I go to arena and pick a fight. And low behold.. Fcking Kirinji. At that point the game had lost all value for me. I have done everything under F2P power to stay afloat. However, it is obvious I cannot compete any further.
P2W perspective
Before I decided I want to quit I got to wondering what it would be like to be at the top. Baam. Bankai power and bargain sale ..together! Before I knew it, I was reaching to my credit card. couple of hours later I was doing 5 times the damage I was doing at ES. I just had to enter the event and just ..watch. At this point I clearly saw the fault in this game. No wonder players don't hang around. This game is too biased. There is no competition whatsoever.
I should probably mention that my stint at the top was short lived as another player decided to throw in around 2500$ and buy all the orange partners. I gave this narrative so that you may understand what it is like from a new player's point of veiw. After 4 years, the F2P's still have to refresh the game to hit ES and Ryoka. This is very time consuming and honestly, just a pain in the bum. Nobody wants to spend half and hour on a browser game just clicking away when some other players can just skip through all that. Atleast not for long.
I understand that the game needs to make revenue. But there is more ways to make that revenue. For example Ads. If the game was more famous and entertaining there will be more players to play and that would make more ad revenue. Games like warcraft has been around for ages and still going strong because you cannot buy your way into power in that game. Everybody has to work hard to get stronger in the game. Instead at Bleach online, we get new partners each more stronger than the last which eventually has lead to a very
boring situation. Throw in a couple of bucks, you are arena top. Throw in a few more, you are clearing CSB like nothing. And eventually it had come to a point where introducing a new partner has the potential to break the game because they are too damn OP.
TLDR; The game is dying. Need competition among F2P, low VIP and VIP
So how can you fix this situation? Here are some of my ideas which I thought to share.
1) Biggest problem. F2P descrimination.
If the F2P's were to stick around atleast make it entertaining. Nobody wants to click refresh for half an hour, that's boring as hell. Since the VIP usually end up getting kirinji wouldn't they already have the advantage? Isn't it time this stupid skip battle thing is made available to everybody? Atleast for daylies? I don't know if the one click mop up is available for F2P in conquest of might. If I had to do the damn thing everyday that would drive me crazy.
2) Partners
The trick to make the game competitive is not dump in OP partners. Instead it should be about variety. Make it interesting by forcing the players to play the game to get strong instead of throw in money to get strong. I do love the idea that muken is still the strongest partner and is available for everybody who are willing to work for it. That is a great concept. An I think it should be applied througout the game. Since its a P2W game, allow the rich people to get to the top quickly but at the same time atleast pave the way for F2P's and low VIP's to get there aswell. And I mean a way other than waiting 5 years for UBP to spit out a good partner. Right now, orange partners rule the game and no F2P or low VIP can compete with that. The game can be really fun when you really have to think about partner combinations and skill strategies. Instead we get partners like HVI who pisses on everything and is exclusive to high rollers (and RJ.... <sigh>). How about a lottery system that gives the orange partners to other players as well? To be honest I think the game is only running because UBP is there. Just imagine if that was gone. Instead of crazy stats and mods, it would be very intersting to see veriety in the buffs and debuffs which forces the players to think strategy.
3) Repetitiveness in the game
The stages are a lost cause at this time. And I don't think the devs are willing to put the time and effort to make the story more entertaining. However, i did enjoy the infuriating moments of solving the puzzles in conquest of might. Why not add some puzzle events like these in the events instead of all the events being topup one's? The events are just damn boring. You top up.. hooray you win! here take this bright stone :/
4) Make the game less top up oriented and more ad revenue oriented
I will admit, I have no experience running an online game. So I don't know how well this strategy would work. But considering that platforms like Ps4 and Xbox are becoming evermore cheaper, the browser gaming world is losing fast. I don't think "many" people wants to pay thousands of dollars just to play a browser game. Sure, some idiot would come along and dump 2500$ on the game like every couple of months and then forget about the game altogether. But if you had 1000 players playing regularly in the game generating ad revenue consistantly, wouldn't that be a better strategy? This is up for debate so feel free to attack this idea. Also, anybody who pays couple months worth of rent on a browser game is an idiot in my books. I could understand doing it cumilatively but not in one go :P come on lol. Don't take it personally though. Sometimes smart people (generally nice people) make idiotic choices in life :)
Well that's my two cents in the topic. What do you guys think?
P.S. I do realize I may have pissed off a bunch of high VIP's by making blasphemous claims that VIP's should get a lesser advantage :D This is a game. We are here to have fun. Not throw ego tantrums and feel superior to others by throwing in all your savings on a silly browser game. And as always, a game is only fun when there are poeple to play it with. It tells a lot about your character if you just want to be the top dog in an empty world ;)
Devvoke2 replied at 2018-11-19 04:31 static/image/common/back.gif
You better not let Baldy see this shizz
1 stop using logic it doesnt work
you better not let yourself see it? While it sounds great on the theoretical level, I think you are missing the flip side as well. All us low spenders or free-to-play players would love the idea of being able to more readily compete and take on the high end spenders but that is because we don't like that they have stuff we don't. Where I think something is missing from your argument is that people who spend money are adding something to their game/account that those who do not aren't. It makes logical sense that those who spend should have an account which has progressed further in the game over those who haven't (or have spent less).
Another idea I want to put forth is that this game does incorporate some ways in which free-to-play members can progress and aren't ultimately screwed. Not all games have stuff like this game does and even though it is a grind for some of them it is a progression nonetheless. It may require a larger input of time if you cannot input money but that seems like a logical system to me. The resources you put in determine the results you get whether it be time or money or a mixture of the two.
I don't say this to be rude or mean but to point out the progress some players have admirably achieved by putting in the daily grind and sticking with the game for the sake of competition even if it didn't mean being at the top. (That being said, a free-to-play player just reached #1 in the arena not long ago which is amazing!) All of us who remain in this game recognize that there are improvements that could be made but we are all in it together and those general improvements affect; those who spend money and those who don't, those who are at the top and those of us who are not.
Again, I am always appreciative that there are many who care enough about the game to put forth their opinions on how to make the game better but just remember to keep in mind there are always more than one side. If we focus too much on restricting p2p or amping up f2p to equalize the playing field then we are disrespectful of the resources spenders have used. It is hard to not have on hand the money others do but the path is already set for progression. I know I won't be reaching the top of the game without dropping major cash (and I mean like an arm and a legs worth lol) but I don't need to be the best. I am not a free-to-play player anymore but I am not a big spender either. As such, most of my progress has been the time I put into this game which has led me to be top 10 on my server. I used to not have a partner over 1 mil bp but now I am closing in on my first 2 mil bp partner. It sucks sometimes but I have never reached a point in the game where I can't get better which I think is the most important part at the end of the day. When a game reaches a place where either as a f2p or a p2p you can no longer progress then there are real flaws that should be addressed as quickly as possible.
Till that point though, let the grind go on!! 15mdr02 replied at 2018-11-19 00:19 static/image/common/back.gif
While it sounds great on the theoretical level, I think you are missing the flip side as well. All ...
Thank you for the comment. Don't get me wrong, since its P2W I do agree that paying players should get an advantage. However, what I'm pointing out is that the advantage has to be better scaled to allow the competition going. It should just give them the edge.. but not tip the entire scale and then throw the scale at your face so to speak.
As you mentioned yourself if a new player comes along and throws in a couple of thousands and is able to beat a player that has spent years in the game doing the grind don't you think that is unfair? I realize there are die hard players who keep the grind going, and that is admirable. But isn't it a slap in the face if all your hard work is easily overcome by a new player just buying the win? However, this is a debate that will drag on forever since there are already players who payed for these advantages and they would feel wronged if that advantage was taken away.
What I was suggesting is rewarding the grind in a way that makes the game entertaining. For example strong partners like muken. The payed players will get to these OP partners quicker than the others. But everybody eventually will get there. However, it should not be a partner that you can just buy and win. But this fact aside, the F2P's sure have the short end of the stick even if we disregard the OP partners. Mainly due to time consuming repetitive tasks. In the current state of the game, I don't think there are many players who play the game for long. And out of the few that does play many are low VIP. And in the long run, if F2P's stick long enough in the game there is a high chance that they will eventually become paying players. But the game needs to make sure they stick around for that long. So scaling down these "advantages" will benefit the game overall. That is my opinion. Edited by Aratron at 2018-11-19 12:17
The game is on flash! (problem) - well if they want they can translate it to something more useful - it takes time but it is not impossible
My strong point here is the problem is not in lack of ideas it is in lack of involvement and willingness to change or upgrade things from devs side.
About competativness the game is ok. You get all the chances to get strong so i'll give you simple guide to how i enjoy the game.
1. Plan your resources and utilize them optimally.
2. Target dream team and work for it (ofc that dream team should be based on resourses)
3. ....
4. Profit
There several types of players.
1. F2P Casual
2. P2W Casual
3. F2P moderate
4. P2W moderate
5. F2P Hardcore
6. P2W Hardcore
I don't engage in battle with #6 because often they are a lot stronger, I'm ok with this but if they are in 1-2 mil bp range I'll go for a strategy to beat them.
But the sweets of all is always beating P2W and most importantly players who've put shit-ton amount of money and are idiots who can't utilize they team. This is not communism and I don't want everyone equalized because f2p can't win it is their problem to solve.
I hate RJ, I hate HVI, but soon i'll take RJ and then all that retards who have him and have retarded teams that win on fluke against me because of RJ will be eaten and cooked alive.
Buying stuff is not like at the beginning of the game you can get much more now for much less if you are smart enough to know how to play the game. What I want is more diversity in content usage, 80% of the partners are unused because they are useless and devs brought that to themselves because they adopted the bad shonen idea of getting unlimitedly stronger with new stronger and stronger characters which is idiotic. We need a limit or a possibility to build up other characters, but that is work for a new game...
Aratron replied at 2018-11-19 05:15 static/image/common/back.gif
The game is on flash! (problem) - well if they want they can translate it to something more useful - ...
Thank you for your comment. It is indeed more enjoyable when you beat a player who invested more (monetarily) :) It's not about being salty that they got more stuff. I mean I can easily put money into the game just as any other player. Maybe not couple of months rent though :D However, it is more fun to play using strategy and brains than just throwing in money. Its more of a challenge. So I do understand your thinking ;)
Let me tell you a story.There was a player in my server who also happened to be my guild leader. When I changed from F2P to P2W I made sure that I covered all the bases so it was pretty darn hard for other players to beat me in arena. So this particular player did a number of top ups and got some high end partners (red ofcourse, I won't be telling this story if it was orange). This guy then proceeds to the arena to try an beat me in arena. After finding out that he still couldn't beat me he got soo salty he then proceeds to kick me out of the guild (I was online at the time). When I asked him about this (in world chat) this guy did not even reply. Thinking back it was me who negotiated with some non English speaking players who formed the guild to let us into it. He was in the guild because of me. Did I forgive this kid? Yes, its obvious this was just a kid throwing a tantrum :) Did I kick his ass at every chance I got. Heck yeah! He was my sweet slave for a very long time hehe Moral of the story, it made it even more enjoyable knowing that I beat a player using less resources and relying only on strategy.
Glad that you pointed out half the characters are unused. There are arguments for and against this. Overall what I see is that most characters are "made" redundant by the introduction of more OP high end characters.
Also, you are waiting for that Christmas drop with high hopes I presume? What if Christmas event was reaallly bad? :P Check, It's all true, sadly! Edited by Aratron at 2018-11-19 14:19
LordEranda replied at 2018-11-19 13:49 static/image/common/back.gif
Thank you for your comment. It is indeed more enjoyable when you beat a player who invested more ( ...
Well, we will see there is much time to Xmas, that is why I pushed the idea about recycling old characters and upgrading them, which is not much well accepted. It's a good idea to give a chance to get more and different partners which you can upgrade (which can be monetized) and focus on gear(gear being harder to get). This will give more freedom for different compositions of teams. Paying will still give you an advantage because of better gear or nice partner upgrades or faster partners upgrades but at least there will be much diversity in team compositions.
So what i want:
Partner availability (you can get all of them for free or partially free thru some quest or puzzles etc or time-related) - (UBP is keeping this game alive)
Partner upgrading system (you can advance your partner making them stronger thru quest or some sort of events ) - (we need more than exclusive and tavern only quality upgrade)
No level cap ( you just get stronger by time) - In our game at least i want to see the end content that is not developed by years like in the barracks
Gearing system that that will be much harder to get sets. - (now sets are useless the shatura shop set system replaced completely the old system)
In the end, I may start doing a mobile game... hm first off all i'm #6 on endo list :lol ; joke aside , so many good ideas, some of them new some of them already mentionned;
The biggest concern of all of us is the flash problem, if the game should continue past 2020 they gotta fix that. i'm not too concerned about that since the same comapny has a frenchize that is even more profitable than this one and using also flash i bet they will find some solutions about that before that deadline; the only question is going to be is bleach will be concerned about it?
Also needless to say that any p2w player who fears some competition from a free player or low vip is a moron/chicken/pussy i let u pick ; the more the merrier i would love to see more players bringin some real challenge in pvp, right now it is the desert to me personnaly, i'm too strong to be bothered by rank 3 and too weak to bother rank 1 , they gotta rethink some of the pvp content aswell, some randomness in the skill growth is making its nich with this last fullbringer yet to come but also the reincarnation and some special skills u can activate (i'm not reinca yet so i wont go too far in this)
Thus the real and main problem is the pve content; now it is broke no fun at all to do any event, those with the orange partners destroys all jakka is one of the causes also; the equation is damn fuked up right now, shall we enhance all the evivl spirits ryoka and such to match orange parter users, the reste using other red partners ill get even more screwd, we need a new pve content and bette be unlimited use per day, such as some infernal instance or a new version of the hollow soul conquest that got broke also thanks to the news releases
If we can secure some stable meta, i'm not against nerfingt those oranges; but that's just me many other users will get upset