My "Feedback" After Playing Your Game Over 1 Year

[Sindarino]

Greetings,

Today I spent about 220,000 gold on packs that claim to have 1-4 star drops in them. This was about 80-90 packs or so and represents a year of savings. I received zero 4-star cards. I also have received zero 4- or 5-star cards in over a year playing this game.

I happen to be two things: A card player who spends roughly $1000 monthly on games (I play four or five at a time usually) and a regular game design author and blogger (obviously under another name).

You can rest assured that I will no longer waste time playing your game (or spending any money on it) but more importantly you can be sure that I will be using your design as an example for exactly everything that is wrong with game design these days. As the industry booms, it's only natural that more companies come online and attempt to make money, but as is also natural, many developers wouldn't know economics if it fell out of the sky on their laps.

Your drop rates -- and more to the point your community management design in general -- can be described in three words, each of which feeds directly into the next. Lazy, Abusive, and Shameful. You might wonder whether I would be less "angry" if I had been "luckier" in my recent purchases but that is far from the point. I already concluded a year ago that your antics were pathetic; but as an invested member of the game design community who cares about his readers, I have spent a good deal of time getting to know your game better so that when I lambaste you as the utterly embarrassing designers that you are, I actually know what I'm talking about. It's not useful to anyone to rant and rave without reliable information.

Of course you are not the only abusers out there. There are many. You are just an example. Bad luck for you that you are the example, but you thoroughly deserve it. Your display is shameful. Whether you realize it or not your bottom line is also harmed by your terrible design decisions, and that spans beyond the fact that a dedicated card player like me will never give you any money (beyond the $50 or so I spent the first day I discovered your project).

Anyway, my goal here is not just to yell at you, but to alert you to the fact that you have thoroughly screwed up with your horrendous excuse for game design. To be clear, I'm describing your economics and community management. The card game itself is brilliant.

There is not a lot of substantive criticism here because I couldn't care less about educating you. You are just going to be the butt of the joke from now on. I hope you will enjoy reading my various articles on your subject when I start publishing them later this month.

[PennFifteen]

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

NO post needs to be made ever again.

ECB is sitting on a gold mine which has been said so many times before on here. The game itself is incredible, but the execution of getting new, long time players, and even semi high level paying customers their cards they need to compete is a shit show.

Maybe this post from a guy who knows what he's talking about can get you to change your ways ECB.

I love this game, I will never completely leave. But I too, am done ever spending money again.

[MoggStyle]

drop rates is the prob in this game, realy realy realy too low, more than 300 lucky star pack -> 0 legend cards

Answer of ECB -> use your credit card !!! lol

[-bookie-]

I must admit this made me laugh too at how true it is and as tempting as it is to pile on I'll try not to. Ecb is a business trying to squeeze the most dime. Thr game was originally founded on loot mode and from what I know free players could get free purple cards and win them in battles vs other people for free. It was a different game altogether predicated on gambling. Now the game has changed and ladder exists. New cards are around and stronger but you gotta pay to get them. And you can't win purple cards anymore so the game went from full access where it wasn't making any money to no access where it's making it.

The simple truth is that the game only needs to do a bare minimum to greatly improve the situation.

1. Make legend cards easier to get. This guy is typical what happens to someone. Greater card access could be achieved with better login rewards everyday. vip 1 gets some rubies all the way up to vip 6 gets a few diamonds everyday logging in. Something to get people to spend $20 early on when they first start the game.

2. Incentivizing more play. I think the legend rate in oacks is maybe 1 per 250,000 gold or something. That's 100 packs. It might be as bad as 1:200 packs tho. A simple suggestion would be to change the way people win gold. New players are forced to "bet" gold and lose gold when they lose. This makes it impossible to ever get enough old to but enough packs to get a legend. Truth is a top player can earn 10,000 gold a day something that takes a free player a week to do. How to fix this? Make sure every match players are rewarded with gold so they always are moving in the positive direction. something like this would be good idea.

Winner gets 150 gold loser gets 25. Vip 1 gets 10 gold bonus with win, vip 2 gets 20 gikd bonus, etc all the way up to vip 6 gets like 75 gold bonus. This Ofc makes vip more valuable and gets more new players to commit $20 early on. It's not going to get them an epic or a legend right away but it'll speed up the grind and lead to a better experience.

There is a fine line between being too generous that people don't spend but too greedy that people frequently quit. Ecb always seem to cross the line in side of being too stingy. It hurts the bottom line by pushing out players that might have or would have spent. It needs to move to the middle of that line and away from the extreme. Working on incentivizing small purchases and earning gold or legends with better frequency is of course needed.

Well I've given dozens of different ideas of various nature but v2.2 is done and submitted so let's see what you've done to improve the situation now.

[-bookie-]

I seen this in another game. Monthly is what it's called. For $4.99 a month you get a login bonus of 100 diamonds a day and each month you can purchase this. 100 diamonds tho in that game is more like 5 diamonds in ecb. So you could do something similar like $4.99 buys you 5 diamonds a day login. That's only 150 diamonds a month whic would buy someone a dominating pack. This would be great for new players to see the game as affordable to them, at least the ones who are not big spenders. Big spenders are gonna spend anyway as this method will never get them a
Handful of epics right off the bat. Ecb could benefit from this a lot by helping keep new players around and also capturing some money from those that are playing completely for free. It would not be hard for a free player I give in and spend $5. Since rubies are hard to get also ecb could consider some other combination of rubies and diamonds and gold instead for a monthly plan. Unlike vip which is bought once and done the monthly plan can keep a continuous stream of money coming in from free players and the vip could also give a sign in bonus also of some combo or gold rubies and diamonds. For example someone could purchase vip 6 off the bat and pay for the monthly and get bonus rewards everyday from the vip 6 and from the monthly just for logging in.

I think there is plenty of room to make this happen. Rubies and diamonds are so rare that even giving a few of these away does little to make these rare cards automatically accessible for free players or budget spenders. But just encourages them to pay and to stick around and grind instead of leaving. And thise that stick around and grind will often fall in love and spend more like upgrading vip etc or wanting to buy that event card.

[dj_nimbusus]

How to fix this? Make sure every match players are rewarded with gold so they always are moving in the positive direction. something like this would be good idea.

2 weeks later, and a new update!!!


1 ladder win = Before update: 200 gold, after: 0 gold.

1 coin bet win quick mode = before update: 100 gold, after 50 gold.

1 coin bet win pro mode = before update: 200 gold, after 100 gold.

I love when they listen to tips from the players. Or have they even read it??