Board Thread:LOC General Discussion/@comment-5499190-20121204120328/@comment-5428123-20121205081727

A lot has been said about Applibot's recent update already. Regardless, here are some of my thoughts about the matter:


 * Duplicate backline cards will likely have a smaller effect than people realize. Raid and odyssey event rankings are based on front line attack, and total energy respectively. This means that the only event affected will be battle royales, which I know not everyone actually participates in.


 * Collector cards will remain valuable as people were never truly interested in their stats in the first place. These cards are traded simply for the sake of artwork and rarity. Cards like Ukobach I doubt will take a hit because of this. Same with many collector extincts.


 * The cards which wil likely take the largest hit are the rare and ultra rare cards with a low ATK/DEF to PWR ratio, and mediocre skills which are in ready supply. I could definitely see cards like Nova Summoner taking a hit as its role has effectively been replaced by an army of Deranged Nightmares. I doubt cards like Flaming Werewolf and Wandering Geryon will lose value, because of their skills.


 * Despite the fact that many people are leaving the game, the majority are still likely playing, evident by the fact that many have chosen to go the Eager Ammit route rather than worry about it's implications.

With all that being said though, I'm quite surprised by the lack of intelligence and insight displayed by the game staff through this update. Whatever their motive was, be it for balancing of the game or monetery benefit, their update seems to be having the exact opposite effect as many people are now quitting as a result. This can't possibly be what they intended for, and the only ones to blame are themselves for letting things progress as far as they have.

Now I know hindsight is 20/20, but anyone with a remote understanding of human behaviour should've known what kind of reaction people would have. On the surface, the optics of such an update don't look particularly good, and most people aren't going to take the time and effort to fully analyze the implications. Plus, people are reactionary by nature, and when the status quo is rocked in a potentially negative way, people will naturally react negatively for it.

Considering the financial stake the game staff have in this game, I can't imagine that they'll simply do nothing and simply let their alienated customers go walking out (some of which likely make up a large portion of their customer base). I expect we'll see another update in the near future which will consist of further gameplay changes with the intent of alleviating the potential problems they've created. It will likely not be any kind of a real solution, and I doubt they'll backpeddle on their decision due to PR reasons. But we'll see some kind of update, whether it be for better or worse.