"We are currently at TIER 22 and that marks 'The End' of Contract Killer: Sniper for the vast majority of players and with the "thinning of the herd" ... ."
The "herd" continues to shrink in size despite all attempts at offering alternative strategies and cost avoidance advice. These players have simply had enough, I suppose. Only 11 of 20 members remains from my CLAN and since TIER 22's arrival, the Global Event participation is down 50% as well.
The leaderboard is being populated with new players but not at a rate high enough to replace those that have disappeared.
Weapons ratings average 21.5 and many defense bases remain at TIER 21 (some even lower) for the veteran players.
Many of the All-Timers remain however; their love of the game is unquestioned, but it's starting to take it's toll as their scoring during any given event is starting to shrink.
I'm not sure what can be done to stop this exodus short of "freezing" CKS in place; that could hasten the inevitable however.
Let's hope that GLU can get creative and deliver something new very soon; a workable Clan Wars feature would be nice. The decision is whether or not it is cost beneficial to continue development of CKS.
Good Luck and Good Hunting !!!
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
I am much more upbeat about the future of CKS on the IOS platform. Competition in the Globals remains robust, a win requires 24 to 30K, top 10 16K+ and 12K+ to make the leaderboard. Fully half of the names on this week's Global Leaderboard are players who are well known to me.
While enthusiasm for Drone upgrades may have dimmed, players are upgrading bases and weapons as usual. Lots of players have weapons from recent Super VIPs, so they must be investing in the game. While several of the top All Time players have either moved on or slowed play, the All time Leaderboard is still hotly contested.
A number of MIRN players have abandoned MI and moved back to CKS.
The leading clans are still active both in Clan Wars and PVP play. Rig's Clan, Elitecorps, just mounted an impressive multi-day campaign to knock Golden out of the #7 spot on the clan leaderboard. The Russian players have organized a very serious multi-clan operation looking to dominate CW.
On a personal note, after 6 weeks as #1 on the All Time Leaderboard, I have been unseated by DG1923I. He is a very dedicated CKS player and has been averaging over 6000 VP per week in recent weeks. The pain of losing the #1 spot is lessened by the fact that Danny and I go way back in this game and he is an officer in the Elites clan. On a brighter note, no other players appear likely to be able to challenge DG and me for the top 2 spots.
Well that's good news regarding iOS and half of those on your leaderboard, are probably in your CLAN so that doesn't count ... Sorry . At it's high, I estimate that there were 50,000 active players on Google Play, so we're nowhere near that. I usually join the Global 3-4 hours after it starts and I've watched the scores go into a tail spin for several weeks now but what I really took note of is the number of players ahead of me after only 1 battle ... like I said, that is nearly half of what it once was.
In fact, I've made the TOP 30 on several occasions, starting late and catching the leaders usually after only 12 hours and I wasn't fighting at what I call "Battle Speed"; "Moderate Pace" better describes it ...
... (3 free, 3 gold battles per hour), with strategic spurts of 10 or more battles per hour.
I haven't needed to fight at "Overdrive" (all GOLD battles) in more than two cycles now, so I am well aware of the drop in competition. Sometimes you need to fight from "the rear" to appreciate that.
I'm sure you've noticed the drop in Google Play scoring over the last 2 cycles. Forget about the heyday of the Lunatic Asylum, but Google and iOS were always relatively close. Lately the two platforms haven't been in the same ballpark, aside from maybe the TOP 2-3.
On the flip side, it has made making the TOP 30 rather easy ... 10,000 AP guarantees a TOP 30 spot and you can make the TOP 90 without ending up in the GOLD LEAGUE. But the "real" competition is slowly going extinct.
So here's the breakdown as I see it:
. Amazon: never grew past 1% of all players and today is a dead platform.
. iOS: is still healthy (thank the Lord) and now probably accounts for 1/2 of all revenue.
. Google Play: once accounted for 3/4 of all players; now more like 2/3 and still falling.
This reminds me ... when are you guys on iOS going to post some stats? We're halfway though DAY #2 and nothing from you guys yet
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
Comments
The above was excerpted from an earlier post. The full article can be read here: http://ggnbb.glu.com/showthread.php?169154-Should-We-Use-GOLD-or-DIAMONDS-for-UPGRADES/page5
The "herd" continues to shrink in size despite all attempts at offering alternative strategies and cost avoidance advice. These players have simply had enough, I suppose. Only 11 of 20 members remains from my CLAN and since TIER 22's arrival, the Global Event participation is down 50% as well.
The leaderboard is being populated with new players but not at a rate high enough to replace those that have disappeared.
Weapons ratings average 21.5 and many defense bases remain at TIER 21 (some even lower) for the veteran players.
Many of the All-Timers remain however; their love of the game is unquestioned, but it's starting to take it's toll as their scoring during any given event is starting to shrink.
I'm not sure what can be done to stop this exodus short of "freezing" CKS in place; that could hasten the inevitable however.
Let's hope that GLU can get creative and deliver something new very soon; a workable Clan Wars feature would be nice. The decision is whether or not it is cost beneficial to continue development of CKS.
Good Luck and Good Hunting !!!
While enthusiasm for Drone upgrades may have dimmed, players are upgrading bases and weapons as usual. Lots of players have weapons from recent Super VIPs, so they must be investing in the game. While several of the top All Time players have either moved on or slowed play, the All time Leaderboard is still hotly contested.
A number of MIRN players have abandoned MI and moved back to CKS.
The leading clans are still active both in Clan Wars and PVP play. Rig's Clan, Elitecorps, just mounted an impressive multi-day campaign to knock Golden out of the #7 spot on the clan leaderboard. The Russian players have organized a very serious multi-clan operation looking to dominate CW.
On a personal note, after 6 weeks as #1 on the All Time Leaderboard, I have been unseated by DG1923I. He is a very dedicated CKS player and has been averaging over 6000 VP per week in recent weeks. The pain of losing the #1 spot is lessened by the fact that Danny and I go way back in this game and he is an officer in the Elites clan. On a brighter note, no other players appear likely to be able to challenge DG and me for the top 2 spots.
In fact, I've made the TOP 30 on several occasions, starting late and catching the leaders usually after only 12 hours and I wasn't fighting at what I call "Battle Speed"; "Moderate Pace" better describes it ...
... (3 free, 3 gold battles per hour), with strategic spurts of 10 or more battles per hour.
I haven't needed to fight at "Overdrive" (all GOLD battles) in more than two cycles now, so I am well aware of the drop in competition. Sometimes you need to fight from "the rear" to appreciate that.
I'm sure you've noticed the drop in Google Play scoring over the last 2 cycles. Forget about the heyday of the Lunatic Asylum, but Google and iOS were always relatively close. Lately the two platforms haven't been in the same ballpark, aside from maybe the TOP 2-3.
On the flip side, it has made making the TOP 30 rather easy ... 10,000 AP guarantees a TOP 30 spot and you can make the TOP 90 without ending up in the GOLD LEAGUE. But the "real" competition is slowly going extinct.
So here's the breakdown as I see it:
. Amazon: never grew past 1% of all players and today is a dead platform.
. iOS: is still healthy (thank the Lord) and now probably accounts for 1/2 of all revenue.
. Google Play: once accounted for 3/4 of all players; now more like 2/3 and still falling.
This reminds me ... when are you guys on iOS going to post some stats? We're halfway though DAY #2 and nothing from you guys yet
IOS stats with 56 Hours remaining:
#1 17021 Manwithegold (Elites)
#4 9935 nu29 (Elites)
#7 8076 Homie57 (Elites)
#11 7721 Coolh2073 (Elites)
#12 7460 3Clicks (Elites)
#16 6460 Bradr752 (Elites CL)
#21 5960 DG1923I (Elites) #1 AT Leaderboard
#22 5846 Rig007
#30 5171 RMban
Elites are not half of the leaderboard, but it is still early. LOL