CKS Crossroads: There's A Sign Post Ahead ... A Chronolgy Of Events.
amsoft2000
Expert MemberRegistered Users 5,782 Posts
Just over one month ago on July 2nd, 2016, we entered a new and possibly final chapter in the CKS (as we knew it) saga; TIER 25 had been released only a few days earlier. The SCORPION took note of an important statistic that was only the "tip of the iceberg" ...
... base upgrades would require approximately 800 PvP Victories.
Rather expensive, based on past base upgrades; still well within an average player's "comfort range".
Still there was an unknown and unidentified element just beneath the surface of my statistics, that caused me alarm; a "new" trend was starting to develop and it prompted me to post the following ...
... even though I could NOT substantiate it at the time.
On July 6th, 2016, I followed up that post with a shorter more concise statement:
After several days of increasing raided vault sizes, I decided to post the following on July 12th, 2016.
... Then on July 13th, less than 24 hours following my optimistic forecast, TIER 26 arrived only 2-weeks following the release of TIER 25 ... then came TIER 27 2-weeks after that.
I now realize that the optimism I felt, along with that unknown element that surfaced during my initial statistical analysis, should have warned me of some drastic impending change in CKS gameplay and strategy; I misread the "Sign Post" and for that I must offer my sincere apologies.
In 48 hours we may finally be required to make a decision.
Sink or swim ... adapt or perish ... whatever the outcome, I just wanted to state for the record that it was my pleasure knowing you all and I've enjoyed a fantastic ride for the past year ...
(issues and glitches aside
)
For those that elect to continue ...
Good Luck and Good Hunting !!!
... base upgrades would require approximately 800 PvP Victories.
Rather expensive, based on past base upgrades; still well within an average player's "comfort range".
Still there was an unknown and unidentified element just beneath the surface of my statistics, that caused me alarm; a "new" trend was starting to develop and it prompted me to post the following ...
... even though I could NOT substantiate it at the time.
amsoft2000 wrote: »TIER 25 has brought with it the largest cost structure to date ...
With close to 5,000 AP required per Global Event for the base and another roughly 2,000 AP for weapons upgrades, the emerging trend is quite alarming. My estimate is that within the next 2-3 tiers, players will be required to qualify for the GOLD LEAGUE in order to collect enough diamonds during PvP Events to perform upgrades.
Since it would still take 400 GOLD for GL qualification even if you played for 96 straight hours, a player might opt to simply use GOLD for upgrades right from the start and save a huge amount in time and effort; the average (honest) player would drop dead, so a 2,000 GOLD BARS expense is more realistic.
On July 6th, 2016, I followed up that post with a shorter more concise statement:
amsoft2000 wrote: »Ok ... so there's no doubt that "Energy" is the key to success.
For example I've calculated that 2,000 GOLD will fully upgrade the BASE ECONOMY ...
... but can also buy 100 FULL ENERGY or 300 PvP Battles.
That translates into roughly 2,000,000,000 Diamonds @ TIER 25 so it's obvious to me that "fighting" is still cheaper than "buying" base upgrades (this is NOT the case for weapons).
At least, for now.
If base upgrade prices continue to rise, soon it will become a burden just to fight the battles we need and THAT'S the GOTCHA.
When do upgrades become such a burden that players simply can no longer "enjoy" playing the game?
Statistics suggest that threshold will be crossed by late Summer. :cool: for many, it already has.
After several days of increasing raided vault sizes, I decided to post the following on July 12th, 2016.
amsoft2000 wrote: »For TIER 25 I have raised the "baseline" raided vault size to 6.5M (up from 6.3M) with quite a number nearing the 7.0M level. If vault sizes continue to increase for the duration of the battle cycle, there may be relief on the TIER 26 horizon.
The key will be TIER 26 upgrade costs relative to raided vault size; it does look promising however.
I thought this was worth noting since it IS Good News. :cool:
... Then on July 13th, less than 24 hours following my optimistic forecast, TIER 26 arrived only 2-weeks following the release of TIER 25 ... then came TIER 27 2-weeks after that.
I now realize that the optimism I felt, along with that unknown element that surfaced during my initial statistical analysis, should have warned me of some drastic impending change in CKS gameplay and strategy; I misread the "Sign Post" and for that I must offer my sincere apologies.
In 48 hours we may finally be required to make a decision.
Sink or swim ... adapt or perish ... whatever the outcome, I just wanted to state for the record that it was my pleasure knowing you all and I've enjoyed a fantastic ride for the past year ...
(issues and glitches aside
)For those that elect to continue ...
Good Luck and Good Hunting !!!
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
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I can't tell you how valuable, and trustworthy you've been to this community, and no doubt all the posters here, and a far more abundant number of silent observers.
You've put out the cry of No Más in the past, but I hope you don't mean what I think you mean this time. Please do some soul searching on this. Your insight has been almost the only beacon in this fog you call the GLUTONS.
Yes ... I've cried "No Mas" many times in the past for a variety of reasons, but I promise you I will give this all the consideration that it deserves.
:cool:
So as the 2nd Global Event (TIER 28 Finale?) is nearing it's close, here are my observations:
(1) Relative upgrades cost for TIER 28 remained flat over TIER 27; to be perfectly clear, that was the 1st reason for me continuing with TIER 28.
(2) CKS version 5.0.2 was released (the 2nd reason for me hanging around). It brought with it some new Drone Development features that I was looking forward to; I've managed to upgrade the drone to 2.10B Power and the potential is clearly there to build a very impressive killer companion. The problem is where are we going to get the XP modules required to reach the higher levels?
Each new region easily brings with it 300-400 "fuses" but it's going to take many THOUSANDS of them to make any real progress.
(3) I've all but abandoned SHORT RANGE Battles since a fully upgraded 28.5 SR Weapon is useless @ TIER 28 without using some combination of MedKits, Knives or Grenades; a truly extraordinary turn of events since the weapons we're currently competing for are already obsolete. The fact that I'm winning with essentially a 26.5 TESLA is testament to nothing short of sheer determination ...
... "TRUE" competition has passed by the wayside.
So this is what needs to be done to remedy this situation (in my humble opinion) ...
... call it my "5-POINT Plan to Save CKS for The Veterans":
(1) Upgrade costs will need to remain relatively flat @ TIER 29.
(2) Opponent strength (already @ TIER 29 Levels) will also need to remain unchanged.
(3) Another (larger) massive health boost AND a substantial increase in weapons power is essential. I'm not talking about overwhelming firepower here; just some parity between ATTACK and DEFENSE.
(4) As it now stands, TIER 29 MUST NOT arrive only 2-weeks following TIER 28 without something that can "balance" the battlefield.
(5) If GLU needs revenue, as urgently as I believe, then the logical path forward is to restore "value" to the product they expect us to buy into.
That is all, Agents ... Next Thursday is the "drop dead" date for The Veterans; prepare yourselves but remain optimistic.
In The Meantime ...
Good Luck and Good Hunting !!!
Without the league I wonder if players spend gold on energy just to make sure that they will have the most updates base defend on hand?? Highly unlikely right ...
And the rate Glu is going you need a star 30.5 weapon to win all PVP !!