The True culprit behind the stat inflation

[SHANESTER]

The new 100 boss event has been getting a pretty bad rap lately. Truth is the new boss event is much better then the old one. It’s getting most the blame for the recent stat inflation but it’s not the event primarily responsible.
The True culprit (or culprits) behind all the recent stat inflation were the first 2 faction LTQs after France: Operation Poseidon which had the data error and practically just handed anybody in a halfway decent faction all the prizes. Who doesn’t have a F-22 Raptor II (8,900/6,700) in their inventory? And Enemy Omega Onslaught which was created immediately after to set right the wrong and offered up insanely huge stat gains, including the very popular Poseidon Trench Destroyer (58,000 / 60,000 + 30% ground D)
Though these events were fun they equally distributed huge stats throughout the entire faction awarding the llp players the same stats for the high energy work of the hlp players. This is where the bad balance came from. Everybody in the factions which finished those events got somewhere around 200k-300k in stat gains (weather you were level 250 or level 25).
All those llps that got stacked with the huge stat gains from those 2 events then dominated the new boss event when it hit shortly after. And their stats sky rocketed past everybody but it wasn’t because of the new boss event or its prizes.
Had the new 100 boss event hit first, right after france, it would have been equally hard for everybody (hlps and llps alike). And everybody would have found it to be more challenging then the old boss event yet more rewarding. And very few would have beaten the 100 boss prior to those 2 FLTQs.
It is a mistake to award such huge prizes for faction events if you want to keep a balance to the game. I believe Gree has caught the mistake and that is why we are seeing smaller prizes to the faction LTQs and higher experience.
The damage was done and the monster llps created but I think its done now and it wont help dwarfing or eliminating the new boss event. They just have to make sure there are reasonable limitation in stat gains from faction events, because it’s the faction events that offer the greatest opportunity to lopside the stat amongst playes (llps getting rewarded equally for the resources of the hlps).

[Rade]

This is not the first time something like this has happened, but it certainly is the greatest in magnitude.

[Tournai]

same happened in Kingdom Age.
being level 143 and hitting level 80 with 1.5Million in stats!!
It took me more then a year to get over that 1 Million attack points.
And lost to many fights agains LLP players!

[Merc_mw]

Great analysis Shanester. It's demotivated some of our long term campers. If there was a desire to re level the playing field, I think the IPH discrepancy between newer players and their huge stats and long termers is the leverage point. Maybe a limited time unit with huge stats for millions of in-game money. Or something similar.

Or maybe the business model says campers are of no value, so their exiting the game is OK. From a players side, I don't know the value of a newer monster...will they spend money on gold?

[alphakennybody]

Shane, but where's my motivation?

[thundarr]

The new 100 boss event has been getting a pretty bad rap lately. Truth is the new boss event is much better then the old one. It’s getting most the blame for the recent stat inflation but it’s not the event primarily responsible.
The True culprit (or culprits) behind all the recent stat inflation were the first 2 faction LTQs after France: Operation Poseidon which had the data error and practically just handed anybody in a halfway decent faction all the prizes. Who doesn’t have a F-22 Raptor II (8,900/6,700) in their inventory? And Enemy Omega Onslaught which was created immediately after to set right the wrong and offered up insanely huge stat gains, including the very popular Poseidon Trench Destroyer (58,000 / 60,000 + 30% ground D)
Though these events were fun they equally distributed huge stats throughout the entire faction awarding the llp players the same stats for the high energy work of the hlp players. This is where the bad balance came from. Everybody in the factions which finished those events got somewhere around 200k-300k in stat gains (weather you were level 250 or level 25).
All those llps that got stacked with the huge stat gains from those 2 events then dominated the new boss event when it hit shortly after. And their stats sky rocketed past everybody but it wasn’t because of the new boss event or its prizes.
Had the new 100 boss event hit first, right after france, it would have been equally hard for everybody (hlps and llps alike). And everybody would have found it to be more challenging then the old boss event yet more rewarding. And very few would have beaten the 100 boss prior to those 2 FLTQs.
It is a mistake to award such huge prizes for faction events if you want to keep a balance to the game. I believe Gree has caught the mistake and that is why we are seeing smaller prizes to the faction LTQs and higher experience.
The damage was done and the monster llps created but I think its done now and it wont help dwarfing or eliminating the new boss event. They just have to make sure there are reasonable limitation in stat gains from faction events, because it’s the faction events that offer the greatest opportunity to lopside the stat amongst playes (llps getting rewarded equally for the resources of the hlps).

Excellent point but the game has still been ruined. At least we know one of the reasons. It gives one pause to think why were those mistakes made. Does anyone know whats going on there? At this point there is nothing that can be done. Players are fleeing the game in droves and those long time players still in are apathetic. I could care less what they do with the game now. I have moved on as I suspect many others have done or will do shortly. I can't wait to see the drop off in gold for the next WD event where everyone has massively inflated defense stats.

[Agent Orange]

Excellent analysis Shanester, I would also add the stackable Wraith Goliath's which gave a 21% boost to Ground Defence and the massive quantity of valor, though the latter might have been important to hold onto.

[Agent Orange]

Excellent point but the game has still been ruined. At least we know one of the reasons. It gives one pause to think why were those mistakes made. Does anyone know whats going on there? At this point there is nothing that can be done. Players are fleeing the game in droves and those long time players still in are apathetic. I could care less what they do with the game now. I have moved on as I suspect many others have done or will do shortly. I can't wait to see the drop off in gold for the next WD event where everyone has massively inflated defense stats.

That is a good question, we've become complacent in our observation that Gree just makes these mistakes but perhaps not as unintentional as we think.

On top of the stat inflation it means that in order for the strongest players in the game to maintain their position they are going to have to keep up with this inflation, otherwise they will fall behind and that means they are trapped on the spending treadmill. So in reality it was a rather clever move...

[thundarr]

That is a good question, we've become complacent in our observation that Gree just makes these mistakes but perhaps not as unintentional as we think.

On top of the stat inflation it means that in order for the strongest players in the game to maintain their position they are going to have to keep up with this inflation, otherwise they will fall behind and that means they are trapped on the spending treadmill. So in reality it was a rather clever move...

Except it reaches a breaking point and many will decide to leave. In the long run it may not be so clever.

[Merc_mw]

Excellent analysis Shanester, I would also add the stackable Wraith Goliath's which gave a 21% boost to Ground Defence and the massive quantity of valor, though the latter might have been important to hold onto.

AO, can you help me understand "stackable". I've come to know that as a hacker's technique. Thanks

[warrends]

AO, can you help me understand "stackable". I've come to know that as a hacker's technique. Thanks

Each Wraith Goliath gave a 3% Ground attack boost (or maybe it was defense). My faction (also Shane's faction) got all 7 of them. In "stacking" it simply means that they ALL add up: 3% X 7 units = 21% boost. Quite nice

In the past if you had more than one unit of the same type the boost would count only one time. Now it seems they have changed that, at least for some units.

The Rebel Fighter(?) that we got for killing 300, then 350, then 400, etc., bosses each day not long ago gave a 10% income boost. Our faction got 6 of them: 6 X 10% = 60% income boost. Along with my other IPH boosts, my money buildings are now pooping out almost double their regular income.

That is "stacking".

As for the OP, since he's in my faction he is correct in all he has to say. 'Nuff said ...

[SHANESTER]

Shane, but where's my motivation?

AKB, I'm not sure I know what you mean? Where's your motivation for what?

[SHANESTER]

As for the OP, since he's in my faction he is correct in all he has to say. 'Nuff said ...

Word!.....:D

[Agent Orange]

AO, can you help me understand "stackable". I've come to know that as a hacker's technique. Thanks

Stackable came about when we started to see units that gave boosts. At one point Gree gave us 2 of the same unit with a bonus but folks soon discovered that the bonus from the second unit was not being seen so the term stackable came about. In the case of the Wraith and the unit that gave the building cash increase the bonus was additive so each successive unit added to the next hence stackable.

[Agent Orange]

Except it reaches a breaking point and many will decide to leave. In the long run it may not be so clever.

Could also be part of the master plan. Gree might want all that 'new' money. Granted I think a lot of older players started LLPs recently.

As an example one of my test LLPs on Bluestacks got itself nuked last night so I said screw it and started one from scratch using the strategy I posted in the other thread about playing for free.

I went from L1 to L54 in 6 hours and am about to complete the normal Data LTQ at 15/15 without any gold spending. I have no money buildings other than the CC on the base and basically need no economy and really no unit buildings either.
I guess if I wasn't such a tinkerer I would have just thrown up my hands and said screw this but I like testing things.

[Merc_mw]

Thanks guys!

[SHANESTER]

Stat inflation is here to stay. They can’t go back to the way it was and a little inflation keeps everybody moving forward. But if they are smart they will tone it down a little more and let it come gradually. Why they just threw up massive units in a couple weeks time seams poorly thought out to me. They didn’t need to take that big of a jump to cause a feeding frenzy.
The game however is far from being ruined. Like I said earlier I believe most the damage was done in those two events and they are over. Not every llp got in on the ride either, so what is done is done. Those players will be big stat contenders and more power to them. Had I been one boss tier lower I would have hopped on the train too.
I think everybody needs to chill out and give it another month to see what happens. It seams the assumption is that every llp got stacked and is going to destroy every senior player in their path. But, I don’t see that being the case. You had to be low level and in a decent faction that did well in those two events. You also had to dip into your pocket book too. Not everybody is as inflated as rumored (although we’ll find out in just a couple hours and I only hope I’m right ).
As far as the usual conspiracy theories, I’m not a big buyer. Gree needs all their players including the free ones. It doesn’t work well if any of them are gone and Gree knows that. What company full of human employees doesn’t make mistakes? We definitely know Gree is no exception. And we know they can’t afford to lose their top spenders. The data errors in the first faction LTQ and first faction boss were likely accidents as reported. The huge stats of the 2nd faction LTQ were just poorly calculated cause and effect.
We’ll see how things go forward from here. I am hopeful.

[alphakennybody]

AKB, I'm not sure I know what you mean? Where's your motivation for what?
My motive for War? Annnd reading this ;)

[General_Anesthesia]

That is a good question, we've become complacent in our observation that Gree just makes these mistakes but perhaps not as unintentional as we think.

"Never assume malice when stupidity will suffice."

[Sgt. Fancypants]

The new 100 boss event has been getting a pretty bad rap lately. Truth is the new boss event is much better then the old one. It’s getting most the blame for the recent stat inflation but it’s not the event primarily responsible.
The True culprit (or culprits) behind all the recent stat inflation were the first 2 faction LTQs after France: Operation Poseidon which had the data error and practically just handed anybody in a halfway decent faction all the prizes. Who doesn’t have a F-22 Raptor II (8,900/6,700) in their inventory? And Enemy Omega Onslaught which was created immediately after to set right the wrong and offered up insanely huge stat gains, including the very popular Poseidon Trench Destroyer (58,000 / 60,000 + 30% ground D)
Though these events were fun they equally distributed huge stats throughout the entire faction awarding the llp players the same stats for the high energy work of the hlp players. This is where the bad balance came from. Everybody in the factions which finished those events got somewhere around 200k-300k in stat gains (weather you were level 250 or level 25).
All those llps that got stacked with the huge stat gains from those 2 events then dominated the new boss event when it hit shortly after. And their stats sky rocketed past everybody but it wasn’t because of the new boss event or its prizes.
Had the new 100 boss event hit first, right after france, it would have been equally hard for everybody (hlps and llps alike). And everybody would have found it to be more challenging then the old boss event yet more rewarding. And very few would have beaten the 100 boss prior to those 2 FLTQs.
It is a mistake to award such huge prizes for faction events if you want to keep a balance to the game. I believe Gree has caught the mistake and that is why we are seeing smaller prizes to the faction LTQs and higher experience.
The damage was done and the monster llps created but I think its done now and it wont help dwarfing or eliminating the new boss event. They just have to make sure there are reasonable limitation in stat gains from faction events, because it’s the faction events that offer the greatest opportunity to lopside the stat amongst playes (llps getting rewarded equally for the resources of the hlps).

I agree 100% however I think there is something more subtle underlying all of this. The inflation was already starting slowly before that. I remember when the Xian Destroyer was the 10th item in the box event it was the ****. Even before the FLTQs came out that unit wasn't that good anymore. I think gree noticed when they put a big prize up people emptied their wallets to get it. The problem was in order to keep that kind of spending up every time the prize had to be just a little bit sweeter or else it just didn't seem as good as last time. I think in the beginning the inflation was sparked by our willingness to spend and their quarterly profit statement, but like any high it's harder to stop than it is to keep going.

[General Steakfries]

The new 100 boss event has been getting a pretty bad rap lately. Truth is the new boss event is much better then the old one. It’s getting most the blame for the recent stat inflation but it’s not the event primarily responsible.
The True culprit (or culprits) behind all the recent stat inflation were the first 2 faction LTQs after France: Operation Poseidon which had the data error and practically just handed anybody in a halfway decent faction all the prizes. Who doesn’t have a F-22 Raptor II (8,900/6,700) in their inventory? And Enemy Omega Onslaught which was created immediately after to set right the wrong and offered up insanely huge stat gains, including the very popular Poseidon Trench Destroyer (58,000 / 60,000 + 30% ground D)
Though these events were fun they equally distributed huge stats throughout the entire faction awarding the llp players the same stats for the high energy work of the hlp players. This is where the bad balance came from. Everybody in the factions which finished those events got somewhere around 200k-300k in stat gains (weather you were level 250 or level 25).
All those llps that got stacked with the huge stat gains from those 2 events then dominated the new boss event when it hit shortly after. And their stats sky rocketed past everybody but it wasn’t because of the new boss event or its prizes.
Had the new 100 boss event hit first, right after france, it would have been equally hard for everybody (hlps and llps alike). And everybody would have found it to be more challenging then the old boss event yet more rewarding. And very few would have beaten the 100 boss prior to those 2 FLTQs.
It is a mistake to award such huge prizes for faction events if you want to keep a balance to the game. I believe Gree has caught the mistake and that is why we are seeing smaller prizes to the faction LTQs and higher experience.
The damage was done and the monster llps created but I think its done now and it wont help dwarfing or eliminating the new boss event. They just have to make sure there are reasonable limitation in stat gains from faction events, because it’s the faction events that offer the greatest opportunity to lopside the stat amongst playes (llps getting rewarded equally for the resources of the hlps).

While your analysis of a single part of stat inflation is correct, there is a more concise and broad answer. GREEd