An Early GM Response to the TW Changes

frankieraye

truekossy wrote: »

Why is it that, instead of responding to the many questions and concerns brought up about the latest patch in this thread, most of the posts so far have been about how you're responding to those who broke that rule about mouthing off at the GMs?

No offense, but it really gives you a bad image when you appear to be ignoring the legitimate concerns in favor of something that's completely off-topic in terms of the major subject at hand.

The reason is this: The patch just came out, and some time really has to pass before any of us truly knows the effects of it.

I'm reading all of your concerns and I've thrown in some of my own opinions about the patch. Kantorek has done the same. I read you loud and clear; the TW pay has been decreased and you're worried about not being able to afford charms anymore. You feel like we're ruining a beautiful part of the game. I understand that; this is a pretty big change to the system, so it's normal that you're worried about it.

I love TW. It and the Gold Trade system are my two favorite parts about PWI; TW brings factions together for a hardcore, team-oriented endgame event. The Gold Trade system makes it so that no player is excluded from the Cash Shop, as long as they're willing to put time and effort into the game. These two systems are what differentiate PWI from every other F2P out there.

Let me just assure you that we do NOT want to ruin the TW system. From what I understand, these changes were implemented to combat problems that have plagued longer-running versions of PW -- those in Malaysia and China. I have to say that I do like the idea of taking what we know about those versions and using it to try to protect this version.

What I'm asking is that we give this system some time before condemning it for good. There has been a lot of speculation, and the majority of you are very much against it, and that's been noted, believe me.

But for now, this is the game, and these are the changes that have been made to it. We will be closely monitoring what happens with TW over this next month, and Konari, Aryanna, and myself will be on these boards to hear you out during the process.

---

Update:

The changes should make TW far more competitive.

The old way, once a faction holds half the map, they are making 300M coin per week, which leads to:

#1 - Poaching elite players from smaller factions who want to get in on the Coins.

#2 - Being able to either pay for charms or fake bids, both of which give them a huge advantage over a non-TW faction.

So the huge faction continues winning its battles (whether they are legit battles or fake battles), and it wins 90% of every winning bid. Legit wins give them a new source of income, and fake bid wins only cost them 10% of the bid that they themselves made (keep in mind that you don't need charms for a fake battle).

Eventually, the dominant faction has enough coins to outbid everyone for 200M coins each through fake bids. They then get back 90% of each of these 200M coin bids. The map ultimately is entirely theirs.

This is why, with the former system, PW in Malaysia and China ultimately ended up with the territory war map completely taken over and nothing anyone could do about it.


With the new rules in place, huge factions will no longer be getting enough coins from the TW system to be able to afford Charms and fake bids every week. You will no longer have to depend on a faction disbanding out of the kindness of its heart to have a diverse TW map.

Update 2

A lot of things caused inflation, including grinding, questing, DQ item vendoring, decomposing gear into Mirage Celestones and vendoring them, 10M big notes, and weekly TW income payouts. TW income is not the only culprit, but it does add about 2.4 billion coins to the economy every month, which is substantial.

We do not insist that TW income is the sole cause of inflation, but we do believe that the TW change should at least help somewhat. That point was originally brought up because, after the change was announced, these forums erupted into a supernova, and Kanto was hoping to bring up a good point that had not brought up yet. Of course, this observation was then blown way out of proportion, to the point where it seemed like TW income was taking the full blame for inflation, and this change was going to fix everything in one fell swoop.

This is not the case. It may help, but I don't expect it to single-handedly curb inflation, and I don't expect you all to believe that either.

The TW changes were made primarily to make TW more competitive, ideally to keep us from spiraling down the same path as PW-MY and PW-CN, where entire TW maps had been owned by one unstoppable force.

A reduction in inflation would merely be a welcome side effect of these changes.

Thank you all for your patience and for the good discussion here in this thread.

Okeano - Harshlands

dahdhdahdsahd

Nomos - Lost City

Exactly. People need to stop flaming GMs like it's their fault that this happened.
I predict that this will ruin the game, but we have to give it a few weeks before we start making assumptions.

Qwentomec - Heavens Tear

Well like I said in another thread..this may not be so bad as people think. It can drop gold prices because of the hugely less amount of coins coming in to the game each week, and it could also force uncharmed TW which would make it more realistic and dangerous and fun
Also enable poor people like myself to actually get kills in there

SugarPrinces - Sanctuary

nicely put frankie after all the flame in the other thread i'm impressed you remain so cool headed, good GM indeed, despite what others had said

Nastassiya - Sanctuary

Hope you really are protecting the economy from farmers

FatherTed - Dreamweaver

So yet again, the devs are too lazy to address a problem in PW-CN without **** us over?

Seriously how are we supposed to feel? Consistently getting screwed cause the devs are fighting something in a different version and can't be bothered to spare us a second?

There's a reason why PWE is struggling - and you just named it.


I like how you copy-pasta'd all of your comments

/Gohan - Dreamweaver

Nice. Now how about a GM response on the horrible UI >.>

KibblesnBitz - Sanctuary

I noticed the genie skill Earthflame now has longer range as it should! b:thanks

IPwnUNub - Raging Tide

A month...... I can live with a month. Not a year hopefully. Condeming it? Well.... its just normal.

Airyll - Dreamweaver

Frankie, the concerns that have been put forward have huge relevance. While we need to give the new system a chance, it's not just the TW system changes that people have a problem with.

TW has been around since... well, near enough since the beginning. While one faction didn't own an entire map, TW pay was still TW pay, and gold price never hit the 400k mark. What inflated the gold price was your sales. Please, Frankie, do not treat us like we are stupid. The constant sale of pack after pack has done far more damage then all TW pay combined, I imagine.

And now, at the time you change TW, you implement another sale to raise gold prices even further. If you're going to try and change a system that wasn't really broken in the first place, do it properly.

Stop with these sales.
Reset the map.

Sale after sale after sale after sale is what has caused these gold prices. All you have done is made TW your scapegoat. And you did a very bad job of that.

Bladed_Tony - Raging Tide

love the change but it kinda gives lil reason to TW imo

FatherTed - Dreamweaver

Actually wait sorry - how could someone take advantage of TW pay? Other than fake bidding which already happens all the time and is now made easier by the changes?

Pyrya - Archosaur

I understand that it's not the GM's fault for these patches but i'm still mad for 2 reasons.

1. We knew about it this update, we saw it coming. We made threads about this and i can vouch that i read them and thought "OH *&%^ NO!" just like I'm sure a lot of people did. You guys knew we didn't want these updates but we still get them.

2. Why do we always have to suffer for the Chinese server? In the year I've been on PWI i have not seen one bot or gold farmer. Why is it necessary that these terrible game changing patches keep coming? We've proven over the course of time gold farmers just don't exist here.

Sorry to say I'm on break from PWI until this is fixed. Many of my friends left and at this point it's just not worth playing or spending money on a game that just gets progressively worse. I'm gonna miss this game and i hope i can come back soon. Until then see you around the forums.

RedsRose - Lost City

**** TW...change the text...b:cry


On Topic....only time will tell. b:surrender

Amarante - Raging Tide

frankieraye wrote: »

What I'm asking is that we give this system some time before condemning it for good. There has been a lot of speculation, and the majority of you are very much against it, and that's been noted, believe me.

Well said. Thank you. b:victory

In the mean time, I'll look forward to the TW's this weeken--...hm...wait a sec...this TW's wined. How odd. No one's here...

Okay, fine, I'll go and do something. Like maybe log off. Or go play a certain MMO that costs $15 per month. Or maybe a recently released, highly anticipated, 10 years in the making game. Because then, at least, I don't go blind reading "3rd grade" text. Maybe I'll return in 3 months, who knows. Maybe 6 months. Maybe I'll just go devote the time I spend enjoying games to something else, like soccer or basketball. That's my paragraph of QQing. That is all.

Goodnight, sirs. Goodnight and fare well... oh look, packs are in now... more packs... more inflated prices... b:bye

Kephras - Heavens Tear

I've poked fun here and there, but I'll weigh in seriously now:

1) I'm not a TW-type person, but I can understand why some or all of these changes have got people up in arms.
2) There are certain elements to the "revised" version that need fixing.

All in all, I do approve of the changes, since it will lead to some moderate decrease in coin. But ultimately? This is the wrong answer if you're aiming to try fixing this inflated economy. For that to happen, do one simple thing:

Remove "10m Bank Note" from the Best Token options.

Simple as that. People still get best tokens and can do useful stuff with them, but the massive coin inflation from every two of the damn things will be gone.

And no, I'm not trying to turn this into a QQ-packs discussion, just saying that nerfing TW payouts is a wrong step in the right direction.

wraithkiller69

Frankie might be a bad time to ask but any word on DQ? lets not forgot that too. How long has it been? months......probably gonna be the same with TW. Just dont care it seems to majority of the player base and that sucks

Hell_rayzer - Heavens Tear

airyll - Dreamweaver wrote: »

frankie, The Concerns That Have Been Put Forward Have Huge Relevance. While We Need To Give The New System A Chance, It's Not Just The Tw System Changes That People Have A Problem With.

Tw Has Been Around Since... Well, Near Enough Since The Beginning. While One Faction Didn't Own An Entire Map, Tw Pay Was Still Tw Pay, And Gold Price Never Hit The 400k Mark. What Inflated The Gold Price Was your Sales. Please, Frankie, Do Not Treat Us Like We Are Stupid. The Constant Sale Of Pack After Pack Has Done Far More Damage Then All Tw Pay Combined, I Imagine.

And Now, At The Time You Change Tw, You Implement another Sale To Raise Gold Prices Even Further. If You're Going To Try And Change A System That Wasn't Really Broken In The First Place, Do It Properly.

Stop With These Sales.
Reset The Map.

Sale After Sale After Sale After Sale Is What Has Caused These Gold Prices. All You Have Done Is Made Tw Your Scapegoat. And You Did A Very Bad Job Of That.

Please Everyone Just Read This>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ElderSig - Dreamweaver

Kephras - Heavens Tear wrote: »

I've poked fun here and there, but I'll weigh in seriously now:

1) I'm not a TW-type person, but I can understand why some or all of these changes have got people up in arms.
2) There are certain elements to the "revised" version that need fixing.

All in all, I do approve of the changes, since it will lead to some moderate decrease in coin. But ultimately? This is the wrong answer if you're aiming to try fixing this inflated economy. For that to happen, do one simple thing:

Remove "10m Bank Note" from the Best Token options.

Simple as that. People still get best tokens and can do useful stuff with them, but the massive coin inflation from every two of the damn things will be gone.

And no, I'm not trying to turn this into a QQ-packs discussion, just saying that nerfing TW payouts is a wrong step in the right direction.

Well damn said.

Plus, change the font please? The game font is killing my eyes, I literally can not play right now do to a horrible headache.

frankieraye

wraithkiller69 wrote: »

Frankie might be a bad time to ask but any word on DQ? lets not forgot that too. How long has it been? months......probably gonna be the same with TW. Just dont care it seems to majority of the player base and that sucks

Hah, no it's not a bad time to ask a very legit question. We've not forgotten about DQ, I promise.

truekossy

FatherTed - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Why?

There's nothing possible good to come of it. There's clearly no other reason for it other than to sell more zen.

So why should we give it more time?

I... honestly have to agree with this.

We've been told to give things we didn't like time several times. In almost every case, it wound up that our original thoughts on those things were accurate and that they'd have a negative impact overall.

Now, I'm all for giving new things a shot but... there comes a point where you just can't do it anymore. If this were the old PWI before annipacks, chest of coins, endless saes, tc. The game where it wasn't Pay to Win and where even a casual player stood a chance and seemed to have a voice, then sure. Let's not forget how a year and a half ago, most people would defend PWI on the rare occasion that someone tried to badmouth how things were done.

... But now... well.... things like talking about decreasing gold prices while simultaneously doing something that guarantees an increase in them, for example, kinda make us lose patience and not really believe that things will get better. Ever. We have so much that's not broken but the Devs attempt to "fix" it while our long list of bugs, glitches, and exploits continue to rise that it's just sad.

I'm sure that most of us who have a bit of sympathy in us really want to try and help you guys out, frankie, but at this point in time we're all so sick and tired of it that we just can't bring ourselves to even bother hoping anymore.

wraithkiller69

frankieraye wrote: »

Hah, no it's not a bad time to ask a very legit question. We've not forgotten about DQ, I promise.

b:cute Trust me I wont let u forget b:laugh

Kohai - Lost City

The Tw remkae is quite good. With one less Coin source they prizes will drop and since im playing on a pvp server with the biggest pk faction there will be no coinfarmerbot whatsoever and i finaly can buy stuff from the boutique with less than 500k ea gold = =

FatherTed - Dreamweaver

frankieraye wrote: »

Hah, no it's not a bad time to ask a very legit question. We've not forgotten about DQ, I promise.

Belatedly I am gonna go off to bed, but this raises a good point. On top of the compensation we never got, and likely never will.
Should we expect additional compensation for this mess, considering you admitted it was because someone on PW-CN found a way to abuse it?

Should we now wait for a second compensation PWE doesn't care enough to give us?

wraithkiller69

Kohai - Lost City wrote: »

The Tw remkae is quite good. With one less Coin source they prizes will drop and since im playing on a pvp server with the biggest pk faction there will be no coinfarmerbot whatsoever and i finaly can buy stuff from the boutique with less than 500k ea gold = =

How does TW coins once every week compare to the MASS amount of best perfect (IDK the name dont care) tokens that comes into the system DAILY? ur saying TW pay hurts it more.....no way

Kephras - Heavens Tear

Good lord, it's what, 1:30am for you folks over there at PWE?

...The company might be Beijing's call-girl and your sales/marketing department are [insert explitive of your choice here] but damn... Frankie, major props for weathering this firestorm. Your boss owes you some serious bonus cash in your check for this.

(Also: see previous post about 10m notes. Do this, it will help.)

Smellfish - Heavens Tear

frankieraye wrote: »

Hah, no it's not a bad time to ask a very legit question. We've not forgotten about DQ, I promise.

ya right sure ya arnt lol, your just going to keep going and going till uve kill off the game completly. me things gms has stakes in gw2 coming out and want people to go there.

Kohai - Lost City

wraithkiller69 wrote: »

How does TW coins once every week compare to the MASS amount of best perfect (IDK the name dont care) tokens that comes into the system DAILY? ur saying TW pay hurts it more.....no way

I know 5m token are still bad but they are only going to dissapear for 2week all 3 month
and iwant talking about tw o.o

Amencat - Sanctuary

can only say it again, i love the change! b:victory

the devs couldnt even make it better to finally sink the economy,

think only those players who wont be able to be hyper super rich with tw are complaining here, those who are happy just dont write anything and enjoy from now on!!

SgtSIaughter - Heavens Tear

frankieraye wrote: »

....
What I'm asking is that we give this system some time before condemning it for good.
...

In other words, "Get use to it."