Thoughts on the basics of the game, new creatures, exclusives and stat boosters

[NiR-TSR]

I read the GamePress article this morning, I also filled the survey in the end, but I had too many thoughts that wouldn’t fit there. I write these lines as a player who started playing when the game released. I have already talked to my friends a few times about the things below, I would like to explain what I think here too.

1. Collecting

I think the game is based on collecting. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? When I started the game, the biggest pleasure for me was that I didn’t know what dino would show up next, what I would discover.

The appearance of exclusive creatures was not a good idea at all and the fact that their numbers are growing from update to update makes a person sad rather than excited. With the fact that certain dinosaurs mostly only appear on the roads on certain days (like Echo on Saturday) and that we know the exclusive ones can’t even show up, the thrill of the hunt has been taken away.

There are a lot of problems with the system of exclusives - more on that later -, so I think it should be eliminated or redesigned like areas so that other creatures can roam freely every month.

2. Release of new dinos

There’s no question that we wouldn’t be happy if new dinos joined the game, I just feel like… a little too many have come lately, especially the unique ones. Let me tell you what I mean. Lots of new unique dinos have released in recent months, we can barely get them and level them up a few levels, even newer, even stronger creatures are coming after them. This will not be helped by the fact that if the components of the new animals presented will be exclusive DNAs…

Let’s look at a few new creatures from the last half year:

• Andrewtops: Arctops - exclusive (Okay, I know there’s a raid for it, but it’s still painful to level it up.)
• Phorurex: Maiasaura - arena
• Indotaurus: Echo - Saturday
• Albertospinos: Albertosaurus - exclusive
• Troodoboa: Troodon - supposedly not exclusive, but I think I personally haven’t seen him in 9 or 10 months.
• Arctovasilas: Both Arctodus and Cervalces are exclusive. Okay, this is an Apex bear, but if both of its ‘ingredients’ were available on the street, it would still take a lot of time and coins to create. Currently, it’s impossible for the average player.
• Ankylos Lux: Bumpy - exclusive

I would consider it a much better idea if the common / rare / epic dinos didn’t release at the same time as their hybrids. It would be enough to first release them on the streets (and not join the game as exclusives!), then give players 1-2 months to gather their DNAs and just after that introduce their legendary / unique / Apex hybrids. It would be much less frustration and feel less like a race against time.

3. Stat boosts

There are a lot of ideas and topics about this already, so I don’t want to write about the system itself now, the change will probably come in March anyway.

The first and biggest problem with boosters is that they can be obtained too slowly. If you don’t want to spend your monthly salary on boosters, upgrading 1(!) dino will take 2,5 to 3 months! That’s too much, especially considering that Damocles’ sword hovers over the creatures all the time, not knowing if it’ll be nerfed or redesigned in the next update.

Currently, one of the most important parts of the game is the boost system, if you don’t want or can’t boost your dinos, you won’t be competitive in PvP, and it’s essential for a lot of raids too. This is the point that blocks you from a lot of things what could be fun while playing.

That’s why it would be much fairer - as in other collectible card games -, for a major redesign (like the Mortem Rex) we should get back the cost of the upgrades for free for 1 week, in this case the boosters.

Thank you for reading, these were my own thoughts, opinions. Happy hunting everyone!

[Moksha]

@NiR-TSR

Lots of new unique dinos have released in recent months, we can barely get them and level them up a few levels, even newer, even stronger creatures are coming after them.

Making stronger and stronger dinos makes people quit the game!!

People can not progress as fast new dinos are released, and then they Quit.

But of course. Be have a few 100 players on top-list who can. But who care.

[Moksha]

Throwing in the towel

Almost four years daily grinding for what seems like nothing. I put too much work into my team with Boost and leveling up for me to start all over. I had a good team and great team for a couple months now all my creatures are outdated and worthless there’s just too many updates too soon to ever try to keep up with this all these new creatures with their 3 and 1 moves I don’t stand a chance it’s really sad and it’s really hard for me to let go but it’s just not fun anymore my team that I put so m…

[Bart_H]

Great analysis and a lot of good points brought up as well! @Piere87 maybe it’d be a good idea for you to see this as well?

[Colin_Goodman]

@NiR-TSR

I think the game is based on collecting. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? When I started the game, the biggest pleasure for me was that I didn’t know what dino would show up next, what I would discover.

Once a player has been playing consistently for about a year to eighteen months, hunting becomes less and less a viable aspect of the game unfortunately. By this time players have pretty much everything they want and what they lack, event drops and sanctuaries provide instead. The game goes from being one of hunting DNA to focussing on the Arena. I would certainly prefer that hunting remained a more viable aspect of the game.

[NiR-TSR]

When the bear roamed freely in January, I felt like when I started the game.

‘Oh look, a bear! I need to cath him!’ - and I was really happy, it made sense to do hunting again. I think if the exclusive creatures could show up on the streets, hunting would make a lot more sense than it does now. I really loved this part of the game.

[Procerathomonomimus]

When the game first came out my family would go out for hours on the nights and grind our daily coins and DNA. We also enjoyed battling it out in the arena in our spare time. As the game progressed we spent less and less time going out or even playing at all because it seemed that everything was requiring more time. It continued like this until they don’t even play anymore. When I do play I only touch the arenas for incubators.

One of the reasons I take so many breaks is because I get sucked into feeling like I HAVE to grind everything all the time and then I get burnt out. This time I’m going to try doing things differently and only play when I want how I want.

JWA has become a question of priorities. How much do I need this shiny new dino that will most likely become irrelevant in several months? How much time and resources will getting it cost me? Jow long will it be viable? These questions are questions I think ALL JWA players should be asking right now. But I also think the impact these questions have on the game is negative and shouldn’t be such a big part of the experience.

While I understand from a business perspective on why you would want people hooked on your product 24/7/365 it has an unhealthy impact on the customers and I would imagine also hurts the company in the long run.

I have played this game off and on since the beginning. I have come to accept the extensive IMHO grinding nature of the game. I understand it mostly, thought I don’t particularly enjoy it. But I think if we are going to talk about the state of the game and hunting then it’s worth throwing out there.

I really want to see discussion on this. What are your feelings about the grind and dedication this game takes? Do you love it? how would you improve it?

I can’t imagine I’m the only one who feels the way I do.