I don't think you really understand what you had in this game.
Originally it was great fun and players looked forward to getting home to play it. When you weren't pitched in battle you were talking to old and new friends from around the world. It was engaging, exciting, fun and HIGHLY addictive!!
For what ever reason (Financial is my guess) you started to accelerate the game. People were so blinded by their love of the game and the social aspect that they accepted the changes at first and accepted that there would be a slightly higher cost to staying up to date with it. At this stage people started to complain on the forums and it was ignored.
Even at this stage it was possible to keep up with the heavy coiners by investing more time playing. It was good being able to compete at the highest levels and things settled down and players accepted the faster pace and higher cost.
Having got away with it once you decided to do it again....more hulls, longer build times, longer repairs and more chores. The gap between player levels grew and it started to become a forum for big spending bullies. Those of us who took the role of protectors and defenders of the beaten found themselves spending large amounts of money doing so for little or no reward and that was the beginning of the end.
For anyone that is unaware, Will Harbin is a self proclaimed "Proud Sociopath". This means he sees things differently to the rest of us. Sociopaths generally lack empathy...which explains why he ignored the numerous complaints made on the forum. Sociopaths generally are risk takers.....in fact they thrive on it. This explains why after getting away with changes once, when most of us would thank their lucky stars they got away with it, he had to push it further. Not once or twice.....continuously. Sociopaths see other people as a means to an end and that is what we have been....a means to his ends.....that should help you all understand why we are where we are now. If you want a greater insight into Sociopathy google it, there are numerous articles available and it's quite an eye opener.
As players started to leave in droves around 4 years ago, myself included, the game started to accelerate at breakneck speeds. The game was losing most of its fun and those that remained playing found themselves being squeezed more and more. This would have been the last opportunity to reverse the business plan and work very hard in bringing back lost players. It would have been quite a task, but not impossible. Players were ranting daily about how they felt about the direction of the game and nothing was done about it. The rate of new players in to the game was far outweighed by the number leaving and the trend continued.
Fast forward 4 years and here we are. The warnings ignored and a message from the CEO who lost the trust of his client base years ago.
I started playing again a few months ago because I wanted to rekindle my love of the game. At first I invested time and money in the game, more of both than I would have liked to have. I thought I would be able to play catch up if I tried hard enough and almost did until the changes came after the last raid. All the time and money I had invested in catching up was lost. The turrets I had worked so hard to earn were now useless. The ships I had built to carry out the chores and FM targets were now useless. The defending fleet I had built to keep my base from being leveled was not even touching the attacking fleets. Everything I had worked towards had been wiped out overnight. I come on the forum and I am shot down by people defending the undefendable. Dam you almost had me back to stay....a winback....a step in the right direction. How many of my old friends would I have told? How many new friends would I have recommended it to?
If someone asked me to describe Battle Pirates as it is now to them I would say " A boring game that requires way too much time and money" The best advertising is word of mouth and that is what people are saying about the game....You do realise that don't you?
I started with, I don't think you understand what you had. The way this game was years ago....it should have been impossible to ruin it. It was almost perfect. Only complete incompetence would have seen its demise. Well Kixeye....that time is here. The clients you have ignored and shown such contempt towards have spoken. Read the comments left....most have given up hope and those that haven't are holding by a thread, This should never have happened....but it has and I highly doubt you will be able to pull off change in time to save it. Hell I don't even think you have the knowledge and mindset to pull it off. You will set off in another direction at breakneck speed with no real idea of where it will lead.
Am I disappointed? Yes...but not as much as 4 years ago. Do I think the words of your CEO are genuine? Probably Yes......the only way to hurt a wealthy sociopath is in the pocket and I am sure that is where he is hurting right now and that is why he is addressing us now. Do I think he will stick to the promises made? No.....once a liar always a liar, we have all learned that in life. Do I think the game will survive? Sadly no.....not with the current leadership and highly unlikely with a fresh new management team....the rot has set in and the damage done is too great.
With all of that said.......I have a tiny part of me that hopes it will survive and eventually become what it was before....An Engaging, Exciting, Fun and Highly Addictive game.
I have posted here in the forums legitimate comments of my opion/concern of the game to be bashed by mods and posts deleted.
This quote was posted by scott Degenaer and i must say that i fully agree with this quote,,,as i mentioned in another reaction about this subject is this the class example of kixeye's "customer support" which is rather very hostile and unfriendly. there was a period that i was Banned on this forum for the reason that i was to "cynical" the same happened to a teamm8 in my alliance.
after all this negativity which is stated in 12 pages of reactions there is also 1 possitive thing in this game ,,,,the chat feature in coms were i have met a lot of people from different parts of the world its also a kind of social thing in my opinion.
Well Mr CEO that is the only good thing in this game the chat feature(some times it was also broken caused by Kixeye)
Logging on today shows there true colors...... change fm 2 days after the raid so hurry and coin your lead dragons... oh and lets add stuff and refit our conqs and defenders AGAIN..... ive been in semi retirement for 4 months waiting to see some change...6 1/2 yrs lvl 121 really enjoyed this game over the years but think the end has come for me.... Farewell folks
Maybe, just maybe it wouldn't have come to this if there hadn't been a history of cm's, mods and cs's hellbent on claiming everything was fine and the players were wrong. Guess we'll never know and one can only hope there is weight behind Harbins words...... Somehow I doubt it though......
i will wait and see , very skeptical of what kixtards post , been playing for 5 years and change , and like one of the players posted , i'm getting tired of the Bs , hope this time ya'll mean it,
As most of us spend the vast majority of time doing chores, which we do for free, (if we take damage it goes on long repair) it stops us spending money hitting bases.
I have not needed to buy any gold for a few months, as I seem to only be doing chores and hit 3 bases for my weekly ally points.
Your attempts to overload us with chores to make us coin everything, has had the opposite effect, with players spending less.
LVL 176
I could agree with you, then we would both be wrong
And here we go again...with the latest update, we have got a new bug in the 61´s...if you are autoing them, your ships will kill all turrets and buildings...but they will stop to move after that, it seems that they cant targeting the enemyfleet.
So with this new bug, this letter from Will Harbin is nothing as hot air!
Do you all remember the KIXEYE "babysteps"? Two steps forwards and 3 steps backwards...the excessive update orgy will continue...
Mr. Harbin... you need to read the Discussion Thread heavily posted on since the new FM began today entitled "Changes to the FM in July, August and September" THOSE ARE YOUR CUSTOMERS TALKING TO YOU! Replacing top targets VERY few could do since they were introduced just months ago with targets that again require a complete refit. Bugs where even in low-level targets (61s) players fleets are destroyed on auto where last week they got a few minutes damage all because players' fleets now won't target the PVE ships. Players for years asked for a "Dry Dock Shipyard" to do just refits (which the new FM is requiring nearly a month of, only to be good for perhaps a month or two before more changes)... instead we got a "Conquest Shipyard" AND a whole raft of ADDITIONAL hulls we have to build in order to do PVP (which is what made this game fun), while becoming more and more restricted on what items can be used on what hulls, LIMITED items overrunning our lives, and more restrictions (down to a single hull) that can be used in a target. What ever happened to diversity and strategic thinking in this game, equipping the unexpected and taking down your foe with it... in short... building that better mousetrap! Now, if you don't have the one hull, the one build, the one armor... you are doomed. That is not a game of strategy, it is an activity where you can only build one thing that works... where is the fun and challenge in that?
I'd be more impressed if Will Harbin would have actually taken 5 minutes to log into forums and copy/paste the message himself. It's disappointing that we hear so little from him after all the things he's promised in the past.
Mr. Harbin... you need to read the Discussion Thread heavily posted on since the new FM began today entitled "Changes to the FM in July, August and September" THOSE ARE YOUR CUSTOMERS TALKING TO YOU! Replacing top targets VERY few could do since they were introduced just months ago with targets that again require a complete refit. Bugs where even in low-level targets (61s) players fleets are destroyed on auto where last week they got a few minutes damage all because players' fleets now won't target the PVE ships. Players for years asked for a "Dry Dock Shipyard" to do just refits (which the new FM is requiring nearly a month of, only to be good for perhaps a month or two before more changes)... instead we got a "Conquest Shipyard" AND a whole raft of ADDITIONAL hulls we have to build in order to do PVP (which is what made this game fun), while becoming more and more restricted on what items can be used on what hulls, LIMITED items overrunning our lives, and more restrictions (down to a single hull) that can be used in a target. What ever happened to diversity and strategic thinking in this game, equipping the unexpected and taking down your foe with it... in short... building that better mousetrap! Now, if you don't have the one hull, the one build, the one armor... you are doomed. That is not a game of strategy, it is an activity where you can only build one thing that works... where is the fun and challenge in that?
I don't think you really understand what you had in this game.
Originally it was great fun and players looked forward to getting home to play it. When you weren't pitched in battle you were talking to old and new friends from around the world. It was engaging, exciting, fun and HIGHLY addictive!!
For what ever reason (Financial is my guess) you started to accelerate the game. People were so blinded by their love of the game and the social aspect that they accepted the changes at first and accepted that there would be a slightly higher cost to staying up to date with it. At this stage people started to complain on the forums and it was ignored.
Even at this stage it was possible to keep up with the heavy coiners by investing more time playing. It was good being able to compete at the highest levels and things settled down and players accepted the faster pace and higher cost.
Having got away with it once you decided to do it again....more hulls, longer build times, longer repairs and more chores. The gap between player levels grew and it started to become a forum for big spending bullies. Those of us who took the role of protectors and defenders of the beaten found themselves spending large amounts of money doing so for little or no reward and that was the beginning of the end.
For anyone that is unaware, Will Harbin is a self proclaimed "Proud Sociopath". This means he sees things differently to the rest of us. Sociopaths generally lack empathy...which explains why he ignored the numerous complaints made on the forum. Sociopaths generally are risk takers.....in fact they thrive on it. This explains why after getting away with changes once, when most of us would thank their lucky stars they got away with it, he had to push it further. Not once or twice.....continuously. Sociopaths see other people as a means to an end and that is what we have been....a means to his ends.....that should help you all understand why we are where we are now. If you want a greater insight into Sociopathy google it, there are numerous articles available and it's quite an eye opener.
As players started to leave in droves around 4 years ago, myself included, the game started to accelerate at breakneck speeds. The game was losing most of its fun and those that remained playing found themselves being squeezed more and more. This would have been the last opportunity to reverse the business plan and work very hard in bringing back lost players. It would have been quite a task, but not impossible. Players were ranting daily about how they felt about the direction of the game and nothing was done about it. The rate of new players in to the game was far outweighed by the number leaving and the trend continued.
Fast forward 4 years and here we are. The warnings ignored and a message from the CEO who lost the trust of his client base years ago.
I started playing again a few months ago because I wanted to rekindle my love of the game. At first I invested time and money in the game, more of both than I would have liked to have. I thought I would be able to play catch up if I tried hard enough and almost did until the changes came after the last raid. All the time and money I had invested in catching up was lost. The turrets I had worked so hard to earn were now useless. The ships I had built to carry out the chores and FM targets were now useless. The defending fleet I had built to keep my base from being leveled was not even touching the attacking fleets. Everything I had worked towards had been wiped out overnight. I come on the forum and I am shot down by people defending the undefendable. Dam you almost had me back to stay....a winback....a step in the right direction. How many of my old friends would I have told? How many new friends would I have recommended it to?
If someone asked me to describe Battle Pirates as it is now to them I would say " A boring game that requires way too much time and money" The best advertising is word of mouth and that is what people are saying about the game....You do realise that don't you?
I started with, I don't think you understand what you had. The way this game was years ago....it should have been impossible to ruin it. It was almost perfect. Only complete incompetence would have seen its demise. Well Kixeye....that time is here. The clients you have ignored and shown such contempt towards have spoken. Read the comments left....most have given up hope and those that haven't are holding by a thread, This should never have happened....but it has and I highly doubt you will be able to pull off change in time to save it. Hell I don't even think you have the knowledge and mindset to pull it off. You will set off in another direction at breakneck speed with no real idea of where it will lead.
Am I disappointed? Yes...but not as much as 4 years ago. Do I think the words of your CEO are genuine? Probably Yes......the only way to hurt a wealthy sociopath is in the pocket and I am sure that is where he is hurting right now and that is why he is addressing us now. Do I think he will stick to the promises made? No.....once a liar always a liar, we have all learned that in life. Do I think the game will survive? Sadly no.....not with the current leadership and highly unlikely with a fresh new management team....the rot has set in and the damage done is too great.
With all of that said.......I have a tiny part of me that hopes it will survive and eventually become what it was before....An Engaging, Exciting, Fun and Highly Addictive game.
You nailed it! if noting else he should read this.
May 2nd marked the seven year anniversary of Battle Pirates - a game I'm incredibly proud of. Over the years we've seen exciting new factions, incredible player tributes, and tons of emergent gameplay. But if there's one thing I've learned in my tenure, it's this:
Complacency is death.
Unfortunately, Battle Pirates has become a bog of complacency. A lack of diligence has allowed balance-breaking bugs to escape and go unnoticed for months. A lack of community engagement has caused us to lose touch with the speed that players can realistically progress. A lack of planning has forced the team to wildly over-tune stats, targets, and events in order to shoehorn value into new content.
All because of complacency. Well, complacency isn’t going to cut it and it’s time for us to right this ship. So what are we doing to fix this?
First, I’ve put a new leadership team in place. Our issues don’t stem from the talented individuals working long, difficult hours to execute on the nuts-and-bolts of the game, it’s about how we’re deploying those resources. Heading up that leadership team is our new GM, Michael Rubinelli. A State of the Game post will go up in the next few weeks in which he will discuss the long-term look for Battle Pirates. Additionally, our new Lead Designer WrongThinker will be putting up a post on Wednesday introducing himself, as well as the second part of our correction strategy, which I will now spoil.
Battle Pirates has adopted a philosophy that dictates everything we do. It’s simple: “Players First.” Content and features will continue to ship, because that’s how the game is supported, but with every new feature, we will always ask: how does this enhance the player experience? How does this make a player’s life better? Easier? More fun? If the only answer to why we’re putting something in the game is money - I don’t want it in the game.
Finally, we’re tripling down on our community engagement efforts. Expect to see more developer presence, more AMAs, more live streams, more unadulterated proof that the Battle Pirates team is exactly as invested in the continued success and longevity of this game as you are.
The fact that we’re in this position is no one’s fault but our own. The time of complacency is over. You’ve shown us that you’re here for the long haul, and it’s time for us to show you that we’re here for it too.
Long live Battle Pirates!
Will Harbin
CEO
To me, this is interesting. I have been here since nearly the beginning. I hope that this is true. I plan to stick around and see what happens in the game. For the sake of the game, I hope this is real.
One thing I will say as a player who has been here a long time: I seriously dislike the constant change in the Forsaken Mission Prize Pool. For example: You put the Charged Armors in the FM, which to me, was a good thing. They were cheap, and since I did not have many of them, and they were necessary, I grabbed them up every week. Then in June, you changed it and limited the number you could get and made them more expensive. Then, with this FM update you further limited number you could get. Truthfully, it makes player feel that this isn't real, it just more words from Kixeye. If you really want to make it "Player First"... consider how those changes affect the players.
No Current Alliance... Not Looking to Join Once.
Been here since 2011... After 9 years... I often wander ... "Is It Worth It?"
Well there you have it Mr Harbin and Wrongthinker.
If you want to ignore your paying customers and continue down the same path, I think it is safe to assume that BP is finished.
Many of us could see the increased game creep 1 or 2 years ago.
You have squeezed and squeezed our pockets until the majority have said, " that's it enough is enough, I'm off".
Life offers many alternatives to this game. Your many loyal and devoted players have woken up in large numbers to the fact that your product no longer offers real value for money.
I personally have spent many long hours and considerable sums of money over the last few years to reach the high levels.
I really enjoyed this game a few years ago but over the past year I have been questioning myself as to whether I want to carry on handing over serious sums of money to Kix just to ensure I have the best fleets etc.
Looking forward over the next 12 months it is unlikely Kix will be getting wads of money from my account.
I think it will be better spent on holidays, cars and other more enjoyable games.
Okay, the "words" have been spoken. Same words we heard years ago, aka "Give us 6 months to fix the game". Right now this is just "more of the same....words. Words don't have meaning....words describe things and get their meaning from that. For far too long we have heard the "words" only to find an occasional "attaboy" that was quickly eradicated by many "awsheets".
The "problem" right now is something that Kixeye seems to have never understood.... TRUST
Trust is given until there is a reason to not trust. Trust, once lost is difficult to regain...it generally takes years of consistent, verifiable, ACTION that gives meaning to the words.
The "box" that Kixeye has put themselves in is of their own doing. Many very good players simply got to the point where they determined that Trust was not going to be regained. Tons of very good suggestions to improve the game have been made over the years with virtually none of them heard, let alone implemented.
Bottom line problem with Battle Pirates today.....the whole experience has become an unending chore so that there is no "breathing room" in the game. It REQUIRES virtually a "full time job" to just do the chores, let alone get caught up...and pretty much forget getting ahead. The primary reason has always been that Kixeye continually "moved the goal posts" so that you can't get caught up.
Other have said it very well....too many hulls, too many restrictions on what can and cannot be used, insufficient Dock Space to allow the ever increasing flood of new hulls (resulting in having to scrap good ships/fleets that time and money had already been invested in).
Other than that...I'm just too tired at this point of offering suggestions, or even complaining. Trust for me is non-existent, so it doesn't matter what we the players say. Case in point....built, fully ranked, fully outfitted a Scattergun Makara/Manticore fleet (took 2 months to do so that it would only have a useful life of 2 Raid Events) That fleet still took 6 hours damage per 104/106. That is RIDICULOUS in my eyes, and probably in the eyes of many players.
Lastly, keep your unending offers to "buy" tech...I'm not spending more money on the game when what you buy/build barely works at best...and is obsoleted PDQ at worst.
TIME is precious to all of us....and unfortunately you don't have a lot of time left to implement substantive, positive, changes because many more are on the precipice waiting to jump ship. "Attaboys" are needed....and "Awsheets" need to be eliminated. The clock is ticking and rapidly approaching "zero hour."
Am I disappointed? Yes...but not as much as 4 years ago. Do I think the words of your CEO are genuine? Probably Yes......the only way to hurt a wealthy sociopath is in the pocket and I am sure that is where he is hurting right now and that is why he is addressing us now. Do I think he will stick to the promises made? No.....once a liar always a liar, we have all learned that in life. Do I think the game will survive? Sadly no.....not with the current leadership and highly unlikely with a fresh new management team....the rot has set in and the damage done is too great.
These words are... SO TRUE!
Without a face, a single word, the flames of war unify
Sundered clouds, a blooody rain, seas that fill the sky
Capture the gods, advance the troops, fire consumes the towers
Forge all spirits and bloodlines into the nine killing powers!
@Reina_69 said:
I'd be more impressed if Will Harbin would have actually taken 5 minutes to log into forums and copy/paste the message himself. It's disappointing that we hear so little from him after all the things he's promised in the past.
I wonder if he'll pop back in sooner to talk about progress. What's in been, maybe 5 years since anything attributed to him has been posted here?
There's an old adage of talk being cheap.... but it appears the illustrious CEO is so cheap he couldn't even be bothered to show himself on here and post this letter himself with a simple copy/paste (something we all know Kixeye folks love to do.) Actions speak far louder than words and right now that action plus recent general actions in game and on here drowns out any of the honeyed words being offered.
"Complacency is death" is the only bit of the post I wholeheartedly agree with and believe, and Kixeye have been complacent for so long that you're basically giving the kiss of life to a rasher of bacon at this point. Too little. Too late. Too bad.
read alot what peeps said here...1 of the things i'm hating is...why do i have to buy chit in the FM...that i didnt want when it CAME OUT?????...why in the hell..do i HAVE to buy a cannoneer...i didnt want it to START WITH ...im a lvl 105...i dont WANT IT...but i have to pay for it...are yall related to OBAMA?
... Please note that I'm not an active Battle Pirates player and my main kixeye game is instead War Commander....
Enough said Mr WAR COMMANDER MOD. If you don't understand the extreme frustration that this games community is experiencing then go back to play War Commander. You are not adding value to this conversation. You are not welcome here.
Thanks a lot for the communication Will Harbin and I'm truly thankful for this post. Here are some of my thoughts about the post and it was definitely worth reading. Please note that I'm not an active Battle Pirates player and my main kixeye game is instead War Commander.
Firstly, this post can be seen as an indication that kixeye has messed up and that they want to repair the damage caused. It can't be a coincidence that the unicorn himself leaves the unicorn office and writes this post. His approach to repair the damage appears to be sorting out some of the bad apples from the game team and to value the player opinions higher than previously seen.
Secondly, it's interesting to see that WrongThinker will become design lead for Battle Pirates and his skills shouldn't be underestimated. He used to previously be a design lead for TOME and War Commander and he has also been a great advocate for communication between the game team and players. At this time, he has posted a total of 20 different WrongThinker Thinks posts which is inside communication posts about the future and he has also been a major contributor to communication on the WC and TOME forums. He has also been a major contributor to general developer to community interactions on the forums.
Thirdly, I'm also excited to see promised communication between the BP Game Team and the players as this has been a truly successful aspect with WC. My current theory stands that the communication efforts on the WC forums was either some form of pilot project or something accidental which ended up being successful.
For those who haven't been active on the War Commander forums, the communication between the WC Game Team and the players consists out of the following aspects.
Focus Group meetings
WC Game Team members asks discusses the game and future plans related to once specific subject to a community group of players.
The members on the Focus Group invited to the Focus Group meetings do usually change and the information published on the meetings aren't covered by a NDA.
At this time, 3 meetings has been made and the topic has been monthly events, PvP and Shadow Ops for the respective meetings.
The meetings are more or less done to get
Burny's Briefing Room podcast
A podcast were the WC Community Manger interviews a kixeye employee and asks some frequently asked questions. At this state, 5 episodes of the podcast has been published.
Developer communication on the public forums
Developers are active on the forum and discord server and answers community questions about the game. (Link to WC Discord: https://discord.gg/QNdcnxK)
This do also consist about state of official state of the game posts and other forms of pinned communication posts.
Community events
Community contests and events other community events. One of the most recent instances was a PvP event with kixeye employees as a high value target.
In conclusion, I'm truly excited about this post even if I cannot consider myself as a Battle Pirates player and don't forgot to not underestimate the power of WrongThinker. It could just be the case that he thinks right to the player standards.
Regards Axel L
Its to early to praise Will Harbin or WrongThinker. The damage is done with the desicions from the last months and Battle Pirate is a very complex game, so i dont expect wonders from a new Dev lead.
We had excessive numbers of updates in the last months, so it is obvious, that there are a lot of problems with the programming. Then we have the problems with the balancing...in the PvP part and in the current raidtargets/maptargets and TLC´s. There is a lot of work to do, so it will not be a matter of few weeks. I am expecting the first significant improvements in the january raidformat.
The next months will be a mess, if we like it or not.
Like always, changes will not happen instantly and I would guess that the consequences will only truly be noticed after few months if a side by side comparison is made.
This game and this company do not have the luxury of time. Players are leaving en masse. You are not helping this conversation. Go back to being a MOD on War Commander, we do not need their puppets coming over here.
... Please note that I'm not an active Battle Pirates player and my main kixeye game is instead War Commander....
Enough said Mr WAR COMMANDER MOD. If you don't understand the extreme frustration that this games community is experiencing then go back to play War Commander. You are not adding value to this conversation. You are not welcome here.
I contributed to this post as it's still relevant to me even if I'm not a direct BP player. The information provided by kixeye in this thread shouldn't be underestimated as it do show that the higher ups at kixeye has realized there mistakes and that they care about there games.
By belief why the BP team got changed recently was that it wasn't successful enough with delivering quality either due to some internal issues and that there existed members in that team that wasn't passionate enough to make the game as good as it could be.
There have been poor turnouts the last three raids. They tuned up the damage too high to try to make money on coins and overdid it.
I actually REALLY like this raid format. It requires driving, can't be consistently autoed, and has a neat and new feel to it. If the damage were tuned to an appropriate level it would be one of the best raids in the last three or four years. It's hard to beat the Garrison raids of 2016, but this would be close.
The issues, as Harbin correctly point out, stem from the failure of the Dev Team to fix problems and, I think, to *test* in the game environment. Time and time again I and others have pointed out bugs, lags, broken things, and other crap that was shoehorned into the game without being appropriately tested. How many times in the last two years have we seen "the update has been rolled back" or "such and such a target has been removed"? More than any good game should.
As another example, look at the countermeasure fix. It was long overdue but as soon as it went out players started complaining that their boats weren't performing like they did and they couldn't do as much game work. That's a reasonable complaint - but one that could have been avoided if the Dev Team had looked at how the new countermeasure rules would affect *actual player fleets*. They clearly didn't look at that and had to make a fix to the damage output of the targets on the fly in the real game environment.
And how many changes have been rolled out without fixing the core issue: player loss at level 50? Going from 49 to 50 is a death sentence for many players these days because the hulls are stronger but the base defenses aren't any easier to get. The TLCs bring out important and some might say necessary hulls, but the campaigns smaller players can actually do are at this point almost completely worthless. The Mercury? Vassago's interdictor? Those are collectors' hulls at this point and worthless in the modern meta. Even a bunch of the hulls in the foundry are now worthless - lookin' at you, hellwraith. The Campaign system actually sets players up for failure because they spend time and gain levels on garbage.
The game needs to re-evaluate how it prepares the smaller players to enter the big boy world, and it needs to ditch the level system. It's time to go to a Tier system where player bases are Tiered, where hulls and fleets are Tiered, where PvP is tier-gated, and where raid targets are tier-gated (or hitdown penalties are applied based on tier rather than base level). They already have all the data they need to make these changes, they just need to do it. I have made a suggestion in the past which, if I may be so bold, would fix a lot of the current level-based nonsense.
Player complaints are nothing new, and in the past the team has responded - the build times of new hulls are SIGNIFICANTLY less than they used to be. Some of you whippersnappers won't remember when hulls took a month - literally - to kit out completely. Two days' build time for each component was not unheard of, and these were boats with three or (gasp!) four special slots and 6-8 weapon slots. Today's builds are much shorter. The use of the hull class system is actually good - it's realistic and while it takes away some flexibility it helps streamline build decisions. It also helps players understand what is coming up. I want to believe, because I love this game, that the new team can fix these issues.
Look, credit where it is due: Harbin is trying to fix his golden goose. And there's a chance that this could do that. But the content has to be evaluated, top to bottom, to see where it fits and what is necessary to fix it. This is going to take time.
Your a Regular player LOL You Lost me at the hit down penalty ........ That alone cost this game ten thousand player I bet .
My intent is to suggest that having players hit T4 raid targets with top-line builds is a problem. I don't mind if that's wiped away, but if it is maintained it needs to be based on fleet tier, not on player level.
Better get back to work Will gonna be looking for you .
Hey, Will Harbin, I bet you have a bridge for sale also..................................................................not buying any of this post will have to see it to believe it...........................almost too little , too late
I don't think you really understand what you had in this game.
Originally it was great fun and players looked forward to getting home to play it. When you weren't pitched in battle you were talking to old and new friends from around the world. It was engaging, exciting, fun and HIGHLY addictive!!
For what ever reason (Financial is my guess) you started to accelerate the game. People were so blinded by their love of the game and the social aspect that they accepted the changes at first and accepted that there would be a slightly higher cost to staying up to date with it. At this stage people started to complain on the forums and it was ignored.
Even at this stage it was possible to keep up with the heavy coiners by investing more time playing. It was good being able to compete at the highest levels and things settled down and players accepted the faster pace and higher cost.
Having got away with it once you decided to do it again....more hulls, longer build times, longer repairs and more chores. The gap between player levels grew and it started to become a forum for big spending bullies. Those of us who took the role of protectors and defenders of the beaten found themselves spending large amounts of money doing so for little or no reward and that was the beginning of the end.
For anyone that is unaware, Will Harbin is a self proclaimed "Proud Sociopath". This means he sees things differently to the rest of us. Sociopaths generally lack empathy...which explains why he ignored the numerous complaints made on the forum. Sociopaths generally are risk takers.....in fact they thrive on it. This explains why after getting away with changes once, when most of us would thank their lucky stars they got away with it, he had to push it further. Not once or twice.....continuously. Sociopaths see other people as a means to an end and that is what we have been....a means to his ends.....that should help you all understand why we are where we are now. If you want a greater insight into Sociopathy google it, there are numerous articles available and it's quite an eye opener.
As players started to leave in droves around 4 years ago, myself included, the game started to accelerate at breakneck speeds. The game was losing most of its fun and those that remained playing found themselves being squeezed more and more. This would have been the last opportunity to reverse the business plan and work very hard in bringing back lost players. It would have been quite a task, but not impossible. Players were ranting daily about how they felt about the direction of the game and nothing was done about it. The rate of new players in to the game was far outweighed by the number leaving and the trend continued.
Fast forward 4 years and here we are. The warnings ignored and a message from the CEO who lost the trust of his client base years ago.
I started playing again a few months ago because I wanted to rekindle my love of the game. At first I invested time and money in the game, more of both than I would have liked to have. I thought I would be able to play catch up if I tried hard enough and almost did until the changes came after the last raid. All the time and money I had invested in catching up was lost. The turrets I had worked so hard to earn were now useless. The ships I had built to carry out the chores and FM targets were now useless. The defending fleet I had built to keep my base from being leveled was not even touching the attacking fleets. Everything I had worked towards had been wiped out overnight. I come on the forum and I am shot down by people defending the undefendable. Dam you almost had me back to stay....a winback....a step in the right direction. How many of my old friends would I have told? How many new friends would I have recommended it to?
If someone asked me to describe Battle Pirates as it is now to them I would say " A boring game that requires way too much time and money" The best advertising is word of mouth and that is what people are saying about the game....You do realise that don't you?
I started with, I don't think you understand what you had. The way this game was years ago....it should have been impossible to ruin it. It was almost perfect. Only complete incompetence would have seen its demise. Well Kixeye....that time is here. The clients you have ignored and shown such contempt towards have spoken. Read the comments left....most have given up hope and those that haven't are holding by a thread, This should never have happened....but it has and I highly doubt you will be able to pull off change in time to save it. Hell I don't even think you have the knowledge and mindset to pull it off. You will set off in another direction at breakneck speed with no real idea of where it will lead.
Am I disappointed? Yes...but not as much as 4 years ago. Do I think the words of your CEO are genuine? Probably Yes......the only way to hurt a wealthy sociopath is in the pocket and I am sure that is where he is hurting right now and that is why he is addressing us now. Do I think he will stick to the promises made? No.....once a liar always a liar, we have all learned that in life. Do I think the game will survive? Sadly no.....not with the current leadership and highly unlikely with a fresh new management team....the rot has set in and the damage done is too great.
With all of that said.......I have a tiny part of me that hopes it will survive and eventually become what it was before....An Engaging, Exciting, Fun and Highly Addictive game.
This quote was posted by scott Degenaer and i must say that i fully agree with this quote,,,as i mentioned in another reaction about this subject is this the class example of kixeye's "customer support" which is rather very hostile and unfriendly.
there was a period that i was Banned on this forum for the reason that i was to "cynical" the same happened to a teamm8 in my alliance.
after all this negativity which is stated in 12 pages of reactions there is also 1 possitive thing in this game ,,,,the chat feature in coms were i have met a lot of people from different parts of the world its also a kind of social thing in my opinion.
Well Mr CEO that is the only good thing in this game the chat feature(some times it was also broken caused by Kixeye)
Maybe, just maybe it wouldn't have come to this if there hadn't been a history of cm's, mods and cs's hellbent on claiming everything was fine and the players were wrong. Guess we'll never know and one can only hope there is weight behind Harbins words...... Somehow I doubt it though......
I have not needed to buy any gold for a few months, as I seem to only be doing chores and hit 3 bases for my weekly ally points.
Your attempts to overload us with chores to make us coin everything, has had the opposite effect, with players spending less.
kill all turrets and buildings...but they will stop to move after that, it seems that they cant targeting the enemyfleet.
So with this new bug, this letter from Will Harbin is nothing as hot air!
Do you all remember the KIXEYE "babysteps"? Two steps forwards and 3 steps backwards...the excessive update orgy will continue...
Decoding Pirateslangword "F.A.R.M." = Foolish Amateur Reaches Midgame
Lions mane can be done FREE with Phoenix
Words are cheap
Give us Action!!!
To me, this is interesting. I have been here since nearly the beginning. I hope that this is true. I plan to stick around and see what happens in the game. For the sake of the game, I hope this is real.
One thing I will say as a player who has been here a long time: I seriously dislike the constant change in the Forsaken Mission Prize Pool. For example: You put the Charged Armors in the FM, which to me, was a good thing. They were cheap, and since I did not have many of them, and they were necessary, I grabbed them up every week. Then in June, you changed it and limited the number you could get and made them more expensive. Then, with this FM update you further limited number you could get. Truthfully, it makes player feel that this isn't real, it just more words from Kixeye. If you really want to make it "Player First"... consider how those changes affect the players.
Well there you have it Mr Harbin and Wrongthinker.
If you want to ignore your paying customers and continue down the same path, I think it is safe to assume that BP is finished.
Many of us could see the increased game creep 1 or 2 years ago.
You have squeezed and squeezed our pockets until the majority have said, " that's it enough is enough, I'm off".
Life offers many alternatives to this game. Your many loyal and devoted players have woken up in large numbers to the fact that your product no longer offers real value for money.
I personally have spent many long hours and considerable sums of money over the last few years to reach the high levels.
I really enjoyed this game a few years ago but over the past year I have been questioning myself as to whether I want to carry on handing over serious sums of money to Kix just to ensure I have the best fleets etc.
Looking forward over the next 12 months it is unlikely Kix will be getting wads of money from my account.
I think it will be better spent on holidays, cars and other more enjoyable games.
The "problem" right now is something that Kixeye seems to have never understood.... TRUST
Trust is given until there is a reason to not trust. Trust, once lost is difficult to regain...it generally takes years of consistent, verifiable, ACTION that gives meaning to the words.
The "box" that Kixeye has put themselves in is of their own doing. Many very good players simply got to the point where they determined that Trust was not going to be regained. Tons of very good suggestions to improve the game have been made over the years with virtually none of them heard, let alone implemented.
Bottom line problem with Battle Pirates today.....the whole experience has become an unending chore so that there is no "breathing room" in the game. It REQUIRES virtually a "full time job" to just do the chores, let alone get caught up...and pretty much forget getting ahead. The primary reason has always been that Kixeye continually "moved the goal posts" so that you can't get caught up.
Other have said it very well....too many hulls, too many restrictions on what can and cannot be used, insufficient Dock Space to allow the ever increasing flood of new hulls (resulting in having to scrap good ships/fleets that time and money had already been invested in).
Other than that...I'm just too tired at this point of offering suggestions, or even complaining. Trust for me is non-existent, so it doesn't matter what we the players say. Case in point....built, fully ranked, fully outfitted a Scattergun Makara/Manticore fleet (took 2 months to do so that it would only have a useful life of 2 Raid Events) That fleet still took 6 hours damage per 104/106. That is RIDICULOUS in my eyes, and probably in the eyes of many players.
Lastly, keep your unending offers to "buy" tech...I'm not spending more money on the game when what you buy/build barely works at best...and is obsoleted PDQ at worst.
TIME is precious to all of us....and unfortunately you don't have a lot of time left to implement substantive, positive, changes because many more are on the precipice waiting to jump ship. "Attaboys" are needed....and "Awsheets" need to be eliminated. The clock is ticking and rapidly approaching "zero hour."
These words are... SO TRUE!
I wonder if he'll pop back in sooner to talk about progress. What's in been, maybe 5 years since anything attributed to him has been posted here?
"Complacency is death" is the only bit of the post I wholeheartedly agree with and believe, and Kixeye have been complacent for so long that you're basically giving the kiss of life to a rasher of bacon at this point. Too little. Too late. Too bad.
By belief why the BP team got changed recently was that it wasn't successful enough with delivering quality either due to some internal issues and that there existed members in that team that wasn't passionate enough to make the game as good as it could be.
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