As Hegemon of Bellators Coalition with a capital at level 18 I can tell you straight out that our capital is under constant threat. It is our only asset and provides much benefit to our players in certain areas. My wife and I both play the game and have personally invested right at a thousand dollars plus to help get our capital to it's current level. I certainly agree with most of the suggestions offered and I am astonished that players or coalitions put up with the current system. The answer to that is simple, they have little to no choice at this time.
We are one of the last independent coalitions and one of the more senior ones in the game. We are not ranking freaks and generally do not engage in fighting unless provoked or in defense of our assets. As far as the time bomb remark made early on goes, yes indeed, not one capital tournament goes by without a great deal of anxiety for us. To many we are an inviting target, independent, higher level capital, and it likely is only a matter of time before our capital is downgraded. So, I concur that when that happens it will likely be a huge event for us and will be a game changer. The requirements to upgrade our capital past it's current level are very steep and from the sounds of it only grow more stringent as you go.
The difficulty I have with all this is the blatant money grab by Plarium in the current scheme of things. First money, real money, is spent on the upgrades as they are not cheap, and then the people who sold you the ability to upgrade it also are encouraging the taking back of the money and resources spent to get it upgraded in the first place. Before anyone reminds me that Plarium is in this to make money, it seems to me hypocritical to sell the tools and boosts to upgrade it, then encourage the destruction of it by dedicating a specific tournament to take away the very difficult effort it took to get it upgraded. Sort of like a jewelry store selling you a diamond ring and then sending burglars to your address that you provided them to steal it back the next night.
Yes, some changes need to be made, but will they? Unless players object more strongly I doubt it will change. I have played this game for 1181 days without ever missing a day, so I have seen the evolution of many things in this game. I know that it has taken our coalition as long as the capitals have existed to get it to this stage, and as earlier posted, all that money and time can be destroyed in minutes, not cool. I would even say it would be discouraging enough for many that it would simply spell the end of trying to accomplish things here.
So, from my viewpoint, it is more than time for Plarium to re-think the way this all works at the present. There is a huge divide now amongst the have money to spend without limits, have some to spend occasionally, or have little to spend or none to spend. Yes, it is up to each player to decide at what level they spend, but at some point when the game is no longer fun and engaging for those who do not, or they lose what they have spent years building due to this imbalance that exists, players will have little or no choice but to reduce or terminate the time and little money they invest here in the game.
I have spent a significant sum over my 3+ years of playing and will likely spend more, but unless there is at some point, efforts made at considering ALL of the players in the game I simply do not see an environment that encourages future growth and participation. To feel that your efforts and expenses are appreciated and rewarded would seem to be key to the games long-term outlook, but if one logs on to see that their capital and troops have been downgraded, with a high likelihood of it being taken down another level after each protection expires is not pleasant or reassuring to players. I was reluctant to call any attention to my coalition, but after reading all the previous post here, I simply had to say something.
Many of the suggested remedies should seriously be considered for implementation, or in my opinion, like some of the other posters, if this current scheme is allowed to continue unabated, many will be discouraged enough to simply find something else to do with their time and money. Plarium is always quick to ask us as players to accept some of these flaws in their game, and have little problem asking us as players to do this or that to remedy some issue like the lag, but when good solid players ask something of them there is usually only some verbal response making excuses as to why that cannot be done. And, yet it is Plarium who nearly in every thread here speaks of the balance of the game, ignores said balance in favor of a flaw that allows for honest, hard working players that make every effort to play under the constraints of a huge imbalance, to lose all they have invested, time, money and troops in a matter of days because this outright de-valuing of players contributions to their capital.
So, unless changes are made this is just another area where the game is diminished for players, who, especially in lower ranked coalitions, to benefit from upgrading their capitals and deriving the bonuses it provides to them. Yet, players keep on even when the game and odds are stacked against them, and for that, I can only watch and admire their perseverance in the face of such adversity. In the final analysis the game has evolved into a constant loss and revive or rebuild cycle, with no endgame, no safe place, or final outcome and for those who have little choice but to rebuild, the long build times almost guarantee that any significant loss will force any player to consider their continued presence in the game. Some sort of protection of the investments coalitions have made in their capitals begs for some protection from those who are much stronger and richer. If not the imbalances that exist now will only increase.
SOMETHING LIKE POWER THROUGH UNITY THING
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Interesting...So you like more freedom when it comes to choosing the PvP targets?
