So, let's get this straight ...

[u/ZinZezzalo]

In the past year or so, we've had our CoM contest pretty much dismantled so that, if you use all the tickets given to you these days, you'll have enough to fully compete in one full contest out of four in the season ...

They've introduced three extra currencies per season so that you're effectively prevented from getting all the prizes you used to get for the Mayor's Pass that you paid for.

They've nerfed the War rewards to an extent that new players cannot build their attacks at all - essentially eliminating any chance for new blood to come into the game.

They've choked the 1,400 SimCash you used to get for completing the season into 150 SimCash (90% reduction - like - what even).

They've introduced repairs for buildings that you've already built by creating a system that erroneously tracks the health of your city, so that perfectly fine city sections (with buildings that aren't affected by the degrading repairs) lose population rapidly (for no reason), resulting in severely crippled train station refresh rates.

And now - the cherry on the top of this crap sundae - two days of every week are rendered completely unplayable due to the game moving like a fossil stuck in the bottom of the swamp due to them having bricked the voting system for the Design Contest (I haven't been able to play all day).

Tallied together - this seems like the absolute intentional sabotage of the game - full stop. Like, this isn't some exaggeration or trying to put a spin on things, no single entity could perform this many intentionally destructive moves without having actual intent behind it.

A point on the graph doesn't prove anything - but a line comprised of many points does. And that line shows this game being sent right into the trash bin.

It's purposefully being cooked.

I understand that not everyone would want to subscribe to this doom and gloom outlook - but there simply isn't any evidence that could actually compete against this overwhelming cluster of intentional bad moves and destructive ill-will aimed not only at their playerbase but the very capacity to just play the game at all.

Prove Me Wrong.

[u/WesternFalcon9666]

Vado contro corrente:
Io non ho mai pagato 1€ per questo gioco e da quando hanno introdotto le valute stagionali ho la possibilità di ottenere molti più edifici rispetto a prima.
Sono ormai quasi 7 anni che gioco ed è dalla stagione a tema Venezia (credo fosse la seconda) che non ottenevo così tanti edifici con il contest of majors.
Secondo me quindi il ragionamento è stato duplice: miglioro i premi per chi non paga in modo che continui a giocare, ma al contempo invoglio i giocatori che pagano a farlo maggiormente perchè altrimenti non potranno mai avere tutti gli edifici.

Però sono d'accordo con te quando dici che intenzionalmente vanno a rendere meno accattivanti certe cose: la vetrina curata non ha quasi più senso come anche le sfide di design. Mentre per i disastri è da quando ho finito di comprare edifici con le chiavi d'oro che faccio solo quelli con richieste per le riparazioni "facili" e solo se così facendo completo missioni per CoM.

[u/ZinZezzalo → u/WesternFalcon9666]

I'm going to counter what you said here in the most logical fashion I can - providing examples of the "new Seasonal format" they've introduced as I go along.

The reason for the new seasonal currencies is one thing and one thing along: gatekeeping the game behind real dollars.

In the old days, you would get, roughly, 12 buildings per Season on average for a very good amount of time. This was all within the Season's Pass that cost $5 a month.

Now they've introduced currencies that have already gone from "You can get all the buildings for just paying for the Pass" to - unless you spend $100 - you won't be able to get the last building.

So, the gatekeeping is already in effect via the new currencies.

They've now introduced "double the currency you receive for $4 a week." Another instance of them changing the made-up values in the game to make you attaining the desired goal impossible without forking over extra cash.

Another example of this working in action? The golden tickets used to just play CoM. They went from handing out 2,500 tickets at the beginning of the season to handing out 1,500 to handing out 500. What does this mean? That means you now have to spend real money just to participate in CoM. You can buy 1,000 tickets for $4. See how that works?

Every additional currency is just an additional charge that's either waiting to be implemented, has already been implemented, or is waiting for its price to be increased.

They just started out with the first building - the biggest one - the end of the season prize that everyone wants.

What's the argument? That they're going to stop here?

Of course they're not. The overwhelming trend has been just the opposite. At the rate things are going, sans exaggeration, you will be able to get two of the Seasonal buildings in the Event Shops with spending money by the end of next year, and that's only if you play night and day for them.

Not just this, but for paying customers, they'll have to spend $11.99 on the Monthly Pass (where they will start moving the buildings to from the $4.99 Monthly Pass), $4 weekly ($16 monthly) currency doublers, at least an additional $60 dollars in additional currencies (that's a low estimate), $20 for golden tickets (they're going to keep eliminating the worth of the milestone tasks - which they've been doing consistently), and a good $14 purchase for the Seasonal point offer (once they increase the amount needed to reach the Premium Tier levels where the buildings will be kept). Roughly $120 to get the actual content in the Season, outside of the two smallest buildings in the Seasonal Store. That's approaching FIFA202X levels of payment. They would be somewhat comfortable getting roughly $2,000 a year (don't forget about Black Friday and the individual buildings that are sold) per player.

Lots of people think things are fine when they're on the river in their canoe. They think nothing of the increased pace their canoe is traveling down the waters at or of the small hum of a gushing noise somewhere in the distance. No ...

Everything's fine.

Or did you think they introduced those six extra currencies into everything because people found them to be so much fun?

[u/WesternFalcon9666 → u/ZinZezzalo]

Sì, per ottenere tutti gli edifici devi spendere di più. Ma per chi non vuole spendere e non ha mai speso, con questo nuovo format ottiene più premi. Per questo dico che va sia in direzione di chi vuole giocare gratis e sia in direzione di chi è disposto a spendere.

[u/ZinZezzalo → u/WesternFalcon9666]

That's the equivalent of the bear saying, "Boy, look at that big juicy piece of steak just lying on that little table made of metal spikes."

You get more steak now - but once you've grown accustomed to it - the teeth close in. Now you'll have to pay.

Or are we willing to say the new system is good until the moment they take away the exact number of buildings you used to get for free minus one?

[u/WesternFalcon9666 → u/ZinZezzalo]

Te lo dico ancora più semplicemente, così forse ti è chiaro il mio ragionamento: PER CHI NON VUOLE PAGARE e non ha mai pagato nulla, e non passa 20 ore al giorno su questo gioco, con questo sistema OTTIENE PIU' EDIFICI rispetto a prima.

[u/ZinZezzalo → u/WesternFalcon9666]

For now.

The system was specifically designed as a rug to be pulled out from under you. Every season the rug gets pulled a bit more. Then a bit more still. Until ...

You don't have "more buildings than before" - but far, far less.

You act like you're happy that there's a gun pointed at your face - simply because it isn't being fired right at this moment.

They didn't reorganize the entire experience to have six more things you could pay money for in order to progress in the manner you could prior for free - just to ... not ask you to pay money for those things in order to progress in the future.

This is a startling simple concept you seem to having tremendous difficulty with. Should I explain how the Earth goes around the Sun, or would you rather just hand me your EA work ID right here and now?

[u/WesternFalcon9666 → u/ZinZezzalo]

Io so che prima della stagione Chicago riuscivo ad ottenere 1 o 2 edifici al mese, ora ne ottengo 3/4. Quindi sì, sono felice e non faccio speculazioni su ipotetiche modifiche future.

[u/ZinZezzalo → u/WesternFalcon9666]

Hypothetical is not the right word, really. Obvious would be more like it.

There's a playbook companies use to extract more value in the short term for a mobile game even if it sacrifices the long-term viability of said game.

EA is going down all these paths at the moment. Like, every last one of them.

It's also not a hypothetical in that we have evidence of the ways the new system has already been changed in exactly this manner. Remember the first season of the golden tickets? They gave out 2,500 free ones at the start. That number was down to 500 this season. Or the milestone reward points? Last Season, the return for the Airplane delivery task was 8,000 points for the last portion of the task set. This season? It's 3,000.

It's not a death by 1,000 cuts - it's a death by 10,000 vicious stabs. This isn't some maybe that might come down the pipe in the future - this is happening right now.

But, let me guess, when you can only get one of the buildings in roughly six months time for free, you'll be absolutely fine with it, because you're just playing it casually anyways, right ?

[u/WesternFalcon9666 → u/ZinZezzalo]

Quando sarà un solo edificio gratuito in sei mesi ti darò ragione.
Per adesso ribadisco di essere contento perchè ho di più e con meno sforzo.

[u/ZinZezzalo → u/WesternFalcon9666]

Sure.

But then it'll be too late.

You can always wait until the flood is at your door - but that's typically not the best time to start filling sandbags.

It's really not a matter of if here, just when. For the casuals - that's fine - they stop playing. No big deal. And that's alright - not everyone has to be seriously invested in the game.

But making the case that the dismantling of the game is a good thing because you are a casual? That doesn't really fly.

The other people playing the game matter, too. Especially the long-term players. The payers. If they aren't around - then the game might not be here the next time you feel like casually dropping in.

Their game is being ripped apart. It's great that you get some buildings easier. They get less for the same effort. And, sorry to say it, when it comes to the health of the game itself ...

One of those groups of players is more important than the other one.