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At some point, I believe during season 8, Gaea dramatically reduced the drop rates of infinity speeds in campaign. Gaea apparently noticed that many players rely heavily on infinity speeds to train troops, especially (but not solely) during training competitions. "If," Gaea reasoned, "we would not make the latest gear, hammers, jewels or hero medals plentiful and cheap, why would we do so for an item that can instantly complete a task that would otherwise take weeks or months? This is a premium item! Let us make it rare and force players to gem for it!"
Like the Tangerine One's positions on trade and immigration, Gaea's position on infinities is bad economics. Gear, hammers, jewels and heroes have lasting value, they exist on a largely-linear path of ever-increasing power, and they are necessary for success in the fundamental aspects of the game. Even if (as is often the case) Gaea quickly introduces a new item more powerful than the one you just bought, you can be confident that your item is not obsolete and will not be for a long time. You can have a powerful attack and defense with second- or third-best gear, hammers and jewels and less than fully elevated and optimized heroes. The quicker that Gaea releases new items in these categories, the less pressure any of us feels to rush to acquire them. (I get good ratios attacking with several knights that have no crux or season 8 gear, none forged to levels 17 or 18, and with level 13 or lower jewels. My defense knight also has no level 18 gear and mostly level 13 jewels, yet it holds up well against the best attack knights in 128, even when they are fully buffed with heroes marching.)
Infinite speeds are simply not "premium" in any similar sense. The value of a single, sped training is minute. Against a powerful, skilled opponent in past seasons, I regularly used upwards of 50 infinite speeds in a single flash training competition. Nor are infinite speeds required as part of any necessary strategy. When they were plentiful and cheap, serious, skilled trainers built training cities with mostly cottages and a very small number of barracks, which were highly efficient but required large quantities of infinite speeds to use. (My training city requires 52 days to train a full squad of t2.) Now that they are rare, I am certainly not going to gem for the abundance of infinites needed to sustain that training strategy. Instead, I've mostly given up training competitions. If I ever competed again under these conditions, I'd stomp and rebuild one or more cities such that I could rely on shorter speeds.
So, rather than successfully squeeze the players for more money, Gaea has only succeeded in diminishing one of the most highly-rewarding aspects of the game -- training competitions -- which require more skill than might or kill competitions, are not as dependent on gemming, and are largely impervious to cheating. (I still look back on the final flash training competition of season 5, in which I and another player trained nonstop for four hours and finished neck-and-neck, each with over 350 million in might, as the single most fun, heart-pounding experience I've ever had in the game.) App games have relatively short shelf lives, and players such as myself who have been playing for several years are becoming increasingly bored. Gaea needs to be focusing on new, inventive features to keep us interested. Instead it is taking big steps backwards by reducing the enjoyment of the game's best existing features (the other being grail wars).
So, stop being stubborn, Gaea, and restore the old drop rate of infinite speeds. You're in a competitive business, and customer satisfaction matters. This customer is very dissatisfied with the lack of infinite speeds.
Respectfully,
Lohengrin
Like the Tangerine One's positions on trade and immigration, Gaea's position on infinities is bad economics. Gear, hammers, jewels and heroes have lasting value, they exist on a largely-linear path of ever-increasing power, and they are necessary for success in the fundamental aspects of the game. Even if (as is often the case) Gaea quickly introduces a new item more powerful than the one you just bought, you can be confident that your item is not obsolete and will not be for a long time. You can have a powerful attack and defense with second- or third-best gear, hammers and jewels and less than fully elevated and optimized heroes. The quicker that Gaea releases new items in these categories, the less pressure any of us feels to rush to acquire them. (I get good ratios attacking with several knights that have no crux or season 8 gear, none forged to levels 17 or 18, and with level 13 or lower jewels. My defense knight also has no level 18 gear and mostly level 13 jewels, yet it holds up well against the best attack knights in 128, even when they are fully buffed with heroes marching.)
Infinite speeds are simply not "premium" in any similar sense. The value of a single, sped training is minute. Against a powerful, skilled opponent in past seasons, I regularly used upwards of 50 infinite speeds in a single flash training competition. Nor are infinite speeds required as part of any necessary strategy. When they were plentiful and cheap, serious, skilled trainers built training cities with mostly cottages and a very small number of barracks, which were highly efficient but required large quantities of infinite speeds to use. (My training city requires 52 days to train a full squad of t2.) Now that they are rare, I am certainly not going to gem for the abundance of infinites needed to sustain that training strategy. Instead, I've mostly given up training competitions. If I ever competed again under these conditions, I'd stomp and rebuild one or more cities such that I could rely on shorter speeds.
So, rather than successfully squeeze the players for more money, Gaea has only succeeded in diminishing one of the most highly-rewarding aspects of the game -- training competitions -- which require more skill than might or kill competitions, are not as dependent on gemming, and are largely impervious to cheating. (I still look back on the final flash training competition of season 5, in which I and another player trained nonstop for four hours and finished neck-and-neck, each with over 350 million in might, as the single most fun, heart-pounding experience I've ever had in the game.) App games have relatively short shelf lives, and players such as myself who have been playing for several years are becoming increasingly bored. Gaea needs to be focusing on new, inventive features to keep us interested. Instead it is taking big steps backwards by reducing the enjoyment of the game's best existing features (the other being grail wars).
So, stop being stubborn, Gaea, and restore the old drop rate of infinite speeds. You're in a competitive business, and customer satisfaction matters. This customer is very dissatisfied with the lack of infinite speeds.
Respectfully,
Lohengrin
. Cheers, Quickfinger 134
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