"Did the Arc Improve the Game?"
But what about the rest of the players? Is being continually sniped and stomped by the rich supposed to be fun? I'm wondering why InnoGames introduced this Great Building last year. What were they thinking? That an increased disparity of wealth would encourage the average player to stay? That it would somehow increase the pressure for diamond sales?
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Context for my response: I started playing FoE this past fall. I lack the historical perspective of FoE's development.
Personal Opinion of The Arc: It is a must-have-optimal building if your play style involves GB contribution rewards. It increases the incentive to actively snipe/compete for top contribution spots. As a side effect, this means more FP contributions, thus GB levels, to anyone's GB an Arc owner touches. Add the guild good benefit and it seems like the perfect win-win GB. If I was rich, I would buy the diamonds to instant build this GB. I am not rich, so I will use strategy to get it ASAP. ASAP, in my current strategy outlook, is 3-12 months away.
Does the Arc Improve the game?:
Tough call. I currently lean towards yes.
The Arc generates more Forge points, the most valuable resource in the game. Since Forge Points & Time are the game's progression gates, The Arc speeds up progression for the owner and the GBs it accelerates. This means less time waiting to achieve one's goals. Since it is powerful, I can see it being an avenue for Inno to make money from diamond purchasers.
Mechanically, I don't see the Arc being functionally bad for the game. Since it accelerates a time-wasting game, I feel safe saying it is an improvement. On Paper.
"
But what about the rest of the players? Is being continually sniped and stomped by the rich supposed to be fun?"
Social Interactions & Ramifications*
shudders*. Now comes the complicated part.
Some confounding factors: What play style a player has, what triggers player enjoyment, and how other players may impinge on the previous two factors.
One of My Opinions of Players complaining about the Arc: Entitled brats~ (Just kidding!... Kinda?)
The rich always win. They have the resources to do it, so the only way to beat the rich is to out-rich them or institute communism;
hopefully with a bloody...er.. bloodless revolution.
The Arc is an advantage to the GB contribution reward 'farming' play style. The complaints towards the Arc feel like a player in an MMoRPG complaining that another player's new Gear ruins their winning streak in PVP. Or a FPS player complaining about a certain class/character being over-powered. Or any 'Pay to win' game. Or a new player wanting all the advantages of a 2-4 year verteran player of the game, without the time & trouble the veteran player invested. It comes off as petulant, especially when the player can work to equalize the 'disadvantage'.
I see similar behavior with 'Fair Trade' and '1FP donations are rude!' rhetoric. It's all about what is fair.
Since the Arc tips the scales in the fair department, it makes sense that it gets blamed, instead of the the actual problem of wealth disparity.
Some solutions focus around isolation tactics. Block that guy that snipes, Only allow trusted guildies/friends donate to GBs, etc. because a player wants the contribution rewards to go to Player X instead of Player Y. That is where the 'entitled brat' reveals itself. They feel entitled to the rewards and don't want that 'other guy' to have it. It is their
precious...
Anywho. That's just one way of looking at it.
Other factors that could explain Players who quit due the Arc: Only way to compete in contribution rewards is to join an Arc raising cult. Player boredom from too many FPs. A player really doesn't like their GBs being leveled by a neighboring Arc player. The Arc is ugly. The Arc takes up to much space. Player doesn't like the subtle religious allusion that the Arc elicits. The Arc is the gateway from normal play to rich play.
That's all I got for now. Happy Forging!
