DeletedUser26965
This topic is often brought up so I want to make this post as something I can use for a default response rather than having to constantly repeat myself. Feel free to discuss below.
The issue that often comes up is one that relates to quests that have a condition in them to do something which requires advancing on the Continent Map or Research particularly as these relate to events. Players often feel "forced" to advance at a pace they would rather not in order to be able to partake in events and find this not to their liking. They would much rather play at their own pace while also having the option to partake in events. Hopefully I have characterized the issue fairly there.
Now my response to that is multifaceted but let me start first with what Inno has said on this very issue;
Inno has listened to player feedback and has responded by giving some alternatives to some quests some of the times.
So allow me to go a bit deeper than that. This game can not be free to play unless Inno thinks of some ways to make money to pay all the people to make the game, keep it updated and keep it running, this is true of all similar type games. In my opinion Inno handles this quite well. You can literally play everything in this game for free, you can play events for free. Yes there are some buildings you can not get unless you use diamonds and some expansions and even one tech(not required to advance and is specifically excluded from quests) but they also give players ways to get diamonds through quests, special buildings etc. The point being the pressure to buy is not immense.
However that pressure to buy by design goes up for events. They specifically use events to gain more revenue than they would be otherwise. This only makes good business sense and is what keeps the game alive. It also makes good gameplay sense because the opportunity to gain rewards players would not be able to obtain otherwise is present so clearly as a result there must be more pressure, more difficulty, more planning, more decision making etc. if not then one is simply asking for everything for free which devalues the entire game.
Now let me broaden this issue as I believe what's really being said is "I can't play how I want and do other stuff". Some people literally feel everything in the game should available to be done and everything obtainable by anyone playing any way they wish. I think we can see the absurdity in that and dismiss such notions easily. This game isn't completely free and no one has any obligation to you to give you everything in the game with no effort on your part whatsoever. But this is not exactly what I mean by the notion "I can't play how I want and do other stuff".
What I mean is there are many scenarios where a quest, in an event or otherwise, can disrupt many playstyles or gameflow and potentially make for an unpleasant gaming experience. For me personally this pertains specifically to quests that have a condition to make my citizens enthusiastic. I would love an or condition for those quests because my playstyle can at times have my city needing well over 100,000 happiness just to meet that condition which requires me to destroy much of my city. The point is scenarios like that can come up in many ways not just research and map type quests.
Also for me personally I don't sit in an age for years on end, I wanted to get to the end game and so research and map quests were generally easy for me and really easy now because those type quests autocomplete. In essence your playstyle may be you want to sit in an age but that's not my playstyle so why do you get alternatives and I don't, which anyone playing some other way can also ask.
Regardless I sympathise with such things and the general advice is to plan ahead. Go to Beta make an account and play there, also be helpful and report issues. That way you can see what you'll need to be ready for an event when it goes live. The fan run wiki also does a good job in having the info on events before they go live, keep in mind though some things can change from Beta to Live. Pace your map and research advancement that makes room for events if you plan on sitting in an age for an extended period of time. Plan your city to make room for having to build stuff to meet quest conditions. Get a general feel for what quests generally always ask for and be prepared for that.
And if you think it's bad now just wait for when the New Feature - Daily Challenges goes live.
In the end I think Inno does a good job at handling the need for revenue while trying to maintain a pleasant low pressure to buy gaming experience. And there is nothing wrong with asking for some leeway here and there but really in the end if you're one of these type players complaining about this where all you can do is think about your game and not the game for others and not the game itself then perhaps you can show how a game should be done and make one yourself and see how successful it is.
The issue that often comes up is one that relates to quests that have a condition in them to do something which requires advancing on the Continent Map or Research particularly as these relate to events. Players often feel "forced" to advance at a pace they would rather not in order to be able to partake in events and find this not to their liking. They would much rather play at their own pace while also having the option to partake in events. Hopefully I have characterized the issue fairly there.
Now my response to that is multifaceted but let me start first with what Inno has said on this very issue;
Inno has listened to player feedback and has responded by giving some alternatives to some quests some of the times.
So allow me to go a bit deeper than that. This game can not be free to play unless Inno thinks of some ways to make money to pay all the people to make the game, keep it updated and keep it running, this is true of all similar type games. In my opinion Inno handles this quite well. You can literally play everything in this game for free, you can play events for free. Yes there are some buildings you can not get unless you use diamonds and some expansions and even one tech(not required to advance and is specifically excluded from quests) but they also give players ways to get diamonds through quests, special buildings etc. The point being the pressure to buy is not immense.
However that pressure to buy by design goes up for events. They specifically use events to gain more revenue than they would be otherwise. This only makes good business sense and is what keeps the game alive. It also makes good gameplay sense because the opportunity to gain rewards players would not be able to obtain otherwise is present so clearly as a result there must be more pressure, more difficulty, more planning, more decision making etc. if not then one is simply asking for everything for free which devalues the entire game.
Now let me broaden this issue as I believe what's really being said is "I can't play how I want and do other stuff". Some people literally feel everything in the game should available to be done and everything obtainable by anyone playing any way they wish. I think we can see the absurdity in that and dismiss such notions easily. This game isn't completely free and no one has any obligation to you to give you everything in the game with no effort on your part whatsoever. But this is not exactly what I mean by the notion "I can't play how I want and do other stuff".
What I mean is there are many scenarios where a quest, in an event or otherwise, can disrupt many playstyles or gameflow and potentially make for an unpleasant gaming experience. For me personally this pertains specifically to quests that have a condition to make my citizens enthusiastic. I would love an or condition for those quests because my playstyle can at times have my city needing well over 100,000 happiness just to meet that condition which requires me to destroy much of my city. The point is scenarios like that can come up in many ways not just research and map type quests.
Also for me personally I don't sit in an age for years on end, I wanted to get to the end game and so research and map quests were generally easy for me and really easy now because those type quests autocomplete. In essence your playstyle may be you want to sit in an age but that's not my playstyle so why do you get alternatives and I don't, which anyone playing some other way can also ask.
Regardless I sympathise with such things and the general advice is to plan ahead. Go to Beta make an account and play there, also be helpful and report issues. That way you can see what you'll need to be ready for an event when it goes live. The fan run wiki also does a good job in having the info on events before they go live, keep in mind though some things can change from Beta to Live. Pace your map and research advancement that makes room for events if you plan on sitting in an age for an extended period of time. Plan your city to make room for having to build stuff to meet quest conditions. Get a general feel for what quests generally always ask for and be prepared for that.
And if you think it's bad now just wait for when the New Feature - Daily Challenges goes live.
In the end I think Inno does a good job at handling the need for revenue while trying to maintain a pleasant low pressure to buy gaming experience. And there is nothing wrong with asking for some leeway here and there but really in the end if you're one of these type players complaining about this where all you can do is think about your game and not the game for others and not the game itself then perhaps you can show how a game should be done and make one yourself and see how successful it is.
