First of all, I would like to stress that I support the notion that players should try their best to pay a quality F2P game like Valiant Force when it is deemed worth it. I will not criticise any players who spend insane amount of money by the thousands to be ahead of the game as it is their freedom to do so. For me, my motto is everything in moderation.
Alright, let me get my rant off, trying my best to avoid strong language.
I have discovered this game late last year (was it in Oct or Nov?) and fall in love with it right away. Though in the market there many games that are similar, the superior art in anime style, voice acting and the way the events are handle are superb.
Game is balanced for both paid players and "freeloaders". The rewards for completing the quest is wonderful. There are bugs of course, but it is made bearable because of the entertainment value it brings. U can feel that this game is made for gamers in mind. I mean, all games are made in the mind to make money in order for the business to go on and attract new investors. But, this game started off right with the focus on customers and gamers from all ages to reap the maximum entertainment value it can offer.
There was little pressure to push players to buy buy buy. It was an open market systems where the game developers seems to tell customer that we can choose to pay if u wan to and if u dun, we will still do our best. The game community is great thanks to the VF team that constantly get in touch with the community through forums, FB groups etc.
However, I cannot help to feel that things start to change when VF gain fame and went so far to participate in game convention and start its services for other countries. It is good to see that the game has grown in popularity and as being part of this game community, I am really happy. This is because it mean more game content and improvement.
However, there is a trend developing where I feel the fundelmental of putting the community first is slowly shifting into all out profit making. Developer has not been forth coming in some of the changes they made. The changes though, I must stress, are mostly unable to be proven outright, but long time players who played this game will notice that developers has made changes behind the scene without any patch notes and informations.
For eg, during Christmas events, the event points (not the ladder points) gain per snow man was changed with no prior notices. And in the latest event (Mar 23 2017) the event quest has been changed when the requirement for an event quest has been changed from from Fire Tower 15 to 20. Developer secretly change with a quick patch and it was picked by a gamer over at VF global FB page. Of course developer can deny it until prove can be throw right in their face.
On top of that, the developer begin to dismantle the structure in place which make them so sucessful in the first place. Ie to pursue the joy of making a great game via art n great content. Developer begin implementing game mechanics that seems to be screwing both those who pay to play and free to play.
For eg, all the stamina rewards has been removed from the event quest. Less gem reward as well. Now the final reward for completing is just the 5 star event hero. No more gems, no more gold, no more stamina. On top of that, players who do normal event stage earn more ladder points than if u do in legendary. Only the master level can earn more ladder points than the normal stage? Wad message are developers trying to send? U wan pple to spend a lot more just to stay ahead or r u short changing the paying players who have spent money to buy stamina just to maintain the ladder range of a player who dun spend and spam normal stage?
And the guild raid........to do 2 mil dmg per round....u need either to be top tier. Otherwise u wun be able to enjoy the wonderful raid gears cause most guild cannot even defeat the first boss to get the chest. I tot u have made the boss easier and implement guild quest? Where is it? The boss is still as hard and the % dmg dealt is still the same.
And the events, for those players who are new, the last 2 events (including the current one) is recycled events with new heros thats all. While I like the new heroes and their stats, the events are beginning to be staled. Dun get me wrong, i love the events greatly. But I maybe a little irk if all u do is recycle event, add new heroes.
I hope this game can go back to their fundamentals to churn out great unique creative content instead of resort to petty cheap tricks to earn more profits. I am all for profit, but pls dun screw the gamers to get more profits. That is not the win-win formula I have witness few months back.
Regards,
One VF Fan.