Update 7.23 preview

[Navigata07]

Interesting. Very interesting.
Stop getting my hopes up! 😂

Keep 'em low Mike, keep 'em low

 

[Spaceydk]

I am keeping my hopes low that way I can only be positive surprised.

Looks like I am going to like the new rewards system, looks interesting
Right now I do most of the events and get a gold box more often than not but only got 3 boxes once and its becoming a little stale so looking forward to something new.

 

[Aaroncapusa]

I noticed the event shows reward as greens. Is that for end of event or daily?

 

[novagator]

When should we expect the update?

 

[Rizzi87]

When should we expect the update?

.
.
.

Hello, Pilots! Ancient sands are shifting, so we're going to introduce 7.23 Update with brand new event system this week.....

 

[andy8758]

A few thoughts about the game and its future.

• The continued development of the game depends on players spending money that encourages continued development.
• A lot of FB players will not (allegedly) spend money on the game - is this causing GI to change its strategy to ensure players who spend money get many more benefits, and players who don't get much less?
• The number of bugs in the game seems to have increased dramatically this year. CoVid staffing problems or loss of the better game designers?
• And the launch of version 8 keeps slipping.
• The cheats were being identified and removed quickly, but not in the last couple of months. Why?
• Hiding the price makes sense - all the platforms charge quite different rates. Windows are currently 15% cheaper than IOS for ingame purchases.

Makes for interesting times though for those of us been playing for some time. Where will the game go from here?

 

[Opala]

I understand giving extra rewards for people spending money but it kinda sucks from the perspective of someone who can't pay to see more and more buildings I'll never be able to get otherwise. Especially considering most of these buildings have bonus pax or coins, it just makes the gap between those who pay and those who don't much bigger. I know it's a business and it needs to make money, but I also believe it needs players to keep running, how else would the worldwide tops, alliances, etc be there? GI is making things even more difficult for themselves like when they put the time limit on ads, some of us who can not pay will gladly watch 10 ads a day, but not when you need to wait 5 minutes between each. I have stopped playing games before that became too focused on making money out of it's players and neglected those who didn't pay but were still the bulk of the community. I hope they find a balance.

 

[Aaroncapusa]

A few thoughts about the game and its future.

• The continued development of the game depends on players spending money that encourages continued development.
• A lot of FB players will not (allegedly) spend money on the game - is this causing GI to change its strategy to ensure players who spend money get many more benefits, and players who don't get much less?
• The number of bugs in the game seems to have increased dramatically this year. CoVid staffing problems or loss of the better game designers?
• And the launch of version 8 keeps slipping.
• The cheats were being identified and removed quickly, but not in the last couple of months. Why?
• Hiding the price makes sense - all the platforms charge quite different rates. Windows are currently 15% cheaper than IOS for ingame purchases.

Makes for interesting times though for those of us been playing for some time. Where will the game go from here?

I have a windows account and iOS account and prices are the same for me on both. You have any proof that’s the case for you?

 

[Junior Sis]

It's a copy of sim city build it event system.
I guess we are gonna be tempted by the premium class.... Hope it's not 49$, no one will by it a this price !

I hope not, though suspect that you are right. I stopped playing that game.

 

[Barkmi4 (Mike)]

A few thoughts about the game and its future.

• The continued development of the game depends on players spending money that encourages continued development.
• A lot of FB players will not (allegedly) spend money on the game - is this causing GI to change its strategy to ensure players who spend money get many more benefits, and players who don't get much less?
• The number of bugs in the game seems to have increased dramatically this year. CoVid staffing problems or loss of the better game designers?
• And the launch of version 8 keeps slipping.
• The cheats were being identified and removed quickly, but not in the last couple of months. Why?
• Hiding the price makes sense - all the platforms charge quite different rates. Windows are currently 15% cheaper than IOS for ingame purchases.

Makes for interesting times though for those of us been playing for some time. Where will the game go from here?

I‘ve a few opinions, and possibly a few answers, so here goes;

• The continued development of the game depends on players spending money that encourages continued development.

Completely agree. I think they seriously miss out on the micro purchase market though. Hopefully they’ll develop this.

• A lot of FB players will not (allegedly) spend money on the game - is this causing GI to change its strategy to ensure players who spend money get many more benefits, and players who don't get much less?

Lets see what happens. I would say it’s always better to add something new which is premium rather than take away. Other games I play have added premium features of late. Event passes, season passes and the like - generally these are quite cheap compared to currency purchases and, from the other games, seem to sell really well. However in recent years I’d argue they’ve taken a few things away (GD neighbour drop rates, reduced neighbour drop rates, 100 limit, SMBs with event tokens (not seen that for 6-8 months), flight time reductions used to be based on full time rather than compounding (granted this was a bug)). However since a lot of these, they’ve started to improve again with the new bonus stack ability, SG in event store.
Bottom line I think they’d be daft to take away, always give more. If I was given 2000 greens today I’d still want more.... so why not give the extra few here and there...

• The number of bugs in the game seems to have increased dramatically this year. CoVid staffing problems or loss of the better game designers?

I know Ur-Quran said they were remote working and it’s made things difficult - I don’t think the ads are their fault. Ivan has said before they’ve no control as it’s third party code. With the recent in game download option - I suspect this took a lot of effort to implement. I would guess the main reason is to prevent cheating. Whilst it doesn’t make a big difference to players, I think this would have taken considerable effort. I’m not surprised the odd bug came with it.

• And the launch of version 8 keeps slipping.

Understandable in the climate, its no different to what I expected.

• The cheats were being identified and removed quickly, but not in the last couple of months. Why?

There is an app you can download on Android that will bypass in app purchases. It seems pretty easy to use, and it generates a certificate/receipt for a purchase which makes it difficult to track. It’s not a problem bespoke to this game, but a wider issue in general. When people use this they arent really hacking the app - the game thinks the purchase is legitimate. This is consistent with the people that keep popping up - their cities are consistent with a new player that has deep pockets. I suspect it’s quite a significant burden for them to manually check each game. I suspect if you are smart and don’t go smashing all the rankings, that they wouldn’t even notice you.

• Hiding the price makes sense - all the platforms charge quite different rates. Windows are currently 15% cheaper than IOS for ingame purchases.

From what I can tell, Microsoft give you a genuine (ish) exchange rate. Google and Apple give ~£1 =$1
Support games that aren’t linked to an account give prices in $. The cost in $ is the same as £ on the large.

 

[Navigata07]

A few thoughts about the game and its future.

• The continued development of the game depends on players spending money that encourages continued development.
• A lot of FB players will not (allegedly) spend money on the game - is this causing GI to change its strategy to ensure players who spend money get many more benefits, and players who don't get much less?
• The number of bugs in the game seems to have increased dramatically this year. CoVid staffing problems or loss of the better game designers?
• And the launch of version 8 keeps slipping.
• The cheats were being identified and removed quickly, but not in the last couple of months. Why?
• Hiding the price makes sense - all the platforms charge quite different rates. Windows are currently 15% cheaper than IOS for ingame purchases.

Makes for interesting times though for those of us been playing for some time. Where will the game go from here?

Always look forward to your reviews Andy. I think a lot of us vets have the same questions, and are at a bit of a crossroads for various reasons.

 

[Navigata07]

I understand giving extra rewards for people spending money but it kinda sucks from the perspective of someone who can't pay to see more and more buildings I'll never be able to get otherwise. Especially considering most of these buildings have bonus pax or coins, it just makes the gap between those who pay and those who don't much bigger. I know it's a business and it needs to make money, but I also believe it needs players to keep running, how else would the worldwide tops, alliances, etc be there? GI is making things even more difficult for themselves like when they put the time limit on ads, some of us who can not pay will gladly watch 10 ads a day, but not when you need to wait 5 minutes between each. I have stopped playing games before that became too focused on making money out of it's players and neglected those who didn't pay but were still the bulk of the community. I hope they find a balance.

I agree that there is a bit of a gap forming, and you do have to shell out money to get certain cherished buildings (planetarium is a perfect example), but I don't think the game is that much broken if you decide not to spend any money. All the major things you need to provide the necessities are available even without the buildings/privileges you pay for with greenies. If you have a solid source of fuel, enough pax buildings to support your fleet, some great neighbors with great buildings (like planetariums), and enough coin flow, you can get a lot of things done. Greenies come in handy for land expansion, reserve hangar expansion, and upgrading production...and are the only purchases worth making with your actual money. Even those, you can use the weekly bonus to save up for them, but they take a really long time. Making greenie purchases for those will make your life a lot easier, and you support GI with their continuous development....a win for all involved.

 

[Barkmi4 (Mike)]

I have a windows account and iOS account and prices are the same for me on both. You have any proof that’s the case for you?

I don’t have a screen shot of my windows game, but the last time I looked 400 (1200) greens cost ~£83 on Windows, £99.99 on iOS and £99.99 on Android.

 

[LX Air - Teresa]

I have a windows account and iOS account and prices are the same for me on both. You have any proof that’s the case for you?

Ios

Android

windows

 

[andy8758]

I have a windows account and iOS account and prices are the same for me on both. You have any proof that’s the case for you?

iOS

Windows

 

[LX Air - Teresa]

so in my games, Windows= Android, iOS more expensive
(same goes with @andy8758 for windows vs iOS)

 

[andy8758]

I agree that there is a bit of a gap forming, and you do have to shell out money to get certain cherished buildings (planetarium is a perfect example), but I don't think the game is that much broken if you decide not to spend any money. All the major things you need to provide the necessities are available even without the buildings/privileges you pay for with greenies. If you have a solid source of fuel, enough pax buildings to support your fleet, some great neighbors with great buildings (like planetariums), and enough coin flow, you can get a lot of things done. Greenies come in handy for land expansion, reserve hangar expansion, and upgrading production...and are the only purchases worth making with your actual money. Even those, you can use the weekly bonus to save up for them, but they take a really long time. Making greenie purchases for those will make your life a lot easier, and you support GI with their continuous development....a win for all involved.

I don't have a problem with purchasing a planetarium, but these game developers make it a lottery. Spend (49)(65)(99) greens and you have a 1 in 9 opportunity to win a planetarium. Does anyone buy MSB2 for a chance to win a Arboretum? This turns my gaming fun into nothing better than (Las Vegas) Slots. As things stand, I have not received a Training Centre from my free MSB1 boxes (every 25 days) for 18 months (that is three games too) - is this lottery really a fair idea? Or just a cynical attempt to grab money from people who genuinely enjoy playing games?

 

[mo elbo]

to give an idee with current exchange prices
99.99
GBP £ -

130.63
USD $ -

111.2
Euro

if you purchase in pounds you pay 30% more than in dollars and 10% more than in euro's
so the cheapest buy is dollars followed by euro's and most expebcive is pounds
defenetly a difference in prices as shown on the pic's above
ontop of this you pay more on ios than the other platforms

 

[Spaceydk]

so in my games, Windows= Android, iOS more expensive
(same goes with @andy8758 for windows vs iOS)

Might be because Apple charges a higher fee (40%) than others on in app purchases.

 

[Spaceydk]

to give an idee with current exchange prices
99.99
GBP £ -

130.63
USD $ -

111.2
Euro

if you purchase in pounds you pay 30% more than in dollars and 10% more than in euro's
so the cheapest buy is dollars followed by euro's and most expebcive is pounds
defenetly a difference in prices as shown on the pic's above

I play a browser game where you used to be able to set your location on the buy window, paying in USD over DKK where about 20% cheaper so I changed to USD they have sinced removed that option.