carytheone wrote:Burn did hit the nail on the head though. I think it took me 3 days for the lvl 12 upgrade and my last research facility upgrade took 4 days.
Are you running multiple accounts? Your base that I can visit in-game is level 8.
As far as the campaign "story" goes; I'd say it's just the obligatory frame work that a lot of games have to give the player a reason to grind levels. The main game here is just level advancement with a little lite base building.
Oh I know that, it's a way to introduce the mechanics of the game and some of the defenses, as well as get you a few good bots. I have no problem with that, I'm just commenting on how they talked about the story in Jon's interview like it was really involved, and how Hasbro cites SpaceApe, DeNA, and Activision as "Story Partners" when they do presentations at BotCon and SDCC and whatnot even though only Activision's games can be said to have any noteworthy story.
I've been playing this game for probably 3 months now and I have to say that I don't always get that much gameplay and enjoyment out of $60 "full release" console game. There's not too many games that aren't designed to get your money so I have no problems with the free to play model (someone has to pay the bills).
I have no problem with free-to-play. It's great. What bothers me is pay-to-win. Although the game is fun, it's set up in such a way you are encouraged to pull out your wallet to advance. I understand that they have to make money, but I'm a believer in building a product that makes people want to pay money because it's good, rather than to thwart a timer. Team Fortress 2 went F2P a few years ago, and that's when I started playing it. It is my go-to model of how to make a F2P game that people want to pay for in a way that doesn't subvert the gameplay experience. You have the same access to everything that paid players have except for a smaller backpack in which to hold acquired items, so you have to discard or craft them sooner. All weapons operate on a balance system: if they are better in one area they'll be worse in another so the best weapon is the one that suits your needs and play style. You can unlock a few by achievements and the rest by random drops, even as a free user, or you can just buy them outright. Money is a substitute for time but not for skill the way it is in most P2W games. And there's also a ton of purely aesthetic accessories you can put on each character which also come via achievement, random drop, or payment. People are happy to pay for these silly things because the game is already fun.
I'm not saying Earth Wars isn't fun, it is or I wouldn't still be playing. But I can't help but to wish it was structured a bit differently.
