I was going to say Skirmish, but honestly they get pretty unenjoyable around about the middle of Saturday, to the point where it's only the fact that I can push on and get the legendary crew that makes me feel like I should, and that's not really a personality quirk I feel great about...
I think the answer is actually Galaxy. I don't go for the legendary, just gold-item-threshold and done, it means an easy week of saving chrons beforehand, a brief period of monotonous pushing buttons while I'm watching a movie on the side, and then I've usually got a couple thousand chrons left over to just blow on whoever I feel like levelling. Faction is okay, but I'm ignoring the three-hour turnaround a lot because I can't be bothered. Not sure it's great that my current favourite event type is the one that I can happily ignore as much as possible.
I may be biased because skirmish is the only type where I consistently can get into top 1000, but I like space battles and I wish it could be more developed in the game. Also I like skirmish rewards. There’s only one problem for me but a significant one - though I like space battles skirmish is interesting for about an hour. After that it gets really boring because of the repetitiveness of doing the same over and over again. It gets slightly worse after 350k threshold. Before that there’s kinda the next goal, but when it is reached you have to repeat over and over again just to stay at whatever place you wish to stay.
If somehow there’s a way to bring more diversity into this it would be just great. I don’t know, maybe making more phases with different ships (without necessarily resetting intel cost). Or providing some random rewards after 350k threshold. Maybe add a way that somehow galaxy map would be involved (so we would have to travel at different locations with different outcome). The best option would be providing more strategy into space battles, but I don’t see a good way now, and it’s not specifically skirmish issue, just the way space battles are designed at the moment
I went with faction/skirmish hybrid because it's a short skirmish. The skirmish part generates so many points that the faction is almost irrelevant.
Galaxy is the lowest pressure because I only have to think about it once all weekend. Faction is the worst because it's something you're constantly having to remember to deal with. Especially these days with extra shuttles and stuff in the campaigns, faction events have become a lot of work.
Skirmishes are weird. If I'm in the zone and have something else to do while they are going on, then they are great. But if I can't find something to do while doing the skirmish, they are a nightmare. More effort than any other event and soooo boring....
I love a skirmish as the rewards are great. Was the first event type I finished thresholds on the first day. Would be nice to see an expedition again though - pin event crew to the top would make it better to play,
Faction for the workweek, which is easy to manage the kickstart and then a few minutes every 3 hours. Then grind out the rest during the weekend, and decide if its worthwhile to go for a sub 1500 or not, and always get a +1 to my freezer count.
Skirmish events come second, as they lack that guaranteed +1 freezer count without spending dil, but they do pay back well and do help supply Holoemitters.
Please do not pair an expedition with a skirmish again please. That was a horrific 4 days.
Also, would love if DB removed the "unlock" thing from expeditions, and just stick with the guaranteed crit rates. It requires more thought if you have to fight through the expedition from the very first mission, versus starting with epics. Having missions be "unlocked" just allows people to spend dil like crazy as you can complete a ticket in under 15 minutes. I would know, as I was banking dil up to about 20k dil for an expedition to run, and it finally did before Christmas.
I do miss expedition events, since I enjoy the strategy involved to figure out the optimum crew combinations and mission node order, to most efficiently maximize the rewards. Of course, once you do that during the first run, every other run through becomes a mindless 15-minute make-work activity, where most of the time is spent scrolling through your crew list.
FACTION - minimal time commitment, but all the additions (ie: shuttle rentals, reward doublers, endless amounts of skill/time boosts) have made it feel like more of a chore, and less dependent on the strength/depth of your crew and strategizing to maximize the success rate of your 4 shuttles.
SKIRMISH - great extra incentives (honor) and lots of fun... for the first 5 minutes. Then it becomes the most boring event, but the rewards and flexibility to play whenever you want is an enticing draw.
GALAXY - a boring resource drain, but the free final copy of the new 4* crew member and the extra 10x premium pack is a nice incentive. However, those perks don't seem nearly as valuable as they used to when I was still a newer-ish player.
I know Galaxy is an unpopular choice because it burns chrons, but chrons are so easy to stockpile, and that event type can be completed in a few hours on any given day of 4 days, so is awesome for those of us with families and busy lives. Skirmish's bonuses are awesome, but take WAYYY to much time commitment for a good life balance.
Skirmish is like getting a huge salary at a job where you work 100 hours and have a hard time seeing your family, while Galaxy is like a reasonable salary for a job with flexible hours and compressed work week options, work from home, good vacation time, etc.
Galaxy, I can play at my own rate, when I want. I can hit old threshold rewards with an hour or so play. If I want to hit the top 1500 and get the legendary, it is quite easy.
Skirmishes are good if you just want threshold rewards, again I can play when I want. It is more difficult to hit the top 1500, I was aiming for Amanda in the last, and missed it by miles.
Faction events are a bit of a pain in the nether regions. They are the easiest to hit threshold rewards, but I have to plan my day and the game around each other. I plan my work breaks and around the game, and the game around my breaks. e.g. I know my shuttles come in at 12:30 so that's when I have to take my lunch break. I then have to plan my shuttles into the next break, and I cannot use 1:30 shuttle boosts because it would mean to many sneaky skiving breaks, and I would lose my job.
I like expedition events, but there are a few issues, e.g. finding event crew in the list of 300 crew, planning which crew to use and in what order, whilst playing in random places etc. I would like to see expedition events more often, but they need an overhaul first.
Skirmish, because who doesn't like free stuff?! The only downside is having to use Dil to 4* the new SR. Factions are alot easier now that I have been playing for nearly 3 years and I've bought every campaign so I have a big stockpile of tokens and time boosters.
My favorite event I've played was a hybrid skirmish/expedition, when I won my first legendary from an event (High Roller Sisko). I so wish that would come back because it was so fun. I do enjoy skirmishes because I can go at my own pace and I can feel like a tactical genius blasting all those ships! The free stuff is nice too. But I've enjoyed the (very) few Expeditions I've gotten to play, though; I hope DB figures out a way to make them a reality again.
Expedition, too.
'Cause its the only one that requires a bit of creative thinking ahead. I belive its also the type of event, a smart and determined player with no money can stand against a dumb one just with money.
DB, bring back Expeditions, at least from time to time!
Comments
I think the answer is actually Galaxy. I don't go for the legendary, just gold-item-threshold and done, it means an easy week of saving chrons beforehand, a brief period of monotonous pushing buttons while I'm watching a movie on the side, and then I've usually got a couple thousand chrons left over to just blow on whoever I feel like levelling. Faction is okay, but I'm ignoring the three-hour turnaround a lot because I can't be bothered. Not sure it's great that my current favourite event type is the one that I can happily ignore as much as possible.
If somehow there’s a way to bring more diversity into this it would be just great. I don’t know, maybe making more phases with different ships (without necessarily resetting intel cost). Or providing some random rewards after 350k threshold. Maybe add a way that somehow galaxy map would be involved (so we would have to travel at different locations with different outcome). The best option would be providing more strategy into space battles, but I don’t see a good way now, and it’s not specifically skirmish issue, just the way space battles are designed at the moment
Galaxy is the lowest pressure because I only have to think about it once all weekend. Faction is the worst because it's something you're constantly having to remember to deal with. Especially these days with extra shuttles and stuff in the campaigns, faction events have become a lot of work.
Skirmishes are weird. If I'm in the zone and have something else to do while they are going on, then they are great. But if I can't find something to do while doing the skirmish, they are a nightmare. More effort than any other event and soooo boring....
Faction for the workweek, which is easy to manage the kickstart and then a few minutes every 3 hours. Then grind out the rest during the weekend, and decide if its worthwhile to go for a sub 1500 or not, and always get a +1 to my freezer count.
Skirmish events come second, as they lack that guaranteed +1 freezer count without spending dil, but they do pay back well and do help supply Holoemitters.
Also, would love if DB removed the "unlock" thing from expeditions, and just stick with the guaranteed crit rates. It requires more thought if you have to fight through the expedition from the very first mission, versus starting with epics. Having missions be "unlocked" just allows people to spend dil like crazy as you can complete a ticket in under 15 minutes. I would know, as I was banking dil up to about 20k dil for an expedition to run, and it finally did before Christmas.
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FACTION - minimal time commitment, but all the additions (ie: shuttle rentals, reward doublers, endless amounts of skill/time boosts) have made it feel like more of a chore, and less dependent on the strength/depth of your crew and strategizing to maximize the success rate of your 4 shuttles.
SKIRMISH - great extra incentives (honor) and lots of fun... for the first 5 minutes. Then it becomes the most boring event, but the rewards and flexibility to play whenever you want is an enticing draw.
GALAXY - a boring resource drain, but the free final copy of the new 4* crew member and the extra 10x premium pack is a nice incentive. However, those perks don't seem nearly as valuable as they used to when I was still a newer-ish player.
Skirmish is like getting a huge salary at a job where you work 100 hours and have a hard time seeing your family, while Galaxy is like a reasonable salary for a job with flexible hours and compressed work week options, work from home, good vacation time, etc.
*EDIT* The pie chart is based on the current displayed percentages of votes, not actual votes.
Skirmishes are good if you just want threshold rewards, again I can play when I want. It is more difficult to hit the top 1500, I was aiming for Amanda in the last, and missed it by miles.
Faction events are a bit of a pain in the nether regions. They are the easiest to hit threshold rewards, but I have to plan my day and the game around each other. I plan my work breaks and around the game, and the game around my breaks. e.g. I know my shuttles come in at 12:30 so that's when I have to take my lunch break. I then have to plan my shuttles into the next break, and I cannot use 1:30 shuttle boosts because it would mean to many sneaky skiving breaks, and I would lose my job.
I like expedition events, but there are a few issues, e.g. finding event crew in the list of 300 crew, planning which crew to use and in what order, whilst playing in random places etc. I would like to see expedition events more often, but they need an overhaul first.
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The perfect answer.
'Cause its the only one that requires a bit of creative thinking ahead. I belive its also the type of event, a smart and determined player with no money can stand against a dumb one just with money.
DB, bring back Expeditions, at least from time to time!