One additional thought: This game is very heavy on randomness - sometimes quite weird randomness. Therefore, a task like "X gauntlet wins" is way more frustrating than a task "Y gauntlet battles". Because the "win task" makes it even more frustrating to suffer the unevitable loss despite 2:1-superiority that the gauntlet provides so often. And I guess the new event should not be intended to increase the thoughts about quitting the game.
This still remains true for this second run of the event. It is just a terrible gaming experience and it is raising quitting thoughts.
Love it!
Is hard enough to require some planning and strategy, but not impossible. Excellent rewards! Thank you for seeming to constantly strive to make the game better and more rewarding
One additional thought: This game is very heavy on randomness - sometimes quite weird randomness. Therefore, a task like "X gauntlet wins" is way more frustrating than a task "Y gauntlet battles". Because the "win task" makes it even more frustrating to suffer the unevitable loss despite 2:1-superiority that the gauntlet provides so often. And I guess the new event should not be intended to increase the thoughts about quitting the game.
This still remains true for this second run of the event. It is just a terrible gaming experience and it is raising quitting thoughts.
I have done over 1000 rounds and I had some bad RNG losses but I have never seen a 2:1 superiority loss. I still need 2 wins, getting close but I have one more reset so I'll get it. But's it not a easy walk in the park.
One additional thought: This game is very heavy on randomness - sometimes quite weird randomness. Therefore, a task like "X gauntlet wins" is way more frustrating than a task "Y gauntlet battles". Because the "win task" makes it even more frustrating to suffer the unevitable loss despite 2:1-superiority that the gauntlet provides so often. And I guess the new event should not be intended to increase the thoughts about quitting the game.
This still remains true for this second run of the event. It is just a terrible gaming experience and it is raising quitting thoughts.
Personally I finished this morning. Wasn’t hard at all.
One person I know managed to have 12 wins at about 2pm yesterday. He has no Gauntlet exclusive crew. His best two crew are Surak and Mugato. It’s possible he might not make it but it’s a pretty good start.
One additional thought: This game is very heavy on randomness - sometimes quite weird randomness. Therefore, a task like "X gauntlet wins" is way more frustrating than a task "Y gauntlet battles". Because the "win task" makes it even more frustrating to suffer the unevitable loss despite 2:1-superiority that the gauntlet provides so often. And I guess the new event should not be intended to increase the thoughts about quitting the game.
This still remains true for this second run of the event. It is just a terrible gaming experience and it is raising quitting thoughts.
+87
Why was Vicki not expelled from Greendale after she literally stabbed Pierce in the face with a pencil?!?!?
The most impossible part of the Middle week Objective Event is undoubtly winning 18 Admiral Battles, the rest is ok. Both times this objective appeared I had to buy 10 tickets to complete the task. This event would be nearly impossible if tasks were chained one to the other.
Thank you for continuing to provide feedback, and to see balanced feedback.
I am glad to hear that some of you are enjoying the challenge and I think everyone could benefit from strategies sharing?
I could make a dedicated discussion is there an interest for it. Or anyone can start one if they feel inclined
The clear problem with the Gauntlet Takj is that RNG is too much of a factor. Some people post they have little trouble because RNG smiled on them and that is apparently being taken as "proof" that it is not "a chore" or even IMPOSSIBLE for other players.
I would say instead of "Win 48" make it something like "Participate in 50 Gauntlet Battles".
The most impossible part of the Middle week Objective Event is undoubtly winning 18 Admiral Battles, the rest is ok. Both times this objective appeared I had to buy 10 tickets to complete the task. This event would be nearly impossible if tasks were chained one to the other.
If you are unwilling to "Tank" ahead of time because you are needing the Schemes, or for other reasons, it definitely is much harder to do. Even with "Tanking" I lost one of 20 Battles because of RNG.
Why was Vicki not expelled from Greendale after she literally stabbed Pierce in the face with a pencil?!?!?
The clear problem with the Gauntlet Takj is that RNG is too much of a factor. Some people post they have little trouble because RNG smiled on them and that is apparently being taken as "proof" that it is not "a chore" or even IMPOSSIBLE for other players.
Some people post they have trouble with the gauntlet because RNG was unfair to them that is taken as proof that the event is too difficult.
If RNG was nice to me it would’ve taken me much less time to finish the event. Since we have a new Gauntlet crew to chase after on top of the event, I choose to play Gauntlet well. Sometimes I faceplant, sometimes I rattle off 10-12 wins. Generally I expect to win once with each crew and hopefully squeak out a couple more wins on top of that. Since I do this pretty regularly, that’s not RNG. Gauntlet success is more a matter of having the right crew and being able to play if often enough.
The most impossible part of the Middle week Objective Event is undoubtly winning 18 Admiral Battles, the rest is ok. Both times this objective appeared I had to buy 10 tickets to complete the task. This event would be nearly impossible if tasks were chained one to the other.
Thing you have to remember try to only battle level 1 ships if possible.
If you have a level 10 should be able to defeat level 5 ships or less easily.
Also once you are done battling. Leave your crew in a ship at level one for others.
I will do my battles and get back in a level one ship. I do not remove my crew. So it easier to switch. I did forget on one of my accounts to get back in my level 10 ship and lost to a level one ship.
I echo what Avitrek said. I used Dil this week to get the Arena rewards.
I'll also say that winning 45 Gaunlet runs means I have to play the game during the time I'm working. That's not something I can do every week.
I like that all the rewards are available immediately and I really like the rewards, but the 20 Arena runs and 45 Gaunlet runs I'm not going to be able to do every week. Add another day or shorten the number of runs to a realistic number.
I'll also say that I'm impressed with the changes being made to the game. After 5-plus years it's starting to get interesting again and not the same old thing.
I echo what Avitrek said. I used Dil this week to get the Arena rewards.
I'll also say that winning 45 Gaunlet runs means I have to play the game during the time I'm working. That's not something I can do every week.
I like that all the rewards are available immediately and I really like the rewards, but the 20 Arena runs and 45 Gaunlet runs I'm not going to be able to do every week. Add another day or shorten the number of runs to a realistic number.
I'll also say that I'm impressed with the changes being made to the game. After 5-plus years it's starting to get interesting again and not the same old thing.
Actually, the Task that everyone has issues with "rewards" 400 Chronitons. Which is actually a "refund" of the 400 Chronitons you have to use to finish another task. The people getting gigged by the RNG are missing out on breaking even on Chronitons. Which probably really irks them.
I just finished the Task with literally less than five hours to go. Do I believe it is entirely possible that some people are going to be done bad by RNG and not finish? I certainly do.
The Arena Task is entirely dependent on whether or not the player can "Tank". If tanked properly, then it is doable in the two nights. Unless RNG rears its head there, too.
Why was Vicki not expelled from Greendale after she literally stabbed Pierce in the face with a pencil?!?!?
The event was announced a week in advance. I started to tank once it was announced and dropped down to 20k by the time the event started. I went 20/20. A good number of my opponents weren't even other tankers, just lower level ships sitting at 20k rank. You just need to be willing to keep refreshing until you see a ship you can beat. I won them all easily enough that I don't think RNG going against me would have made a difference.
For gauntlet I completed all 45 rounds on Tuesday. I started a new gauntlet Tuesday morning and played 5 rounds. That means I averaged 9 wins per round. The first round I won more, some other rounds I won less. But there was a second day I could have used. Over 10 rounds you only need 4.5 wins. That includes two rounds that start a gauntlet where it's usually easiest to find weak opponents. Did I need to use merits to refresh and find weaker opponents, yes. But I found enough that most of my cards usually had one win each before losing and I often got second wins.
If you find that RNG keeps hurting you, my guess is you're not refreshing enough to find easier matchups. That's true for both arena and gauntlet.
I’ve said this before: this has been labeled as a challenge, therefore it will be challenging. They can make things challenging two ways: have players do a lot of simple things (ie: the month-long endurance OEs) or have players do a few difficult to do things. It’s ok if you can’t do it; that’s what makes it a challenge. Maybe next week you will be able to do it. And if you don’t want to buy extra arena tickets, that’s ok too; it’s your call. Play like you want to play.
I will say, I’m glad they listened to feedback on the arena wins; while I’d say it could be lowered 1 or 2 more, this is much more fair than the original 20. Though RNG can still be a you-know-what: my Krayton actually got beaten by an ISS Enterprise. I’m still livid about it. I think it was because of Formal Wesley’s dodge (which, as a 4* card only makes it more annoying)!
I have 44 gauntlet rounds, but if I time going to bed, I'll make it. The issue is that it is relatively easy, unless you actually work and have a busy day. My job usually allows for a lot of waiting time, but sometimes I get busy and can't do all the game demands. But that is a choice I make.
Gauntlet: I ended up at 40/45 using 8 refreshes I think - ridiculous RNG losses again on the way. Absolutely terrible gaming experience. So, I invested an absurd amount of time into this - obviously this game is not directed at people with a job or any other life. And then still the RNG f***s one over and now I not only loose the reward for that objective, but also the completion reward (the citation).
Games should be about fun and accomplishments based on skills - and not about losing due to **tsk tsk** RNG!
And next week the same thing again...
Quite honestly: I start to hate this sh***! I will now take a break and think extensively whether I really should continue to waste my time here!
I usually coast through the gauntlet objective on both my accounts but this time both failed to get the 45 wins. My RNG this week was ridiculously bad and outside any normal range I have had in some 4 years of playing. This had the affect of making me swear at the phone and contemplate quitting the game.
I don't think this is the outcome that would be hoped for. Im not saying it should be easy but if you spend the time and effort on an objective event it should be able to be finished without spending. I'll try again next week but if the outcome is the same it may end up being the end of my time in the game. Seems counterproductive to me but real life might be the big winner.
Oh and I'm not trying to be dramatic here just saying how the event made me feel. A game should be enjoyable and when it isn't then logically you should stop playing. This is the first time this game has made me feel this way.
The players who are capable of pulling this off do not need the prize.
The players who need the prize are incapable of pulling this off.
It's two months since @Bylo Band said this, and now that we've had two of these, I'd say the actual experience has proven him completely right. (I am now going to be much less concise to make the same overall point!)
This time round, I had resigned myself to just missing out on the gauntlet objective, but thanks to my sleeping pattern being thrown off for other reasons, I've ended up waking up very early (the event ends at 6am for me) and squeezed one more set of rounds in ... only to think "oh, is that it?" 400 chronitons is one voyage's worth (not even a good voyage), 1000 honor maybe two (or spending a few k merits on pulls to immediately airlock ... which would also give a chance of a decent card along the way). I already had purple cites on hand, now I have another one. If a 3/4 event card came along that I really, really wanted to immortalise right away, I'd be fine and event if not, if I wanted it that badly, I'd be willing to pay the 18k honor to get a full price one from the honor hall.
The reduction of the numbers needed this time round is a slight improvement and makes the arena objective less frustrating, though I've got to be honest, deliberately playing to lose feels weird to me. (I know a lot of people tank shuttles, and I can see how the game mechanics end up meaning it's a good strategy, but I've never been able to bring myself to do it. Somehow doing it for the PvP elements feels different.) Confession time: I did spend dilithium on arena in the first event (when there was no margin for error) - because the button greys out, I didn't realise you could reroll more than once. (I also didn't realise until that event that you could go in and make changes to your ship and battle stations, and then save them without needing to play a round.)
The gauntlet objective, on the other hand, is I think doable without dilithium ... so long as you can log in four times a day (basically, get your four hour timers working perfectly, or sacrifice sleep). If you do that, you only need to win with fatigued crew five times across the eight rounds (plus any extra to balance out unlucky rolls with non-fatigued crew) which is usually not unachievable. However, gauntlet RNG is (by design) extremely volatile as several posts directly above me attest and so it is a significant source of frustration. And as @DavideBooks points out work can make it tricky; my job is flexible enough that I can usually fit in one time-sensitive STT thing during the work day - gauntlet in OEs, turning round shuttle missions during a faction - if I ignore everything else (like voyage dilemmas), but this week I'm covering for a colleague with COVID and so it's been flat out ... hence my only just making it because I woke up early.
There's also a meta-luck in how competitive your gauntlet ends up being. There are times i end up with walls of the exclusive characters all the way down to 150th and below, and others where relative newbies who are running the latest giveaway character with their unequipped proficiencies pop up in the top 50 long into the second day. You can give yourself a better chance by not starting a new gauntlet immediately at reset or at the main times when other time zones wake up, but it's still not guaranteed.
(Side note: I know people who play purely for streaks rather than rank already know this, but it is possible to tank gauntlet by leaving two skills uncovered - then you come up as "no matching skills" when other people roll that combo and are easy prey for them, leaving you nice and low in the rankings when you next log in, and thus more likely to get easy opponents.)
In conclusion: I'm not unhappy that I managed to finish, because hey, free stuff, but it wouldn't have been worth setting an alarm for it, let alone spending dil. (And I'm afraid it does feel like getting people to spend dil might be part of the point here from the devs' point of view.) Make the completion reward a gold cite, on the other hand, and I would feel very differently.
Gauntlet: I ended up at 40/45 using 8 refreshes I think - ridiculous RNG losses again on the way. Absolutely terrible gaming experience. So, I invested an absurd amount of time into this - obviously this game is not directed at people with a job or any other life. And then still the RNG f***s one over and now I not only loose the reward for that objective, but also the completion reward (the citation).
8 refreshes is very low and that is why you ended up at 40/45.
Sometimes I use 8 refreshes in one reset.
I probably took around 50 refreshes in total, hence the easy win for me.
I pick battles I can win, that's the point.
I don't like these. Tanking to succeed is IMHO not a "strategy", it's poor game design.
Tanking to succeed is a choice not a game design.
I managed 18/20 without tanking.
The strategy I use is to pick targets I know I can win against. I keep track against which setup my setup wins.
Tanking to succeed is a choice not a game design.
I managed 18/20 without tanking.
The strategy I use is to pick targets I know I can win against. I keep track against which setup my setup wins.
Of course it's possible (for some players), but I think it's undeniable that succeeding becomes easier if you tank first.
Tanking to succeed is a choice not a game design.
I managed 18/20 without tanking.
The strategy I use is to pick targets I know I can win against. I keep track against which setup my setup wins.
Of course it's possible (for some players), but I think it's undeniable that succeeding becomes easier if you tank first.
You can always find ways to make the game easier.
Another example:
If everyone uses 2 good crew and 3 weak crew in Gauntlet. Everyone can get easy 45 wins.
I totally get that this event might not be enjoyable for all, and this bring me to another question: you gave it a try, it is not an activity that you like, why participate? There is no sarcasm or anything in my question, I really want to know.
It is not a new thing for games to offer various things that might appeal to different types of players.
Is there a part of: fear of missing out?
I for one skipped the event. But if I skip more and more of the game content (events are stale, there's nothing new to do, I have more crew than I know what to do with, etc. etc.), the question invariably becomes, why am I still playing?
My answer is, I'm not, or rather, I'm playing less and less. I've started skipping most events too at this point.
Comments
This. As I said I did it last night specifically so I could go right back to helping others by "Tanking". I have never done it for Rank.
#TankingNotRanking
Is hard enough to require some planning and strategy, but not impossible. Excellent rewards! Thank you for seeming to constantly strive to make the game better and more rewarding
I have done over 1000 rounds and I had some bad RNG losses but I have never seen a 2:1 superiority loss. I still need 2 wins, getting close but I have one more reset so I'll get it. But's it not a easy walk in the park.
Personally I finished this morning. Wasn’t hard at all.
One person I know managed to have 12 wins at about 2pm yesterday. He has no Gauntlet exclusive crew. His best two crew are Surak and Mugato. It’s possible he might not make it but it’s a pretty good start.
+87
I am glad to hear that some of you are enjoying the challenge and I think everyone could benefit from strategies sharing?
I could make a dedicated discussion is there an interest for it. Or anyone can start one if they feel inclined
The clear problem with the Gauntlet Takj is that RNG is too much of a factor. Some people post they have little trouble because RNG smiled on them and that is apparently being taken as "proof" that it is not "a chore" or even IMPOSSIBLE for other players.
I would say instead of "Win 48" make it something like "Participate in 50 Gauntlet Battles".
If you are unwilling to "Tank" ahead of time because you are needing the Schemes, or for other reasons, it definitely is much harder to do. Even with "Tanking" I lost one of 20 Battles because of RNG.
Happy to go again for next week.
Some people post they have trouble with the gauntlet because RNG was unfair to them that is taken as proof that the event is too difficult.
If RNG was nice to me it would’ve taken me much less time to finish the event. Since we have a new Gauntlet crew to chase after on top of the event, I choose to play Gauntlet well. Sometimes I faceplant, sometimes I rattle off 10-12 wins. Generally I expect to win once with each crew and hopefully squeak out a couple more wins on top of that. Since I do this pretty regularly, that’s not RNG. Gauntlet success is more a matter of having the right crew and being able to play if often enough.
Thing you have to remember try to only battle level 1 ships if possible.
If you have a level 10 should be able to defeat level 5 ships or less easily.
Also once you are done battling. Leave your crew in a ship at level one for others.
I will do my battles and get back in a level one ship. I do not remove my crew. So it easier to switch. I did forget on one of my accounts to get back in my level 10 ship and lost to a level one ship.
I'll also say that winning 45 Gaunlet runs means I have to play the game during the time I'm working. That's not something I can do every week.
I like that all the rewards are available immediately and I really like the rewards, but the 20 Arena runs and 45 Gaunlet runs I'm not going to be able to do every week. Add another day or shorten the number of runs to a realistic number.
I'll also say that I'm impressed with the changes being made to the game. After 5-plus years it's starting to get interesting again and not the same old thing.
Actually, the Task that everyone has issues with "rewards" 400 Chronitons. Which is actually a "refund" of the 400 Chronitons you have to use to finish another task. The people getting gigged by the RNG are missing out on breaking even on Chronitons. Which probably really irks them.
I just finished the Task with literally less than five hours to go. Do I believe it is entirely possible that some people are going to be done bad by RNG and not finish? I certainly do.
The Arena Task is entirely dependent on whether or not the player can "Tank". If tanked properly, then it is doable in the two nights. Unless RNG rears its head there, too.
For gauntlet I completed all 45 rounds on Tuesday. I started a new gauntlet Tuesday morning and played 5 rounds. That means I averaged 9 wins per round. The first round I won more, some other rounds I won less. But there was a second day I could have used. Over 10 rounds you only need 4.5 wins. That includes two rounds that start a gauntlet where it's usually easiest to find weak opponents. Did I need to use merits to refresh and find weaker opponents, yes. But I found enough that most of my cards usually had one win each before losing and I often got second wins.
If you find that RNG keeps hurting you, my guess is you're not refreshing enough to find easier matchups. That's true for both arena and gauntlet.
I will say, I’m glad they listened to feedback on the arena wins; while I’d say it could be lowered 1 or 2 more, this is much more fair than the original 20. Though RNG can still be a you-know-what: my Krayton actually got beaten by an ISS Enterprise. I’m still livid about it. I think it was because of Formal Wesley’s dodge (which, as a 4* card only makes it more annoying)!
Games should be about fun and accomplishments based on skills - and not about losing due to **tsk tsk** RNG!
And next week the same thing again...
Quite honestly: I start to hate this sh***! I will now take a break and think extensively whether I really should continue to waste my time here!
I don't think this is the outcome that would be hoped for. Im not saying it should be easy but if you spend the time and effort on an objective event it should be able to be finished without spending. I'll try again next week but if the outcome is the same it may end up being the end of my time in the game. Seems counterproductive to me but real life might be the big winner.
Oh and I'm not trying to be dramatic here just saying how the event made me feel. A game should be enjoyable and when it isn't then logically you should stop playing. This is the first time this game has made me feel this way.
It's two months since @Bylo Band said this, and now that we've had two of these, I'd say the actual experience has proven him completely right. (I am now going to be much less concise to make the same overall point!)
This time round, I had resigned myself to just missing out on the gauntlet objective, but thanks to my sleeping pattern being thrown off for other reasons, I've ended up waking up very early (the event ends at 6am for me) and squeezed one more set of rounds in ... only to think "oh, is that it?" 400 chronitons is one voyage's worth (not even a good voyage), 1000 honor maybe two (or spending a few k merits on pulls to immediately airlock ... which would also give a chance of a decent card along the way). I already had purple cites on hand, now I have another one. If a 3/4 event card came along that I really, really wanted to immortalise right away, I'd be fine and event if not, if I wanted it that badly, I'd be willing to pay the 18k honor to get a full price one from the honor hall.
The reduction of the numbers needed this time round is a slight improvement and makes the arena objective less frustrating, though I've got to be honest, deliberately playing to lose feels weird to me. (I know a lot of people tank shuttles, and I can see how the game mechanics end up meaning it's a good strategy, but I've never been able to bring myself to do it. Somehow doing it for the PvP elements feels different.) Confession time: I did spend dilithium on arena in the first event (when there was no margin for error) - because the button greys out, I didn't realise you could reroll more than once. (I also didn't realise until that event that you could go in and make changes to your ship and battle stations, and then save them without needing to play a round.)
The gauntlet objective, on the other hand, is I think doable without dilithium ... so long as you can log in four times a day (basically, get your four hour timers working perfectly, or sacrifice sleep). If you do that, you only need to win with fatigued crew five times across the eight rounds (plus any extra to balance out unlucky rolls with non-fatigued crew) which is usually not unachievable. However, gauntlet RNG is (by design) extremely volatile as several posts directly above me attest and so it is a significant source of frustration. And as @DavideBooks points out work can make it tricky; my job is flexible enough that I can usually fit in one time-sensitive STT thing during the work day - gauntlet in OEs, turning round shuttle missions during a faction - if I ignore everything else (like voyage dilemmas), but this week I'm covering for a colleague with COVID and so it's been flat out ... hence my only just making it because I woke up early.
There's also a meta-luck in how competitive your gauntlet ends up being. There are times i end up with walls of the exclusive characters all the way down to 150th and below, and others where relative newbies who are running the latest giveaway character with their unequipped proficiencies pop up in the top 50 long into the second day. You can give yourself a better chance by not starting a new gauntlet immediately at reset or at the main times when other time zones wake up, but it's still not guaranteed.
(Side note: I know people who play purely for streaks rather than rank already know this, but it is possible to tank gauntlet by leaving two skills uncovered - then you come up as "no matching skills" when other people roll that combo and are easy prey for them, leaving you nice and low in the rankings when you next log in, and thus more likely to get easy opponents.)
In conclusion: I'm not unhappy that I managed to finish, because hey, free stuff, but it wouldn't have been worth setting an alarm for it, let alone spending dil. (And I'm afraid it does feel like getting people to spend dil might be part of the point here from the devs' point of view.) Make the completion reward a gold cite, on the other hand, and I would feel very differently.
8 refreshes is very low and that is why you ended up at 40/45.
Sometimes I use 8 refreshes in one reset.
I probably took around 50 refreshes in total, hence the easy win for me.
I pick battles I can win, that's the point.
Tanking to succeed is a choice not a game design.
I managed 18/20 without tanking.
The strategy I use is to pick targets I know I can win against. I keep track against which setup my setup wins.
Of course it's possible (for some players), but I think it's undeniable that succeeding becomes easier if you tank first.
You can always find ways to make the game easier.
Another example:
If everyone uses 2 good crew and 3 weak crew in Gauntlet. Everyone can get easy 45 wins.
I totally get that this event might not be enjoyable for all, and this bring me to another question: you gave it a try, it is not an activity that you like, why participate? There is no sarcasm or anything in my question, I really want to know.
It is not a new thing for games to offer various things that might appeal to different types of players.
Is there a part of: fear of missing out?
My answer is, I'm not, or rather, I'm playing less and less. I've started skipping most events too at this point.