It used to be that if you dedicated a ton of time to an event, then you could finish it without spending gems, and you only needed to use gems if you could not put in the time every day. Now you can't finish an event without spending quite a bit on gems. This changes the spirit of the game and makes me resent SocialPoint. As long as this new protocol on events exists, I will continue to be unhappy with my Monster Legends experience. Running a team or not, one of these days I will just get sick of the SP greed and quit entirely.

Unfortunately, Social Point has bills that need paying. Overhead, salaries, benefits, etc. I don't know of any games out there that are totally F2P. They ALL run events that encourage spending.

If we don't spend, they can't develop.

@LilCricketPa
but we used to have those kind of events -- old maze -- progressive is not possible to complete without gems but maze with hard work was doable

and i think it was balanced cash players have no patience to set timers every 4 hours to do a collect -- they are busy making money while some free players can do this and later cash will pay again to rank those monsters

@Haka-Taka Dragon City is pretty much the same. The Heroic Races especially. You either set your clocks to harvest your farms, hatch eggs, or battles or you spend a lot of gems to catch up with those who were on playing non stop.

As far as the rest though, I think most grames have become more pay-to-play for their special events. Most of the game forums you see the same complaints. "Can't finish without spending cash." The developers have to make money.

@LilCricketPa said in Make Events Not Cost Gems to Complete:

Most of the game forums you see the same complaints. "Can't finish without spending cash."

All the fun in the game comes from the competition, no reason you should feel a need to finish every event that comes along. Very few monsters in this game are so good that you absolutely have to have them right now, wait for an offer later. Probably be even cheaper.

Cracked a rib laughing @ that 1, this game has changed its all about gems & money after that (same thing). This game changed big time from when I joined they did care about players needs. Those days are long long gone do you have no dupe mnstrs & 70 unhatched NEW mnstrs, we r working on it will have soon that soon began in NOV. (actually that problem began last summer & finally we got a whopping 10 habs for our 60+ mnstrs in storage) thats not total mnstrs in storage that's over 400+ the duplicates to rank up (but that number changed too when began their B-Day Tickets & wld combine new tickets from ea event.) However, dont tell them whats missing we are all liars. A, proof they cant do math divide # of mnstrs by habs available see If you need duplicate mnstrs to be unable to hatch mnstrs, last I checked was 5.9 mnstrs/hab sure is higher now. See if you can get 2 extra mnstrs in ea habitat & bet we will get 20 habs if lucky, also proving mathematical problems they were actually shocked when players began requesting more habs after receiving the paltry 10 to play catch up for last summers habitat problem.
And as only have 1 empty Legend slot ranking takes awhile especially when have to stop ranking to breed & how do you do that when you have no duplicate mnstrs & need room for new mnstrs breed event? You must sell off old mnstrs you've raised & hope they wont be needed for future breed event which means you must keep a spare in storage of a rank 100 mnstr only bad enuff have to sell off mnstr make sure isnt a ranked mnstr. Costs enuff to get a. L mnstr raised to rank 100.
Don't waste time or breath if can't afford gems, too bad find another game they dont care.
If you do decide to continue playing I suggest u screenshot everything you own!!

@Nani3 said in Make Events Not Cost Gems to Complete:

If you do decide to continue playing I suggest u screenshot everything you own!!

Exactly! I suggest that every player do this from the moment they begin playing and catalog everything making notes so that that way when you lose something or you don't get something from an event you have it all backed up.

@Christina-Masson said in Make Events Not Cost Gems to Complete:

@Nani3 said in Make Events Not Cost Gems to Complete:

If you do decide to continue playing I suggest u screenshot everything you own!!

Exactly! I suggest that every player do this from the moment they begin playing and catalog everything making notes so that that way when you lose something or you don't get something from an event you have it all backed up.

Games are meant to be enjoyable and fun. When it gets to the point that you can't find any enjoyment anymore, or it becomes a "job" where you have to play detective and collect evidence after every game move...it's time to find another form of entertainment.

Yes, it should be set your clocks and make playing the event a religion, or pay gems to catch up. I am all about SP making money, but the events should be able to be completed without gems. Back when that was the way, I still spent gems on events when I fell behind. Now it is just not worth even trying unless you have tons of disposable income.

@haffathot said in Make Events Not Cost Gems to Complete:

Yes, it should be set your clocks and make playing the event a religion, or pay gems to catch up. I am all about SP making money, but the events should be able to be completed without gems. Back when that was the way, I still spent gems on events when I fell behind. Now it is just not worth even trying unless you have tons of disposable income.

I guess that all depends on what your goal is. It has been years since I have planned to finish a quest, I just set my goal for what I can accomplish in my price range and add the ones I cannot get to my list of ones to pick up later. Everything comes around again, no need for the stress, worry or spending huge amounts of money.

Well, sure. So, whereas before I made it my goal to finish and would spend gems to achieve it, now I just get as far as I can for free and take note of the monsters I'd like to have one day. They are making less money because we had to switch strategies.

I chose to not play and use my money. If I can't get enough coins or reach far enough in the races or tournaments I get mad but I won't let SP get any richer because of me. Because since I start playing and stop for that samereason and started back to play with my son who has since stop playing because of the same reason, I realized you can't take it to serious and should just wait and I'm sure those dragons I've missed will come back again. The thing that really upsets me now tho, is that in order for you to win tournaments you have to come back immediately when the clock runs out and for the other events you need to collect coins at every interval. Actually what are the interval times? I would really like to know, because many times I check when i have collected before and it doesn't work, especially when it's close to the event ending/starting. The other reason upsetting me is, I had the Elfic Dragon egg saved in storage and they have totally stolen it away, I would like to get it back without me having to breed it, because I won it in an event... Totally not fair SP give me back my dragon! SP really needs to make things fair and give appropriate time to complete events and chances to collect coins needed. Also what's up with the so called more space and habitats we were suppose to get??? There's no place to put 600+ Dragons on that few islands given and why would I want to store them what kind of game makes that many dragons for you to get but you have to store them where you can't see them everyday so stupid SP. These are just a few issues I have with SP, I could go on for ever, I stopped playing once before and I would do it again but it's because I don't take it serious, I'm in no rush to complete the game I'm fine with taking my time and to be honest it is very addictive especially when the events are on, that's the only time I play. My advice is Save your money and do something more important with it. Nowadays there's to many things going on in the world save that money, but if you have it to spend give it to a notable cause like the Food Banks, or Children's Hospital in your area, a charity working to cure an illness or programs to help youth get away from the struggles of their life. SP maybe if you were putting your earns to a good cause or giving your players more incentive instead of putting it in your pockets, We would be more willing to invest in your game.
Happy gaming all.
P.S Are we allowed to ask for more friends in these forums or just on Facebook? Because I would love some friends that enjoy playing and send gifts and help their friends out as I do. Friends who actually invest time, not play once every few months.

@Jewels-Graham I see so many people toss the word fair around on these boards but what is fair for one may not be fair for someone else. Is it fair for someone who just starts playing a game to have all the advantages and perks of someone who has been playing for 4 years? Is it fair to the person who spends money regularly on a game to have nothing more than someone who spends nothing?

Is it fair to expect a company to give away their product? To not pay their employees a decent wage or benefits? Or to expect people to play everyday and send gifts and help out someones game when the other person only plays once in a while? Because that in essence is what people are asking for!

Incorrect. What I am asking for is a return to the event protocol that existed before, where events can be completed, with enough time invested, without gems. That protocol set expectations for players, and players became invested in the game based upon that protocol. SP has changed that protocol now, forcing people to spend gems on events just so they can complete them, regardless of how much time or effort they put in. That is what, in my world as a lawyer, is called price gouging. Across the world, I can tell you from international legal experience, this is deemed objectively unfair. In some, but not all, jurisdictions, this practice is illegal. However, as this is just a game, the investment in pursuing a legal claim under some jurisdiction is likely outweighed by the low value and inordinate amount of time that would be needed to pursue it. Generally, the best way to end price gouging is to terminate or to reduce one's investment. I am doing the latter, and others are doing the former. Price gouging is a great short term strategy in the short term, but it will cost you business in the long term.

@haffathot You are asking that they return to former protocol which was pretty much free to play. The game is not the same as it was 5 years ago. Technology has advanced, the game has advanced. The developers deserve to earn an income from keeping up with those advancements.

This is not price gauging and there are no legal claims here. It is simple inflation. Please feel free to check other games and see what their pricing structures are like!

When you download and install these games, it is with the understanding that the game developers can change content, prices, or even discontinue their game at will. You run the risk of investing in something that may be gone tomorrow. Across the world, this is the way it is and there are no legal recourses. As a lawyer, you should know there are no contractual agreements being entered into with these games. You install and play at will. No one is forcing you to pay for anything. If you want the premiums you pay. Simple as that.

As I said, it would not be worth the trouble to try to push this through court where there may be a claim, and, in most jurisdictions, there is not.

That being said, isn't the game technically free to play still? It just can't be played with any real success without now spending a steady stream of cash. How many employees are there at SP now? Seriously? Under the prior protocol, I was still spending money every month on the game, just not as much. I am sure that SP was quite comfortable with the revenues it was earning at that time. But now it is squeezing the players for more, players that have already invested quite a bit of time and effort into the game. I have bought VIPs and Premieres, and I have bought so many gems. I don't just do that to get ahead in the game, but I also do it because I know when a game loses a steady stream of income, it is no longer updated. I am comfortable with that. What I am not comfortable with is that now the protocol is not that you pay gems to get better monsters, catch up on events in which you fell behind, and to buy new deals that arise, but it it is now also necessary to even play the events or even to just keep up even when you are putting in the time and effort. That isn't just bad for players, but it is bad business. Most of the world cannot pay to play at the levels the game is now requiring. You will lose market base, rapidly, for as long as this continues. You are past the grace period of tolerance for veterans, and I would bet that most people that download the game now uninstall it within 3 days.

@haffathot You do realize that the owners from 5 years ago are not the same owners as today? So there really is no "prior protocol".

You actually can play this game and still get plenty of content "free", and participate in events successfully. It just may take a bit more time and effort. You may have to wait several months to get the Dragon or Monster you want so badly.

Like I said, check out other games. Most of them do not give the opportunities to earn game currency the way SP does. In fact, in many the only way to get game currency is to buy it and much content is only ever available through purchase. They give no opportunities to "win" premium items.

The only thing in SP games that has not been made available is the VIPs. Everything else has been offered or will be offered again in some event.

@LilCricketPa no, I did not know that, and that explains why the way it plays is so different now. And I have played other games, normally for a few months before the novelty is outweighed by the prices, or, alternatively, the value stays, but, the novelty dies because of no updates. ML is the only game that has kept me for years, and I now play it to the exclusion of all others. It is precisely because of the balance of purchasing opportunities to freebie opportunities that has kept me so long. That balance is gone now, and I would have dumped the game some time ago as a result if it was not for the team I founded, Mission Master Monster Mashers being, at least at it's core, a solid group of folks that look forward to this game on my team. I don't like letting folks down, but, at the same time, I feel like SP is taking advantage of me with this new owner protocol. And, like I said, I think it reflects poor business practices in the long run as far as game profitability goes.

@Jewels-Graham

@Fox said in Forum rules and guidelines:

1. Be polite and friendly to others, do not attack or insult and respect opinions of others. Any harassment, name shaming, personal attacks and inflammatory posts will not be tolerated, including any abuse or attacks towards the Social Point staff or Board Moderators.

Wanna try that post again, mate?