Recent posts by Tyedyeguy on Kongregate

Topic: Call of Gods / [Event] Great gift for Purchasing(ended)

See here’s the thing. There’s a whole brand new server they just opened. To the thousands of new people who don’t read the Kong boards, and aren’t aware of these issues – this might seem like a BRILLIANT idea to get a jump up on the competition and rule the server!

of course, this is because they know the new members will replace the old server 4 members. And just like servers 1, 2 and 3, when it slows down, they’ll just ‘merge’ them. Thanks for the money!

Once the people leave one server, all NEW people on the new server line their pockets.

It’s a business, but you have to wonder what their model is. Do they want to make a killer video game that people enjoy? Or do they run a video casino, where the big spenders get the best chances at the best stuff, until they run out, or get bored, and the next big spender shows up.

The OJ hero cards + gems, or the Red card plus gems, those are for the new players. Is it a coincidence that a new server just sprang up, right as they have a sale with prices that seem crazy – to someone who knows they can earn it. But not to someone who just started.

I started a new character on server 7. Level 10, and I’ve already got my first OJ hero. Not from a card, but from the Tavern. Why would I ever buy an OJ card, when I can just get one – eventually – from the auction house?

Because they don’t want to wait, they have the money, and it’s going to get them over whatever obstacle they think is in front of them. A new server means new money coming in. Once server 4 is dead, they’ll ‘merge’ it with a then dying 5 and 6, and the two old NEW servers, 8 and 9 will be mad at the new event because the prices will be OUTRAGEOUS, but server 10 will be smoking HOT and will replace the dying 5 and 6.

And so it goes.

Topic: Call of Gods / Please have another score event...

I see a webcomic in the making. Too bad sarcasm doesn’t seem to translate.

Topic: Call of Gods / Advanced Wheel: Modifications & Improvements

DSINC: It’s not a HUGE gain to high level players, yet still rewards them (as they’re the most active, most PAYING customers COG has) for spending more money.

In fact, this would be a HUGE money spinner if they instituted it. The problem is, they LIKE the randomness. It makes people play more, not less.

It’s a simply psychological theory offered up by BF Skinner, who invented Behaviorism (skinner taught pigeons to target airplanes, before computers were developed enough to do it for us). In Behaviorism, there are the ideas of positive (adding) reinforcement and negative (removing something) reinforcement.

The big key is frequency. The test results of reinforcement were that it worked, worked, worked every time. BUT, if you changed the payouts from EVERY time, to RANDOMLY, then you get the same results, in a slower amount of time, with less overall payouts. This is the idea behind slot machines. You don’t pay every time, but you pay JUST often enough, with the lure of the ‘big payout’ keeping you playing.

In Asia right now, the idea is video games are nothing more than casinos. They are run with the same mentality, and methodology. Pay to win. Pay more gold, get powerful EARLIER. It rewards new people, who want to spend their way to winning. The more you pay, the more times you get a CHANCE at something cool.

This is why they LOVE the boxes. It’s a CHANCE at something cool. Not a guarantee. A CHANCE. The wheel, with resource boxes? Even more chance to get crap. Instead of knowing you get a fantastic red gem, you get a CHANCE at getting a fantastic red gem (odds are VERY rare to spin it, and VERY RARE to get the good red gem from the box), so you have to spin, spin, spin for even a CHANCE at something cool.

I do hope they actually use this suggestion, and it would be a move AWAY from the ‘casino video game’ mentality to ‘video game company’.

The casino mentality – don’t fix bugs, keep people playing. Don’t pander to high level players, pander to people who want to pay for power. Keep things as random for payouts as possible. This keeps the ‘very rare’ items likely to never payoff without thousands of “real world” dollars/yen/lira being spent.

Congrats on a VERY good business idea, and video game idea. Unless the CEO and dev team stop thinking of it like a casino, and start thinking of it as a video game company, we’re not likely to see much change. Casinos make MILLIONS, without having to actually develop good games beyond the basic structure.

Topic: Call of Gods / [Event] Extra Bark Monster, Tramp Master & Red Gem: Level Your Troops Up!

I went to Yahoo translate. I translated the paragraph:
“As is well-known, heroes with Senior Soldier on COG will help player to increase your troops’ strength. You can’t training Bark Monster or Tramp Master at Boot Camp. During the event, player whose accumulative recharge meets our requirements will get awesome Gifts on COG. Hurry up to obtain them now.”

Into Chinese and got this:
“象知名的，有资深战士的英雄嵌齿轮的将帮助球员增加您的军队实力。 您不能训练吠声妖怪或流浪者大师在新兵训练所。 在事件期间，累积再充电见面的球员我们的要求将得到在嵌齿轮的令人敬畏的礼物。 仓促现在获得他们。”

I then translated it BACK into English with Yahoo Translate and got this:
“Looks like well-known, will have the senior soldier’s heroic wheel cog to help the player to increase your army strength. You cannot train the bark monster or hobo master in the boot camp. In event period, the accumulation overcharging meets the player our request will obtain in the wheel cog formidable gift. The hasty present obtains them.”

So as you can see, the real problem is translation. I believe they are simply using a tool like Yahoo Translate, and are just happy with the results. Some of our replies, translated back, lose the real cut, jist, or vibe of what we are trying to tell them about how we feel. It’s a shame they don’t seem to want actual translators.