Return Expresso

I think removing expresso and changing the MM structure is clearly a move by the company to increase MM purchases. Having expresso cut some lengthy production times in half, give you rent twice as fast or other was GREAT! Now the only option appears to be getting that production or rent outright by using MM. What a farce!
Please consider going back to having expresso! I'm sure I'm not the only one displeased by this change!

 

I agree - I had some hope that they would have shortened productiontime in all future events - it doesnt seem like it, so not even worth trying completeing all tasks.

 

I don't think what you ask for is ever gonna happen as the game is clearly moving in another direction disregarding players wishes. I posted a question regarding this move to see if they will be able to at least provide any reasonable explanation.

https://board-en.risingcities.com/threads/x-presso-debacle.20649/

Remember from the OA the producer made the X-presso the number one enemy of the team, saying the X-presso must go, otherwise they can't develop the game. Clearly, this X-presso thing, however great it was for players, doesn't fit either his concept, or his planning abilities. I don't expect them to repent from this position and acknowledge their mistake.

Nevertheless keep asking to let them know what they have already known even before they made the change, but didn't bother anyway.

 

Some info from the German forum, if you don't mind:

One moderator there clearly explained/stated, that X-Presso simply was too cheap, or, the other way around, its effect was too great. And basically said flat out that the company wanted to get what the effect was worth. This could be somewhat read between the lines in the Producer's Letter too, but rather vaguely (I think).

A community manager also stated that there will definitely be no changes to this change. He also stated however that there are going to be changes in the near future which players will welcome a lot more. (Whatever that means.)

You'd probably get similar info/answers here too if you put it in the right section of the forum, not here or SC. As there is no discussion thread in the head section of the forum, using the Feedback to the Producer's Letter Thread might work better?

 

They are going to have to do something seriously good to compensate for this debacle.

 

Thanks bababandos. I pretty much know the correct answers and I'm sort of glad you are confirming it. I'm just challenging them to come into the open. And was wondering if they can raise to the challenge.

The positive things comming might be new playfield and RI workshop. Which will enhance the game, but will by no means compensate for this X-presso debacle (unless they implement X-presso type RI in the workshop). It's understood they don't want us to enjoy the game in this way and rather want to make it more difficult again to force people to buy more MM. At least this is what I read between the lines and what gives me confidence they won't listen even if there was one milion complaints. Btw does anybody still want to believe they listen to players even despite these obvious evidences?

Anyway, it seems German forum has some brave moderators not affraid to speak the facts as they are. We here tend to get more politicaly correct fuzzy answers for these issues, which don't reveal the true nature of the point in question.

 

My opinion is that people either pay for MM or they don't. I don't, and there is absolutely nothing they can do to change that. If I couldn't build anything at all without paying real cash, I would just move on. Game Over.
BigPoint might think that's no problem, they are not here to provide a game for people like me. But what about that advert I have to watch at every log on? Making money from that BP? What about the adverts I watch in the cinema? A bit of revenue for BP there too maybe?
BP need to be very careful of the total DISDAIN they are showing to their players.

 

@nortoncommander - they (the mods there) don't exactly give out this kind of info freely, the community is just pressing a lot harder then here, and eventually one of them bursts/cracks

I too thought something along that line before the update, so it didn't surprise me much. I still like the game a lot and a slightly altered strategy will make it work almost the same way for me as before with X-Presso.

However, I think they do listen, in a way. I'm sure there is going to be some kind of increased production along with more playing fields. But whatever it is, it's going to have two "tracks" - one smaller/slower etc. for free, and one bigger/faster etc. for $. There is going to be lots of other things with the same principle, and I don't mind it. For some I even pay, when I consider their benefits personal fun. As long as I don't feel being forced (even ever so subtle-ly [?]). And yes, it would be nice if they stated things more directly/honestly. I can read between the lines, but I prefer more straightforward approaches (I'm very German, lol)

@brucenic - I've never seen those adverts before the game, can't you block them? As for the cinema, of course they get real cash for that and give you pixels in return (albeit somewhat valuable ones within the game). I've never built the cinema and have a rather strong opinion about that (for myself, not others), but I do give them a little credit for making it 15 MM per film for those who use it.

 

@Bababandos - The cinema is great; my favourite building . And I have no problem being marketed to as the in game benefit is worth it (to me anyway). My point was that "non-paying" players are still generating actual cash for BP.

I also accept that players paying cash will be able to do things quicker and will have nicer stuff in their cities. Of course they will. But the non-payers should still be able to get there; albeit eventually. At the moment eventually is a very very long way away. And maybe these changes have made it too far.

 

I'm another mayor not happy about losing my expresso. I had and lost 160 of them and already my game is struggling without them. I haven't got any new challenges since Jan. all i had was upgrade my city hall so i did that and it gave me another upgrade city hall so i just finished that one ... it took the mods a few days to get me my rewards. Now i have yet a 3rd upgrade my city hall to level 7 and i looked it up today and did a little math .... if i use my brickyards just for the materials needed for my city hall and nothing else ... I'm looking at 27 days of production. So that means for the next month my city will be at a stand still ... NO growth, no upgrades, no new challenges, and no new buildings. I feel the developers should have least let us keep the expresso that we had i worked a long time to get them. One last thing i would like to add is i was saving my MM to purchase your modern apartment tower which was 99 MM. And seeing that you turned my expresso into MM to try and cheer myself up i was going to purchase this new building and to my surprise it's gone..? What happened to that building and is it coming back ?
.

 

I used to support no production increase side. Well, no more. Famous BP spoil-the-game machine once again dealt it's deadly blow. Poor X-hero stood no chance against this brutal, merciless force. Maybe it's finally time to revive production buildings to level 4. And maybe it's why they spoiled it so bad in the first place: to enable Improvements and Mastery and Level 4 in production buildings. Now they can finally rest in peace with no X-perados roaming around and focus on actually improving the game. Not so difficult after they slam the brakes on our industrial revolution. The death of X-presso could result in a new life sprawling elsewhere. There's always hope boys and girls.

Beautiful fairytale, huh? Sweet dreams.

 

@nortoncommandor welcome to the production increase army. We need your wit, voice, and energy. I like your fairytale. Per chance to dream the sweet dreams of success.

 

I think the point of all these changes was primarily to take away production. Remember that the option to buy 2 sawmills was taken away a month ago?
These RC guys had a good game, but now they are just slowly ruining it.
It is such a shame. I am so disappointed.

 

yes beautiful fairytale

 

You are so right! They are turning the game in to trash, but i do think that they will make the game better at some point. I think they will find that too many people hate this update and they will be forced to replace the x-presso. But i fear that this might not happen for a while. I also think that they will turn the game into something very limited for non-mm players like me. But i do have hope and i am not finding it that hard to play without x-presso, but it is a lot more time consuming. The game has been made a lot lot lot Harder for use non-mm player

 

Thanks for your warm welcome. Unfortunately I don't think any wits, voices or energy will have any effect on the game direction for some time. As I stated before I believe they are just following their reconstruction route and at this point they don't bother about our oppinion. Since I put the game on back burner myself (no strategy, no development, just occasional routine production and rent collection) I will rather save my energy for something better at the moment, and wait a few weeks / months to see where the game's going.

By all means keep campaigning as they might take notice later, but for this time, I suspect it will be internal statistical data that will have the major say about their stance towards this change. We've had our say, can't say much more, just repeat what has already been said or add new voices to support the cause and keep the threads alive.

Also since they are very secretive about their plans and development it might be that my little fairytale has already been on their agenda. But if it has, I still don't think they would give the secret out easily.

 

If our speculation is correct and that is all we have. That the powers at BP want to slow the game down through the reduction of production. That is fine. All I want is for them to come forward and say. "We found the game was progressing at to fast a pace and made these changes to slow the play down because ..." fill in the blanks. We are mostly adults and will understand a logical argument. But all of the silence is driving us into a fury.

@nortoncommander I like your plan and I may follow it also.

 

Far from fury. Just indifferent, really. It's only a silly game, nothing more. Click here, click there, repeat hundred times ....... For them, though, it's their livelyhood.

I beg your pardon. Repeat milion times ......... lol

 

I agree and it is click and repeat click ad nausea.

 

From my point of view, the Currency Rework was a nice thing to happen, since i wasn't using so many X-Presso (Only for some events, especially for the biker's rally - no big loss if i don't finish this event). Instead, for more than 500 X-Presso I got about 2500 MM, so i bought some beautiful water towers.

So yes, X-Presso may be gone (for a while or forever), but i think it was a good idea since with MM you can buy extra building permits and extra plots, if you don't use them to finish a batch of products or to collect rent much quickly (which is in my case). Another good thing it was that, instead of X-Presso rewards, you get MM.