Event - Winter Event 2023 Feedback Thread (2024)

Knight of ICE said:

There is no bug, so you are just facing bad luck.

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If too many people face "bad luck" then it's not bad luck, it's bad design!

You are not meant to get the key on every board, that is intentional. Good or bad design, but it is what it is.

So far, I have found the event distinctly underwhelming, stacked as it is with poor daily specials that I still have to take when there happens to be a key on the board. However, if someone’s strategy is to wait it out until there by chance happens to be a daily they like, they can also just stack up their stars in anticipation, do one task a day and then click away. Like many events used to be before the mini games. Shall I spell out boring? Give me an event with something I can do for a bit longer than it takes to place a production building or pay some fps, and I’ll be much happier. The boredom of the event is definitely contributing to my sense of general boredom also with the end of the GbG championship and the lack of information about Guild Raids, something devs may not have been able to predict but there is a definite lack of buzz right now.

The calendar reward is great but definitely requires dimes to be spent on either key fragments or through the elf shop for the same or more stars. Fair on all counts, but potentially disappointing for those who still think that daily play of any kind is going to give you even a passing chance to complete the calendar, as I think you are led to believe through the announcement. A bit more Christmas cheer for players might have been welcome.

More generally, but linked to the side buildings also of this event, I have to say that I like the current focus on making players think about the happiness and population they have available, and appreciate how there has also been a (by accident maybe, but I’m hoping it was by design) a requirement to focus on getting aided. Not being able to just fill a city with more op buildings, without there being a penalty and requirement to look at the overall balance, is adding something to the mix that has been distinctly lacking for a good while.

There seems to be a bug with the Winter Event mini-game. For the calendar to be possible, you need to offer a master key at least once every day. Ideally, a key should be available on a newly reshuffled board.

The challenge with any game design is to ensure it remains challenging enough to keep the players engaged, but not so hard that they give up. Then, to maintain that balance as their skills increase.

Against this criteria, this winter game is a failure. Nearly all in my guild gave up on the calendar after the keys didn't appear for the first 2-4 days. This caused them to comment negatively about the game. Reducing your customer sentiment.

Even when there is a key the odds of getting it are low. ~5.5% per attempt, while this increases with each attempt, so does the chance of the shuffle. Thus true odds are ~2%. So having keys always available shouldn't hurt your gameplay much.

Yes the daily challenge, if completed for each of 32 days, yields an avg 14.72 keys.
Those able to complete all daily quests get 1335 stars. So can pick 133 prizes. Which yields an expected average <14 keys. (less if they are distracted by the daily prize)
This gets them so close they would be encouraged to spend a few diamonds to complete the calendar they've been striving to get for the past month.

Without the calendar, the event becomes nothing. Maybe you can try for the daily prize. Which you will get only one that day, if you are lucky.
A few daily prizes are worthwhile. But given the huge increase in recent buildings, event building upgrades from even 2 years ago are obsolete.

Yes, the event building is quite good so people will play. But there is no Game in the mini-game. Without the calendar, it is a boring "scratchie" without a prize.

Action Required: Please consider changing the mini-game so that a Master Key appears in every game.
Hope this helps

Davele said:

Without the calendar, the event becomes nothing. Maybe you can try for the daily prize. Which you will get only one that day, if you are lucky.
A few daily prizes are worthwhile. But given the huge increase in recent buildings, event building upgrades from even 2 years ago are obsolete.

Yes, the event building is quite good so people will play. But there is no Game in the mini-game. Without the calendar, it is a boring "scratchie" without a prize.

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I don't think so and what's going to matter is what's in for Inno with this winter event.

All the ones on my friends list that I expected to spent have already spent and for some nearly a week ago. It's not the calendar but the Elves' Workshop that's important here as that's the place to get or finish your 10 nutcrackers guardhouses upgrades. All the ones I expected to go for have 10 full upgraded ones already up. It'll be the same for the building you get from finishing the calendar. P2W/whales don't care about how many keys they'll get during the mini-game, we/they just toss the required diamonds during the last day.

The difficulty for Inno is to make sure it's interesting for all of us, freeloaders, soft spenders, P2W and whales. Certain rewards are for everyone to be able to get and others are for a limited group.

Knight of ICE said:

I don't agree with you. The nutcrakcer guardhouse is part of the daylies and part of the Epic Winter 2023 selection kit, that is also part of the daylies. Getting it from the daylies is a serious option. It will be cheaper than getting it from the Elves.

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You are correct Ice but that was not my point here. It's not about the nutcracker guardhouse but the upgrade to level 2 and if you go for 10 you'll have to get 6 or 7 from the Elves. There's also the fact that some players used to spent may simply not wait for a daily for the level 1 and secure 10 full upgraded to level 2 as soon as they can through the Elves. And for Inno it's actually part of the € revenue as will be the calendar for this event from the P2W and whales. I don't see or even expect P2W or whales go for the main event building, just the full upgraded to level 2 nutcracker guardhouses and may be the calendar. This is also what I see on P-server from the usual diamond/€,$,£ spenders.

That's correct Ice that players like me want to have it right away. This of course doesn't mean it's easy mode for us, it isn't always and we have our own challenges during events.

I spent nearly 9 hours the first day during the soccer 2023 event, finished close to midnight, as I wanted a maximum of windmill selection kits to maximize my investment. Also on this level of spending there's not trick that works, it's finishing every damn board,

Folks complained about the mini game during the new Halloween event including how long it took them to do three free mini card games a day. I ended up with close to 7 fully upgraded labs, that's a lot more of mini card games a day.

Nidwin said:

That's correct Ice that players like me want to have it right away. This of course doesn't mean it's easy mode for us, it isn't always and we have our own challenges during events.

I spent nearly 9 hours the first day during the soccer 2023 event, finished close to midnight, as I wanted a maximum of windmill selection kits to maximize my investment. Also on this level of spending there's not trick that works, it's finishing every damn board,

Folks complained about the mini game during the new Halloween event including how long it took them to do three free mini card games a day. I ended up with close to 7 fully upgraded labs, that's a lot more of mini card games a day.

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Why are you finishing every board when there isn't a key on every board? You can always see whether you have a board with a key or not. If there is no key you just wait for the board to re-set.

I don't like this event. It's boring and I don't like games based purely on luck. Bring back the Halloween style game. That was the best one yet.

I Am The Cat said:

Why are you finishing every board when there isn't a key on every board? You can always see whether you have a board with a key or not. If there is no key you just wait for the board to re-set.

I don't like this event. It's boring and I don't like games based purely on luck. Bring back the Halloween style game. That was the best one yet.

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I was actually mentioning the soccer event and not the winter event here. Although the principle applies here too. I wanted 18 nutcrackers so when I switched and received the epic winter pack as daily, after switch, I had to finish a board or get a shuffle to get 18 dailies -> 18 nutcrackers guardhouses.

Forgehunter987 said:

Is it just me or is anyone else annoyed by the constant interruption from the automatic application of the matchsticks and the candle lighting? I just want to be able to open the presents without interruption !! :-(

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Kind of, but you can click/tap during those to end them.

So far an easy event to get the Maxed Main Prize - No diamonds with a lot of days left.

The event provided so many Nut Crackers that the ketebo frags are now of no use. Saved me many months of acquisition; I am now mass-aid self-sufficient!

At first glance, the new retreat bldgs. would seem to be over-powered, but they require a large population to build so that's good.

Overall, a great Christmas Event - the prizes are truly gifts - even the calendar has some really good prizes.

Calendar Keys

10 days out of the last 12, no calendar key on the initial daily grid.
Tried to shuffle one. Wasted more than 300 stars, going through 5 shuffles and didn't get a single key on any of them. That's a bit harsh don't you think, since stars aren't exactly plentiful ? Should be at least 50/50 key chance each new screen, and once you've located one, should automatically roll onto any subsequent shuffle screen. Feeling pretty ripped off right now.

mrbeef said:

This is poo compared to events from many years pf playing. Four days now and I still have not dropped a Calendar Key. I am thinking that it will be impossible to win the month challenge.... and please Knight of ICE do not reply to me. I find your posts VERY ABRUPT, ABRASIVE, and in some cases RUDE.

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All you can do is save your stars on days when the keys don't appear - do the daily challenge to get master key parts and hope to fill in the gaps - This was working real well for me for the first few days, but then I had a run of no keys appearing on the initial board for 10 out of 12 days. Even when I did take the plunge and use stars to chase a shuffle and hope for a new board with a key it didn't work. One day I went through 5 shuffles and still didn't get a key on the board on any of the resets. Looks impossible unless you spend a truck load of diamonds at the end to fill in the missing key parts or are extremely lucky with your guesses each day.

Urukbaatar said:

Should be at least 50/50 key chance each new screen.

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There is a 50/50 chance with each new screen. There either is one or not.

Urukbaatar said:

and once you've located one, should automatically roll onto any subsequent shuffle screen. Feeling pretty ripped off right now.

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Yes, that would be great. Two shuffles on one board with more chance to miss the daily.

Agent327 said:

Yes, that would be great. Two shuffles on one board with more chance to miss the daily.

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I think you misunderstood that part. I believe this is what is meant:

and once you have located a key it should automatically carry on to the following boards, until collected.

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shadowblackff said:

and once you have located a key it should automatically carry on to the following boards, until collected.

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How would that make sense?

This event is way to long.

And the useless pop ups gotta go.