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Puzzle & Dragons |OT| Pokemon + Bejeweled + Dungeon RPG on iOS/Android

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Abandond

Member
OuExKWS.jpg

Should I roll with another SoD or a Persephone? I don't care about speed just being able to complete it.
 

lenni

Member
Man, Zeus comes too early for me. I'll only have 3 stones on Sunday, that's not nearly enough. Too bad, I really really want one, too! Guess it's just skilling up my Hera and Echidna then.
 

Abandond

Member
You realize you're either gonna have to two-stone hades or take tens of thousands of turns plonking at Neptune, right?

If you got it a heart changer and a poisoner those would save you a lot of grief.

Well the idea is to save enough hearts so I can morning star Neptune and heal back up for Hades and then use Keeper to not die to Hades. Only thing I'm not sure of is whether I will morning star hades or Hera.
 
Hera get!

Only spent 1 stone, but ended up getting it back at the end. Any need for Hera if I have 2 Hades or should I just hope for a skillup? I'll try and run it one more time today. 2x Max SL Sirens is so useful. Could use a few more SL's on Echidna though.
 
Which team has the lowest-stone cost for Zeus? Or are they both just too under-leveled?

Team1:
Loki the Finisher (60)
Awoken Hera (50)
Awoken Hera (40) EDIT - She is 45 now
Duke Vampire Lord (44, max skill)
CDK (47, sl2)

or Team 2:
Duke
CDK
Awoken Hera
Awoken Hera
Echidna the Red Empress (62)

I have a couple of max-level Zeus friends, at least one with like +100.

I am hoping to have some time to level up a little more but there is no guarantee for that.
 

muu

Member
Well the idea is to save enough hearts so I can morning star Neptune and heal back up for Hades and then use Keeper to not die to Hades. Only thing I'm not sure of is whether I will morning star hades or Hera.

I thought I had this wrong but let's go through this. Say you kill Neptune w/ Morning star, you got 1 health coming into Hades.

You need to save 35 turns, you get 3 turns of half damage, so you set defensive stance @ "in 3." the next time this one'll have to guard is in 21 turns, so you have it charged.

OK, so that works! long as you time it right you'll be able to stall for 40 turns before taking full damage, meaning you can 0 stone hades as well. Just keep enough hearts on hand so that you can recover before Hera hits.
 

Narras

Member
Finally got my first Hera ever! Used 0 stones, too. I am so happy about that.

I ran a Siren+Odin team with Lillith, Shingen, and 2 Rainbow Keepers as subs. Unfortunately, I am totally reliant on an Odin with a TON of HP (like 4500+).

But, who cares I finally got a Hera! :D
 

Abandond

Member
I thought I had this wrong but let's go through this. Say you kill Neptune w/ Morning star, you got 1 health coming into Hades.

You need to save 35 turns, you get 3 turns of half damage, so you set defensive stance @ "in 3." the next time this one'll have to guard is in 21 turns, so you have it charged.

OK, so that works! long as you time it right you'll be able to stall for 40 turns before taking full damage, meaning you can 0 stone hades as well. Just keep enough hearts on hand so that you can recover before Hera hits.

I am so so glad that you mentioned this because I would have definitely not thought of def stancing at in 3. Thanks a lot.

Would I morning star Hades after those 35 turns assuming I have health orbs?
 

Avallon

Member
I enjoy this game, but this article about F2P monetization specifically mentions P&D as a practitioner of the most diabolical of money making schemes. I will continue to play this game (and not spend money), but just a warning for those who may not realize they're "in too deep"

Reward Removal

This is my favorite coercive monetization technique, because it is just so powerful. The technique involves giving the player some really huge reward, that makes them really happy, and then threatening to take it away if they do not spend. Research has shown that humans like getting rewards, but they hate losing what they already have much more than they value the same item as a reward. To be effective with this technique, you have to tell the player they have earned something, and then later tell them that they did not. The longer you allow the player to have the reward before you take it away, the more powerful is the effect.

This technique is used masterfully in Puzzle and Dragons. In that game the play primarily centers around completing “dungeons”. To the consumer, a dungeon appears to be a skill challenge, and initially it is. Of course once the customer has had enough time to get comfortable with the idea that this is a skill game the difficulty goes way up and it becomes a money game. What is particularly effective here is that the player has to go through several waves of battles in a dungeon, with rewards given after each wave. The last wave is a “boss battle” where the difficulty becomes massive and if the player is in the recommended dungeon for them then they typically fail here. They are then told that all of the rewards from the previous waves are going to be lost, in addition to the stamina used to enter the dungeon (this can be 4 or more real hours of time worth of stamina).

At this point the user must choose to either spend about $1 or lose their rewards, lose their stamina (which they could get back for another $1), and lose their progress. To the brain this is not just a loss of time. If I spend an hour writing a paper and then something happens and my writing gets erased, this is much more painful to me than the loss of an hour. The same type of achievement loss is in effect here. Note that in this model the player could be defeated multiple times in the boss battle and in getting to the boss battle, thus spending several dollars per dungeon.

This technique alone is effective enough to make consumers of any developmental level spend. Just to be safe, PaD uses the same technique at the end of each dungeon again in the form of an inventory cap. The player is given a number of “eggs” as rewards, the contents of which have to be held in inventory. If your small inventory space is exceeded, again those eggs are taken from you unless you spend to increase your inventory space. Brilliant!

Read the rest of this article here as it is super interesting
 
I enjoy this game, but this article about F2P monetization specifically mentions P&D as a practitioner of the most diabolical of money making schemes. I will continue to play this game (and not spend money), but just a warning for those who may not realize they're "in too deep"



Read the rest of this article here as it is super interesting

um I disagree. Specially with the point they mentioned here being the reason to get people to spend money. They get people to spend money by the goddamn Rare pull machine during godfest and the whole 'increase multiplier OMG!!' that happens during events (cue : 3 x 0 = 0).

If you are spending money the way they suggest, you are doing it wrong. It's a strategy game that penalizes you for picking a wrong strategy, I don't see anything wrong with that.
 

Ashodin

Member
Ugh, I'm stuck in Hera Descended. Killing the mobs in here is taking forever because of the only real attacks I have are from Lucifer's Morning Star.

My team is Persephone, Keeper, Keeper, Lilith, Drawn Joker, Lucifer

I've been doing good so far, managing my health, using half damage from Keepers, and setting up big health returns after a Morning Star hit. I'm currently on Neptune, and Hades is after that, and then Hera. This is pretty nerve wracking, as I really want to get Hera and finally have her.
 

Avallon

Member
um I disagree. Specially with the point they mentioned here being the reason to get people to spend money. They get people to spend money by the goddamn Rare pull machine during godfest and the whole 'increase multiplier OMG!!' that happens during events (cue : 3 x 0 = 0).

If you are spending money the way they suggest, you are doing it wrong. It's a strategy game that penalizes you for picking a wrong strategy, I don't see anything wrong with that.

Nothing wrong with it. Just a warning and an interesting read. I think PAD is on the lower end of the "evil" scale, personally.
 

muu

Member
I enjoy this game, but this article about F2P monetization specifically mentions P&D as a practitioner of the most diabolical of money making schemes. I will continue to play this game (and not spend money), but just a warning for those who may not realize they're "in too deep"



Read the rest of this article here as it is super interesting

By this guys logic Final Fight would be the true embodiment of evil monetization schemes. Maybe he's too young to have played in a coin op arcade.
 
I made my objections about the article known in the thread.
http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=66947296

Idiot wannabe journos who don't do basic research about their subject material.

adding a link for a mobile site...for shame.

Agreed. Believe me, there are PLENTY of things to bitch about PADs demonetization strategy, but the one they picked is by far the least.

On a side note....I'm finally ready to evo my Pengdras after dungeon run today...no muthafuckin seeds. lkjqfw.,mnv;oi2eru
 

Kreed

Member
I enjoy this game, but this article about F2P monetization specifically mentions P&D as a practitioner of the most diabolical of money making schemes. I will continue to play this game (and not spend money), but just a warning for those who may not realize they're "in too deep"



Read the rest of this article here as it is super interesting

I'm sure there are some players out there spending their money in the way the author of this article is suggesting, but I think PAD would be making way more money if the money spending players were spending money on dungeon loses. Like MMBosstones86 mentioned, most of the money/stone spending comes from people trying to collect monsters from the Rare Egg machine, not through dungeon loses.

I don't see PAD as some diabolical money making scheme though. You can play this game without spending a dime as long as you have patience.
 
lol like GAF isn't blocked on my work computer.

Again the points the author brings up about PAD are exactly the ones somebody who played the game for less than a day would bring up. They might have had a valid point had they studied what whales like tubegameplayer actually spend stones towards.
 

Abandond

Member
Ugh, I'm stuck in Hera Descended. Killing the mobs in here is taking forever because of the only real attacks I have are from Lucifer's Morning Star.

My team is Persephone, Keeper, Keeper, Lilith, Drawn Joker, Lucifer

I've been doing good so far, managing my health, using half damage from Keepers, and setting up big health returns after a Morning Star hit. I'm currently on Neptune, and Hades is after that, and then Hera. This is pretty nerve wracking, as I really want to get Hera and finally have her.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Took forever. and now Im going to run it two more times.

Goig to replace the dub mithlit with Siren I think so I can change fire to health once I get onto Hera (no hearts so I used a stone, worth it though).
 

Ashodin

Member
Yeah, I know what you mean. Took forever. and now Im going to run it two more times.

Goig to replace the dub mithlit with Siren I think so I can change fire to health once I get onto Hera (no hearts so I used a stone, worth it though).

I actually died horribly on Hades (not enough health to tank a half hit), so I'm thinking of farming metals today for kings to feed to my other Dark types to get their health up. I may also need a max level Seraphim Lucifer friend.
 

Abandond

Member
I actually died horribly on Hades (not enough health to tank a half hit), so I'm thinking of farming metals today for kings to feed to my other Dark types to get their health up. I may also need a max level Seraphim Lucifer friend.

Yeah I used raiods Lucifer to do it. Starting another run now. Also Im not really sure, but you might need another keeper.
 
I actually died horribly on Hades (not enough health to tank a half hit), so I'm thinking of farming metals today for kings to feed to my other Dark types to get their health up. I may also need a max level Seraphim Lucifer friend.

Do you have Resist available? I ran with D/D Hades and Odin which knocks down 90% of the Damage. I have my Hades up if you are able to use Odin or something similar. I'm in the spreadsheet.

Odin + 2 Max SL Sirens really made things easier on the boss fights. Mobs were still a bitch though
 

Avallon

Member
I made my objections about the article known in the thread.
http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=66947296

Idiot wannabe journos who don't do basic research about their subject material.

By this guys logic Final Fight would be the true embodiment of evil monetization schemes. Maybe he's too young to have played in a coin op arcade.

As much as you disagree with the man's summation of F2P games, calling him an idiot wannabe journo is a bit off base. I'll assume since your on your phone, this will be new information to you, but the man who wrote this is (a la Linkedin):

a Consultant at Nickelodeon
an Economy and Monetization Consultant at Another Major Developer
a Monetization Designer at A Big Game Developer
a Contributing Writer at Gamasutra.com
an Applied Virtual Economist and Monetization Designer at Independent Researcher

He is the man who is responsible for how these games are monetized, and I greatly appreciate his industry insight into how that works. It's bold to report on your own profession in such a negative light, and I think his article should be praised, not vilified.
 

Ashodin

Member
As much as you disagree with the man's summation of F2P games, calling him an idiot wannabe journo is a bit off base. I'll assume since your on your phone, this will be new information to you, but the man who wrote this is (a la Linkedin):

a Consultant at Nickelodeon
an Economy and Monetization Consultant at Another Major Developer
a Monetization Designer at A Big Game Developer
a Contributing Writer at Gamasutra.com
an Applied Virtual Economist and Monetization Designer at Independent Researcher

He is the man who is responsible for how these games are monetized, and I greatly appreciate his industry insight into how that works. It's bold to report on your own profession in such a negative light, and I think his article should be praised, not vilified.

I think you're reaching here dude, or trying to defend him just to defend him. Are you the guy who wrote the article? ;)

But seriously, that article reeks of not actually plumbing the depths of research necessary to understand how the game works psychologically as opposed to the way he suggests it does. It's shallow journalism.
 

Avallon

Member
I think you're reaching here dude, or trying to defend him just to defend him. Are you the guy who wrote the article? ;)

But seriously, that article reeks of not actually plumbing the depths of research necessary to understand how the game works psychologically as opposed to the way he suggests it does. It's shallow journalism.

No... didn't write the article (http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ramin-shokrizade/0/b47/7bb), was just impressed by the information contained within.
 
No... didn't write the article, was just impressed by the information contained within.
Were you impressed by said information because it sounded science-y despite the flaws with his insight that the more knowledgeable have pointed out? I guess that's how the stereotypes about consultants got started.
 

Avallon

Member
Were you impressed by said information because it sounded science-y despite the flaws with his insight that the more knowledgeable have pointed out? I guess that's how the stereotypes about consultants got started.

I was impressed that he was willing to expose monetization methods (which just sound pure evil) to the people who buy his games. Maybe people on GAF don't buy the way he claims consumers do, but I'd be willing to the bet that most people do.

Unless his Linkedin profile is fake, his assertions comes from a place of knowledge.
 
Dude used to make thousands a month farming and selling MMO items and currency to people, then decided to legitimate title and become a consultant bearing the title of virtual economist.

He's legit, though this article is super duper lazy in a lot of ways.
 
As expected, I'm stuck farming the stupid friday dungeon trying to get the very last dub-topalit needed to evolve hades so that I can run hera. This game can just be so enraging at times. Whenever you need something to drop, it won't. Then you end up with a surplus with it the day after you needed it.

Edit: Also, can anyone tell me if I ultimate evolve a monster already at a level, does it maintain the level it is at or does it go back to level 1 after the ultimate evo?
 

muu

Member
As much as you disagree with the man's summation of F2P games, calling him an idiot wannabe journo is a bit off base. I'll assume since your on your phone, this will be new information to you, but the man who wrote this is (a la Linkedin):

a Consultant at Nickelodeon
an Economy and Monetization Consultant at Another Major Developer
a Monetization Designer at A Big Game Developer
a Contributing Writer at Gamasutra.com
an Applied Virtual Economist and Monetization Designer at Independent Researcher

He is the man who is responsible for how these games are monetized, and I greatly appreciate his industry insight into how that works. It's bold to report on your own profession in such a negative light, and I think his article should be praised, not vilified.

That's great and all, but the point we're getting at is that he essentially wrote bullshit based on assumptions of what he THOUGHT was the monetization scheme for PAD. You get enough free stones that the casual player continuing play in the same fashion he explains won't get them a dime, they just added enough depth that those players could eventually grow into endgame players where you must have that certain monster for a team. He's not far off from the answer, just that it's plain obvious he used his professional knowledge to come to a conclusion instead of doing any real research.

The fact that he's off base here doesn't make him any less of a professional on his field. Don't mix those two up.
 

Avallon

Member
That's great and all, but the point we're getting at is that he essentially wrote bullshit based on assumptions of what he THOUGHT was the monetization scheme for PAD. You get enough free stones that the casual player continuing play in the same fashion he explains won't get them a dime, they just added enough depth that those players could eventually grow into endgame players where you must have that certain monster for a team. He's not far off from the answer, just that it's plain obvious he used his professional knowledge to come to a conclusion instead of doing any real research.

The fact that he's off base here doesn't make him any less of a professional on his field. Don't mix those two up.

I am one of those casual players. I haven't spent a dime on this game, but once you get to a certain point (which I suspect I'm at now) progress slows to a halt. I'm very slowly powering through, but I think I may drop this game for the 3DS version when we get it. I love how it plays, but I feel like it would be much more fun without the F2P restrictions, and I'm hoping the 3DS title scratches that itch.
 
I was impressed that he was willing to expose monetization methods (which just sound pure evil) to the people who buy his games. Maybe people on GAF don't buy the way he claims consumers do, but I'd be willing to the bet that most people do.

Unless his Linkedin profile is fake, his assertions comes from a place of knowledge.
Players who don't understand that the eggs you get from the dungeons are trash might at first. Then they learn those were common mobs and that there's really no harm done by quitting the dungeon and losing those collected eggs. But somebody who quit the game early on would never come to that realization.

Ironically the players I've seen who give up at PAD before Castle of Satan are exactly the ones described in the article: the ones who complain that the game is too hard and stone when they die rather than try to figure out a new game plan. They quit cause the game is boring and unrewarding.

Meanwhile I guarantee that every invested player, both in this thread and elsewhere, will claim that clearing a dungeon without spending any IAP is the ideal play, and that being forced to spend stones is a actually a negative feedback mechanism! Seems completely contrary to what was stated in the article, no?
 

muu

Member
I am one of those casual players. I haven't spent a dime on this game, but once you get to a certain point (which I suspect I'm at now) progress slows to a halt. I'm very slowly powering through, but I think I may drop this game for the 3DS version when we get it. I love how it plays, but I feel like it would be much more fun without the F2P restrictions, and I'm hoping the 3DS title scratches that itch.

If we keep running on the PAD scheme, it'll go like this:

You hit a "wall." I'm assuming this is Castle of Satan or something of the like. You used stones randomly, you got a "half decent" rare off the first pull, that doesn't let you get far enough. At this point, a lot of people will call it quits. Others will start doing research, and get insight on a few things:

Re-rolling till you get a God. "but I've gotten so far on this game!" People that can't chalk up a loss here will be gone. Those that do decide they want a strong starting character, will spend a few hours and get a satisfactory god. You blow past your previous 'walls,' until things start slowing down again. You need to do some end-game dungeons to get better stuff to make your farming go faster, or so that you can get away from that dark PT that you always relied on.

Godfest rolls around. There's that Horus/Isis/Orochi/etc that you wanted, waiting for you on a silver platter. You got 30 free stones saved up, go all out... and nothing. "eh, I've spent enough time on this game, I could donate some cash!" there goes 23 bucks. No dice on the rolls, but you get a Siren that you always wanted.

"OK, a few more times!" There goes another 23 bucks. Nothing. At this point you got some folks that'll keep going, others that'll call it quits on the roll. Either way, there's plenty of leveling to be done and farming to be done, and you likely won't turn away a player here. The stuff you 'didnt want' likely translates to another setup, so unless that Horus was the ONLY thing you wanted, most people should walk away somewhat satisfied. This, I believe, is the true scheme behind PAD; in places like Japan where it's major (or on forums where you have more support), the stuck/quit part is alleviated, because as soon as you run into it people will tell you the solution (reroll), and the fact that it's not nearly as difficult as it sounds at the level where the players are at.

Again, he's right that players have something invested in the game and that's how they get their money; he's just wrong on HOW they get people to spend the money, and as many folks here have explained, that's because he never got over the hump where you have the option of becoming a big IAP player.
 

Avallon

Member

I feel like what you are describing is a small minority of players. This game is number one on the app store. Games that are number one on the app store do not have a majority of players who do research on how to spend the least amount of money possible.

People will hit a wall and drop a few bucks to get past it; most people with this game installed on their phone are not doing zero-stone Hera runs or rerolling to get a God.
 
Which team has the lowest-stone cost for Zeus? Or are they both just too under-leveled?

Team1:
Loki the Finisher (60)
Awoken Hera (50)
Awoken Hera (40) EDIT - She is 45 now
Duke Vampire Lord (44, max skill)
CDK (47, sl2)

or Team 2:
Duke
CDK
Awoken Hera
Awoken Hera
Echidna the Red Empress (62)

I have a couple of max-level Zeus friends, at least one with like +100.

I am hoping to have some time to level up a little more but there is no guarantee for that.

Any suggestions? I do have a few more red pengras I can use on Echidna and I can try to get a bit more metal for the dark pieces.
 

muu

Member
I feel like what you are describing is a small minority of players. This game is number one on the app store. Games that are number one on the app store do not have a majority of players who do research on how to spend the least amount of money possible.

People will hit a wall and drop a few bucks to get past it; most people with this game installed on their phone are not doing zero-stone Hera runs or rerolling to get a God.

#1 where? In Japan. In the US it's in the top 20-50 on the "grossing side" but that's about as far as it's getting right now, which I see as a sign that in the US, it's being supported by "whales." Most casuals won't ever find this game, and when they do, there's enough stones that light players likely won't ever spend a cent, or feel vested enough in the game to pay.

And it got that way because of steps I described above. The difficulty makes it a perfect "communication game," sort of like how Monster Hunter is/was one way you could interact w/ acquaintances. The depth of play means you got puzzle elements and party setup, along w/ farming efficiency, that could be talked and debated about. The friends system obligates you to play every once in a while to stay in the loop. Requirements for end-game dungeons means that to "keep up" you're going to pay a hefty sum to get your leaders and party good and proper.
 
Any suggestions? I do have a few more red pengras I can use on Echidna and I can try to get a bit more metal for the dark pieces.
You need Echidna to save time on Zeus and potentially the chimeras if you can fit it in. Every turn that Zeus is alive is a stone spent, so she is very important. I would recommend Loki leader with Duke, Hera, Hera, Echidna, and a Zues friend. Duke's orb change on such a short timer could be crucial which is why I suggested him instead of CDK, in addition to overall better stats.
 
I feel like what you are describing is a small minority of players. This game is number one on the app store. Games that are number one on the app store do not have a majority of players who do research on how to spend the least amount of money possible.

People will hit a wall and drop a few bucks to get past it; most people with this game installed on their phone are not doing zero-stone Hera runs or rerolling to get a God.
There is no incentive for players to continue playing in the "spend money to continue until you clear wall" method. The article posits that the motivation is because of reward removal; however once players realize that said rewards are common drops through extended play that motivation vanishes.

In fact certain bosses later in the game are either extremely time-consuming (on the order of hours) or flat out impossible to clear if you attempt to beat it via IAP attrition. Eventually players will claim bullshit and quit the game.

The cases where a rare, substantial reward monster does drop typically happens at the end of the dungeon, and in instances where the previous stipulation doesn't apply do not drop at a fixed rate. "Reward removal" only works when you assure the player will receive the reward if they pay up.

In the rare cases where a desirable monster does drop in the middle of a run and you fail to clear the dungeon, you absolutely should spend as much IAP as possible to clear that dungeon. I don't even need a finger to count the number of times this situation has occurred, and others here can probably do so with on one hand. This is not a sustainable business plan if reward removal is the dominant strategy.
 

Ashodin

Member
Running back into Hera Descended with a much larger HP pool this time, I think I can get past Hades no trouble. 6 turns between each hit, I'll have to make sure I get back to full HP basically. Here's hoping!
 

Dispatch

Member
Running back into Hera Descended with a much larger HP pool this time, I think I can get past Hades no trouble. 6 turns between each hit, I'll have to make sure I get back to full HP basically. Here's hoping!

Good luck!
I failed miserably today, and spent stones doing it...sigh.
 
You need Echidna to save time on Zeus and potentially the chimeras if you can fit it in. Every turn that Zeus is alive is a stone spent, so she is very important. I would recommend Loki leader with Duke, Hera, Hera, Echidna, and a Zues friend. Duke's orb change on such a short timer could be crucial which is why I suggested him instead of CDK, in addition to overall better stats.

Thanks. How many stones are we looking at?
 
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