Dragon Story RANT

[mattyturz]

:confused:

I would like to start out by saying that I play Dragon Story everyday. And by 'play,' of course I mean take 5 minutes each day to mate my dragons, hatch my eggs, plant my food, and gift 3 neighbors. Sometimes when I'm feeling frisky, I'll change my decor up a bit, whether that means adding one of the 3 decorative castles or even adding a footpath (because a footpath is really necessary in a game with no people who actually come to your park). I am at a relatively high level (34), and I have a few rare and super rare dragons, which I treasure quite dearly. I even got my girlfriend to start playing Dragon Story, which she casually enjoys for 5 minutes a day as well.

That being said, I would never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever in a million years even possibly consider spending ACTUAL money on gold. I admit, I'm sure I'm not the target demographic which TeamLava expects to pay (I'm 22, male, a college graduate), and I'm sure they're more interested in preteens with access to Mommy or Daddy's credit card. I just don't understand why this has to be the case. As a casual gamer, I have no problem paying for games. I understand the hard work and effort that goes along with making them, and don't even mind paying upwards of $50 bucks for platform games that I play for 1/10 of the length I play DS for. Because of this, I have no problem with the idea of dropping a few dollars on some mobile games.

But paying actual money for gold in a game I only can play for 5 minutes a day? Never. I'd rather donate my dollar to charity then spend a dollar speeding up a breeding that is only going to lead to another Fruitful dragon. Weekly Updates? Why don't you try and actually CHANGE something, other then adding new 'super rare' dragons which are deceptively easy to breed? (2 tries for the honeybee, 2 tries for the landworm). All of the games have the same design anyway, I don't understand how it would be hard from a programming standpoint to actually put effort into improving the game.

As for suggestions, I have plenty. I can think of a million ways to increase playability of the game, which will lead people spending real money, which should be the purpose of starting a company. But I don't work for you. It isn't my job to help you improve your game (at least not for free, if you guys want to hire me as a content strategist then I'd be more than willing to help out) Until then, I'll continue to play my 5 minutes a day and hope for the best.

[azychan]

So, what?
I'm 20 years old, i don't have credits card. I just use golds that was sent by my neighbors, I used to lose more than 50golds because of a stupid reason and i had 1 gold. 2 weeks after, i have 79 golds without paying money.
In sum, if you want to complain about spending real money, i think it unnecessary, we still can play the game

[bakeryipad2]

:confused:

I would like to start out by saying that I play Dragon Story everyday. And by 'play,' of course I mean take 5 minutes each day to mate my dragons, hatch my eggs, plant my food, and gift 3 neighbors. Sometimes when I'm feeling frisky, I'll change my decor up a bit, whether that means adding one of the 3 decorative castles or even adding a footpath (because a footpath is really necessary in a game with no people who actually come to your park). I am at a relatively high level (34), and I have a few rare and super rare dragons, which I treasure quite dearly. I even got my girlfriend to start playing Dragon Story, which she casually enjoys for 5 minutes a day as well.

That being said, I would never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever in a million years even possibly consider spending ACTUAL money on gold. I admit, I'm sure I'm not the target demographic which TeamLava expects to pay (I'm 22, male, a college graduate), and I'm sure they're more interested in preteens with access to Mommy or Daddy's credit card. I just don't understand why this has to be the case. As a casual gamer, I have no problem paying for games. I understand the hard work and effort that goes along with making them, and don't even mind paying upwards of $50 bucks for platform games that I play for 1/10 of the length I play DS for. Because of this, I have no problem with the idea of dropping a few dollars on some mobile games.

But paying actual money for gold in a game I only can play for 5 minutes a day? Never. I'd rather donate my dollar to charity then spend a dollar speeding up a breeding that is only going to lead to another Fruitful dragon. Weekly Updates? Why don't you try and actually CHANGE something, other then adding new 'super rare' dragons which are deceptively easy to breed? (2 tries for the honeybee, 2 tries for the landworm). All of the games have the same design anyway, I don't understand how it would be hard from a programming standpoint to actually put effort into improving the game.

As for suggestions, I have plenty. I can think of a million ways to increase playability of the game, which will lead people spending real money, which should be the purpose of starting a company. But I don't work for you. It isn't my job to help you improve your game (at least not for free, if you guys want to hire me as a content strategist then I'd be more than willing to help out) Until then, I'll continue to play my 5 minutes a day and hope for the best.
Ok, try to write this on the suggestions topic. I don't understand why you wrote this? You won't spend money on the game, so what should we do. As you said this game focuses on pre teens willing to pay .

[bakeryipad2]

Just because you don't pay money doesn't mean others shouldn't. People can do whatever they want regarding finance.

[mattyturz]

Improve the game. Add some stuff other than a dragon a week. All I'm saying that you should want people to spend money. If the game was better than I would pay for it.

[mattyturz]

And I'm sorry if my post came off as rude, it was a rant, and I obviously care about the game enough to take time to write about it. It just seems that there are simple ways to make the game better but instead of trying any of them TL instead chooses to make another game with the same exact design but a different theme.

[kirin53]

They've actually used some of the suggestions we've pointed out here in order to make a better game.(Monster Story) I agree that they should put a little more effort into making DS a better and more entertaining game by adding more decoration, maybe mini games, etc. etc. But I'm sure that they get more hate mail about DS than any other game, either because it's not to someones liking or it's too much like Dragonville or what ever that game is called. The point is, they seem to want somewhat original suggestions from the fans and players in order to stand out from that other dragon game and they'd like to hear what the fan-base has to say. Sure people whine about not enough decoration but they don't offer which decorations they'd like to see. If you read through the suggestion topic, you notice every one saying things like "You should add this and change this just like how it is in Dragonville." and as a game company, they don't want to copy another game detail for detail. so if you DO have suggestions, then plant them in the topic. Don't expect for this game to get better if you don't try and help it out. And why would they hire you? You haven't shown them what you can do can you? all you did was claim that you could help.

[mattyturz]

It isn't my job to help TeamLava make money.

[kirin53]

Then what's the point on ranting about anything if you aren't willing to help out? I never even asked if it was your job, if you want a better game, and you can give your own ideas so you can enjoy that game more, then why not help out?

I honestly think this is a pointless topic. Why not just get a journal and rant there?

[mattyturz]

I'm sorry, I must have misinterpreted what forums were for. And I find it hard to believe that people don't share some of the same views I wrote about in my original post. I did mention specifics, and just because I didn't say something like "Oh, maybe there should be a Firepit" doesn't make my views any less relevant.

[kirin53]

You don't HAVE to spend any money, I've played this whole time without making any purchases in-game and I'm doing quite alright, I spend more than five minutes a day on the game and I enjoy it enough.

Forums are for a lot of things, but you and your views seem to mainly roam around the thought of you not wanting to spend any money on a game because you think it's pointless yet you don't want help improve this game you want to see improved. Seems kind of...I don't know....redundant don't you think? Or maybe that's the wrong word? I don't know. I would love to hear some of your millions of ideas though. :] That would make this conversation a lot more interesting.

[mattyturz]

Oh yeah because they'll for sure take our views into consideration and implement them! Get real, I'm on these suggestion forums all the time and tons of people have great ideas, but they never get implemented. A lot of these gamers are actually very serious about the game, enough to make websites and stuff for it but the good ideas never get added. It is after all about profit. In order to make effective suggestions you have to take into account everything. I wouldn't be able to solve all of these problems, though I have ideas, that's why game companies hire teams of game designers.

[pinkster73]

I think a forum is the perfect place to rant about something concerning the games. So what if the op didn't give specific imorovement suggestions. The entire rant WAS an improvement suggestion: make the game more playable.

[foxxiegirl]

This is a forum guys...Everybody has an opinion :) I personally love this game BUT in the same turn i think with the long breeding times they could possibly add another aspect to the game. Even if it's just tons more decos! That way we spend the off times making a lovely place to look at. We could even do races idk anything!
Also i wanna say i think it's really funny you guys think this game is geared for teens and younger lol. Most of my neighbors are my age or older. In my opinion this game is for people that have their on CC's not children that need to borrow them!

[TimeForACuppaTea]

I agree with Matt actually. The game is quite boring if it only takes 5 minutes a day to play. Which is what I did too. I also have ideas that would improve game play but most of them are things I know they wouldn't do since they are more interested in making things so slow or that players feel pressured into spending real cash to speed things up. Or they make things cost so many gems that they hope you won't have the patients to collect them and will instead buy gems. For example; when I started playing you could buy a second nest for MUCH cheaper than you can now. They think if they raise the cost that more people will spend real money to buy these things. I personally think that's not the best strategy. But they can't seem to get themselves out of that mindset even though many many players have posted that they don't like it (not just in this game). Rather than actually making the game better they just make it more challenging so you you'll pay to make it easier. Until they realize this method isn't the best for making money they aren't going to really listen to our suggestions. That's why I quit playing. Just so monotonous to do the exact same thing every day. Breed, hatch, collect coins, breed, hatch collect coins. So boring and so not worth spending money on, which I didn't. But this is just my opinion.

[mattyturz]

I agree with Matt actually. The game is quite boring if it only takes 5 minutes a day to play. Which is what I did too. I also have ideas that would improve game play but most of them are things I know they wouldn't do since they are more interested in making things so slow or that players feel pressured into spending real cash to speed things up. Or they make things cost so many gems that they hope you won't have the patients to collect them and will instead buy gems. For example; when I started playing you could buy a second nest for MUCH cheaper than you can now. They think if they raise the cost that more people will spend real money to buy these things. I personally think that's not the best strategy. But they can't seem to get themselves out of that mindset even though many many players have posted that they don't like it (not just in this game). Rather than actually making the game better they just make it more challenging so you you'll pay to make it easier. Until they realize this method isn't the best for making money they aren't going to really listen to our suggestions. That's why I quit playing. Just so monotonous to do the exact same thing every day. Breed, hatch, collect coins, breed, hatch collect coins. So boring and so not worth spending money on, which I didn't. But this is just my opinion.


Spot on. It doesn't make sense to expect people to pay for gold when it really doesn't have a purpose other than speeding up a dragon.

[sweetstuff525]

Spot on. It doesn't make sense to expect people to pay for gold when it really doesn't have a purpose other than speeding up a dragon.

even thought that is the only used for gold...im pretty sure dragon story is bringing in more money than the other games..... that's why they created monster story

people are impatient and want new dragons = money for tl

why you think on thursdays many get the new dragon? and even evolve it to epic right away they speed up evolvetions

[mattyturz]

This just in! The game has been made even worse by upping feeding costs and making it so clearing a boulder costs 900000 coins! It's funny, when the expansion came out people were on here actually THANKING teamlava. What they've really done is made the game 10 times more unplayable.

[dragonolic]

The original poster is totally correct, and not everyone gets gold from their neighbors. I'm level 53ish, at one point had 250+ friends, and I never get more than 1 or 2 gold a day.

[dragonolic]

The people attacking the original poster don't seem to have noticed the dozens of other players who have said exactly the same things for months now.

Mattyturz - all of that has been felt and said by a lot of people, and nothing changes. Not in months and months.

[arronsmommy]

I'm sorry, I must have misinterpreted what forums were for. And I find it hard to believe that people don't share some of the same views I wrote about in my original post. I did mention specifics, and just because I didn't say something like "Oh, maybe there should be a Firepit" doesn't make my views any less relevant.

I agree with you. The should be way more than there is if they want people to spend actual money on this game. I have stupidly done so but only after losing 500 gold because of a stupid meaningless pop up about buying food or coins etc..( which is why they make it so easy to "accidentally" click on those things and get it whether u want it or not with no corrections after u do it or it does it itself) Anyways, I just wanted to say I agreed with you whether people like it or not. Yoy are absolutely right in saying u thought that forums were here for reasons like this, People just don't like others stating their opinion if they don't also share it or if they didn't write it first.

[mattyturz]

Thank you. I just don't like seeing paying customers (not me of course) being treated so poorly by the makers of a game they are consuming. And people say 'they can't possibly address all of our concerns.'
Um, yes they can. Customer service is important, and it should be someone's job to read these forums and address the constant complaints of lost gold (which is essentially stealing money from us) and other problems with the game.

[scarpetta]

The lost gold is a HUGE issue. It happens in other games also, with Gems, *which people have been rightfully complaining about for a long time. All that would be needed is adding a simple confirmation button. Those that have actually lost money have complained to the BBB and received resolution. *That's THAT issue. Another one is the playability of game. I spent money when I started and also came here for more info on game. Then I discovered there were many issues in later levels with pricing for clearing trees, and feeding new dragons, which essentially stops further progress for days until more coins are earned. They had a boost in game that sped up earnings and removed it!! At that point I decided I would never spend any more money on TL games. Many others feel the same way so TL will eventually feel that on their balance sheet. In the meantime... constructive, specific, detailed info can be sent to a forum here that is read directly by Team Lava staff. If we rant and scream and complain without actually offering CONSTRUCTIVE feedback, it does nothing. Although it does make us feel a little better... Lol

[mattyturz]

Oh COME ON! It is not the job of the players to create the game! Plus, there is no evidence TL would do ANYTHING to improve the game if it takes away from the amount of money people are mistakenly spending on it. Everyone has great ideas. Mine are no better than any of the other players who make suggestions.

[scarpetta]

Oh COME ON! It is not the job of the players to create the game! Plus, there is no evidence TL would do ANYTHING to improve the game if it takes away from the amount of money people are mistakenly spending on it. Everyone has great ideas. Mine are no better than any of the other players who make suggestions.

Don't think i said anything about players creating the game, only providing feedback in a positive manner. I'm definitely not trying to be argumentative with you matty, and believe me, I have been just as angry. If you read my post again, I did provide a nugget of info up there that could help those that have had problems with the "mistakingly spending gold". I have also been told by more experienced and knowledgeable players then me that improvements have been made to games due to constructive player feedback. So until that happens with these issues... Sign me... "keeping my money in my pocket TL"

[mattyturz]

Haha sorry caps lock read like I was trying to be argumentative, I have nothing but respect for you and all the other users who actually care enough to comment.

[miragez]

If 5 minutes a day is all you spend on DS, why even care. Not to your liking? Delete the app. I spend 3-4 hours on it and i don't even care.

[mattyturz]

Because even though I play for only 5 min a day, I play everyday. I like hatching dragons! It gives me joy! But now they decide to make it so expensive that I can't even expand? 800000 for a bitter bark? That is absolutely absurd.

[scarpetta]

What lvl are ya Matty? Im at 25 and just saw something new... After expanding I went to clear and the whole section highlighted and clear price is 250K. Wondering if anyone else has had the whole section highlighted and not individual trees...

[mattyturz]

Level 35. 800000 to clear a bitter bark and 990000 to clear a rock.

[Imadesi2]

I totally agree that forums are for suggestions & complaints. Anytime I have emailed TL they have asked me to post on forum. I would like to just say that the price hikes for clearing trees, making food & expanding is ridiculous. I haven't made any money in days & I can't afford to clear one tree that costs $800,000 to clear.. This is Not going to keep us playing, it's going to make us quit because it's so frustrating. Most of us like a little instant reward at times. It's bad enough to have to wait days for tree to clear, expansion to complete. Do you really have to charge almost one million for one tree??? Come on TL..

[scarpetta]

This is the thread that goes directly to Team Lava Staff. Maybe if enough people are dissatisfied with the same exact things, (which I have seen in this thread and the "Enough is Enough" thread) they will make some changes. Before ya call me crazy... I know, I know... They haven't changed problems that have been in other games for months... But hey, I'm an optimist! LOL :)

[scarpetta]

Oops! Forgot the thread
http://forums.teamlava.com/forumdisplay.php?75-Forum-Disputes

[mattyturz]

It's ridiculous. 900000 to clear a tree is like 9 USD. How can they expect anyone to actually pay that for expansion.