darkSpyro

I'm having trouble figuring out what a couple of the companions do.

Avril - "Doubles the amount of Kudos you receive from Gifts and Visiting!"

WRONG. 48 hours after Avril's release, the iTunes mid-week bug-fix update changes the app so it no longer gives Kudos as gifts. This change is also bizarre given the number of posts saying we've got nothing to spend kudos on with players able to generate up to 700 kudos per day. The devs answer to this? Introduce a companion that boosts potential kudos collection to 1400 kudos each day, and then 48 hours later scale it back to visiting only and a potential 1200 kudos each day. And still nothing to spend them on.

Gurglefin - "Chance to get Wishstones as Gifts!"

WRONG. Wishstones are now the default position for Gifts. If Gurglefin does anything at all, it would be to DECREASE a player's chance of getting gems as gifts in favour of Wishstones. However, it's more likely that after purchasing Gurglefin the reward is that he now does absolutely nothing at all.

Portalflip, would you like to comment on these bizarre developments...?

I was about to ask what in the world you were talking about until I scrolled down and saw the post about the update. I won't be able to get the update until I'm home later this evening, so I'm still getting Kudos.

If this change is real and permanent (and I'm not sure it is since at the moment I still get kudos for gifts), I would not be complaining even if I bought both of these companions (which I have not, since I've never seen the value in doing anything more to increase either the number of kudos or wish stones that I accumulate).

Quote: midas73

If this change is real and permanent (and I'm not sure it is since at the moment I still get kudos for gifts), I would not be complaining even if I bought both of these companions (which I have not, since I've never seen the value in doing anything more to increase either the number of kudos or wish stones that I accumulate).

Complain about getting up to 100 wishstones/gems every day just for having friends? Hardly. We search for Hyde to gain one gem each day. We keep eight skylanders free so we can click totems for one wishstone each. And now they've slipped in a bug fix that gives away 100 of these resources every day - no companions involve. We've had multiple Super Tuesdays where the game-changing one-day wonder is Orville giving us a free wishstone every hour. Where's the balance?

You are correct - why would anyone purchase a companion to boost either wishstones or kudos when there's no value in it. They're almost impossible to spend, and the developer's solution to this lack of value is to release more companions to boost their production even further?! It's absolutely daft. Sorry obidawsn for daring to question the developers' logic rather than keeping my mouth shut, but I simply can't fathom what their intent is. The latest content releases and undocumented game-changing alterations to those releases are just plain bizarre.

I will say this, gems and stones were a rare resource when I started this game......now it's almost like harvesting energy. Not sure if that is good or bad.

Ok I think this is a bug in the code so enjoy the gems while you can. Reason why I think this, I tested dropping 3 friends that haven't logged on for a week and added new friends. Well when I got the bonus gift for adding a new friend it gave nothing, no kudos, gems, or stones. This has to be a bug.

Quote: Woz

Quote: midas73

If this change is real and permanent (and I'm not sure it is since at the moment I still get kudos for gifts), I would not be complaining even if I bought both of these companions (which I have not, since I've never seen the value in doing anything more to increase either the number of kudos or wish stones that I accumulate).

Complain about getting up to 100 wishstones/gems every day just for having friends? Hardly. We search for Hyde to gain one gem each day. We keep eight skylanders free so we can click totems for one wishstone each. And now they've slipped in a bug fix that gives away 100 of these resources every day - no companions involve. We've had multiple Super Tuesdays where the game-changing one-day wonder is Orville giving us a free wishstone every hour. Where's the balance?

You are correct - why would anyone purchase a companion to boost either wishstones or kudos when there's no value in it. They're almost impossible to spend, and the developer's solution to this lack of value is to release more companions to boost their production even further?! It's absolutely daft. Sorry obidawsn for daring to question the developers' logic rather than keeping my mouth shut, but I simply can't fathom what their intent is. The latest content releases and undocumented game-changing alterations to those releases are just plain bizarre.

I don't blame your questioning at all. It really doesn't make sense, if what is being said is true. Like I said, I haven't been able to do the update so I'm still getting kudos. Others are saying they are still getting kudos even after updating. So who knows? Maybe it was just a fluke. Like someone else said, maybe it wasn't meant to be in the update and they have now fixed it. Although, I don't think they could change the update download so quickly. Don't they have to push those through Apple for approval? Maybe I'm wrong. If it is meant to give nothing but gems and stones, then I won't complain. I hate visiting to get kudos, so if they offer something good for kudos, I might have to do more work than I want. But getting more gems (or even stones) is a definite good update, IMO Although I do understand the complaint of offering Avril just 2 days before getting rid of kudos gifting. That's what makes me think this wasn't meant to happen or it's just a fluke.

Quote: Mariojedi

This has to be a bug.

So in the middle of an update solely dedicated to bug fixes, they placed a whopper bigger than all those they were trying to fix? I do have one plausible explanation. With it being the app's birthday, all the programmers are busy coding in the changes with a beer in their hand. Of course I'm not suggesting they're using their keyboards with one hand. Given the quality of the coding, I'm suggesting they're all three sheets to the wind.

The big issue is that the players have no idea what kudos are for. There is an item for 2,000 in the game and the 40 cost sheep.

Many of us are collecting 1,000s, after already purchasing everything we can. And then, the devs are adding mechanisms to collect even more per day, why?

I see 2 possible answers:

-The first is that this forum is a collection of power gamers that does not represent the average player. We all have 100 "friends". Other people might only have their actual friends as friends. Maybe they have 5? All these new companions would make sense to those people.

-The devs are planning to add items that cost 10k+ kudos. 100 per day wouldn't even make a dent. This option is consistent with recent dev actions to dramatically increase the effort needed to accomplish things in the game (level 40, level 15, etc) and then offer a high gem solution to the problem (i.e. Wheellock).

I'm inclined to believe that the devs are getting ready to roll out some new items (hopefully big and small) available for kudos. I find it hard to believe they would start the system without something more than a single character in mind. I would also like to think that they are trying to keep things interesting for a wide range of users - from beginners who will have a hard time building up a stockpile of kudos to high-level players who have loads of kudos with nothing to spend them on. Part of the trouble is that they are trying to continually make changes in many different directions, resulting in an abundance of bugs that they then have to sort out.

As for the gifting, I choose to believe that we are supposed to be getting just gems and stones right now as part of the birthday celebration. No particular reason for this belief, given that the change wasn't announced, but I prefer to think it's just them trying to be nice, given that they're hyping all the big sales coming up.

So I had gurglefin before and am still receiving 6 kudos from visits. Will avril now give me 12 if I get her?

Quote: N8NMONSTER

So I had gurglefin before and am still receiving 6 kudos from visits. Will avril now give me 12 if I get her?

Yes. But it isn't find twelve. You will need to find six but each is worth two.

I am personally delighted, since I updated I had a super-Wednesday and supe-Thursday, I hope to continue having a super-friday and a super-weekend. I had never collected many gems easily.
As I can, I send my gifts for my friends might benefit from this, and I am thrilled every time I open a gift.
I have Gurglefin, but I don't care if he does not serve, I don't have Avril because I can not visit kingdom (that if it bothers me), but I'm very happy with this change.

Quote: N8NMONSTER

So I had gurglefin before and am still receiving 6 kudos from visits. Will avril now give me 12 if I get her?

I'm assuming you mean you have Batterson and are receiving 6 kudos per visit. Batterson is the companion that doubles each kingdom's six kudos - not Gurglefin. Gurglefin is the one that increases the chances of gifts being wishstones. The Avril behaviour has been altered more than once since she was released, but yes, she'll double your six kudos to 12. That's up to 1200 gems each day if you've got 100 friends and can be bothered visiting them.

I just got Avril, and the first challenge is very easy with a 10 gem reward. I am not sure what he does either. I'll keep you posted.