Contents show]

The World of Magic

Nothing

Author’s note

~To the new player in the village who asked for a few thousand

“ You don’t get things for free. You work hard for your items. Everyone works hard to get theirs.”

“How do you work hard. I don’t know anything about this game.”

~ the pro presents his shocked emoticon

“You farm. What are you, an idiot?"

(A “pro” introducing grinding to a new player on the Bigmama server)

*Disclaimer

Do Not Read

If you agree with this player’s statements about the game, and his position on hard work paying off, then this is not the article for you. You are too narrow-minded and have never done any hard work in your life. To you, I advise finding a local store for a minimum wage job and humbling your phone gaming ego.

----

However, if you are laughing, befuddled, or even somewhat intrigued, do read on. This is the article for you. Your opinion is worth listening to because it is the majority. The belief that farming is some virtuous and poetic activity is utter bullshit.

Farming is not hard.

Googling a guide is not hard.

It’s the same mindless thing over and over.

The fact that one can believe that he has done hard work in this game and deserves anything is, in his words, an idiot.

The World of Magic

Now that I have your attention, I will be going over several topics on the World of Magic. Every point of criticism is also a compliment to Come2us, and despite the things I point out, I do so with the best intention. My goal for this article is to help the casual gamer who wanted something convenient and interesting to do with friends and the people with a life to get a better understanding of what they are getting into.

The key topics I am going to be discussing are The Leveling Curve, Grinding, Time, Economy, Community, Business Modeling, and Future Improvements.

The Definition of Insanity

For all intents and purposes, this article is using insanity in the context of doing the same thing over and over again. Trying to put a thread through a needle or trying to debug a program are excellent examples. They are tedious activities which, when repeated, drive one into a state of insanity.

Now to the leveling curve. Using several sources from the TWOM wiki, I have illustrated the curve of becoming a “pro” (level 30) and onwards below.

As depicted, the curve illustrates the highest known level in the game, level 50, with a whopping xp requirement of ~10 million.





Some trends to notice:

The curve is somewhat exponential, going from 48 - 10 million is somewhat like sqrt(2)^50 * 48, so simulate that it is somewhat factored per level.

Leveling to 50 requires more than 50 million exp points

In reality, the curve does not really matter, because it is proportional to the items you use to kill monsters, and the style of leveling. The only merit is comprehending the absurdity in the time required to reach a certain threshold.

I will be referencing these exp requirements later when calculating the time to level.



It’s Time to Grind





In iPhone gaming, one of the most important aspects that consumers love is a “gotcha mechanic.” This can be some daily reward or some gift for logging on so that new players have an incentive to play. However, in the case of TWOM, the game may not need one to an extreme extent. To a new player, it is genuinely overwhelming how well developed the game is, with multiple servers, a rather large player base, and a simple real money to in game money conversion through platinum. The business model seems both sound and the art is enticing. To give the game the same requirements as other lesser developed games is almost an insult; I was won over within minutes.

Though my attitude changed drastically when I realized the underlying truths of the game. Hitting level 20, and being forced to level killing monsters that are programmed in a linear fashion made me lose my drive for the game. In essence, it was mind-numbing. As the exp requirements kept growing and the monsters stayed the same, I kept wondering:

“Why is the ghost I’m killing at lvl 20 programmed the same way as the little piggy at lvl 5?”

“Why is this a raw grind?”

Now this argument is not only exclusive to TWOM. In every game, there is a grinding aspect; however, they have their niche. Take for example World of Warcraft or RuneScape, which use quests to inject experience and diversity to compensate for bland monster programming. That in itself is a completely sound system that compensates for a boring player vs. environment situation.

Looking at the charts above and the time requirements, it’s mindblowing how much time one needs to invest, given that the main leveling system is killing monsters (disregarding ancient coins). How can a game with no diversity and high time investments attract a sustainable player base?

At the core of this question lies the issue of TWOM.

There are no quests. There are no supplements or diversity to gain levels. What your doing now at level 1 is the exact same thing you will be doing 40 levels later. Every monster will run mindlessly, and the only objective you will ever complete is killing millions of monsters.



For myself, I did not stop at level 20. I kept playing because despite the bland gameplay, it was mental therapy. Something I could do on a schedule to relax and get downtime. So with a rather conservative schedule, playing around once a few days, I began wondering: how long does it really take to gain a level?

Here is the answer:







Level XP Req Monster xp Number Time (10s per) 1 48 12 (kooi) 4 40 seconds 10 6450 38 (woopa) 166 1660 seconds 20 66300 59 ( mutant gosumi) 1124 11240s 30 535470 80 ( Froggy) 6693 66930s 40 2750070 120 (eggs) 22917 229170s 50 9797495 97 (masked magician) 101000 1010000s 50 9797495 2500 (Ancient coins alt.) 3918 (sets of 3) 11756 coins





These are rudimentary calculations for the time it takes to level. If you want a conservative estimate, assume the bottom scale of things, such as using level 1 for the first 10 levels, level 10 for the next 10, level 20 for levels 20-30, and so on and so forth. I personally don’t care about exact numbers. If you physically have grinded from level 40-41, you have spend around 60+ hours leveling. Also, these calculations are assuming you have adequate equipment to kill monsters 2-4 levels above yours, and that you have adequate preparations to do so. However, this is as conservative as it gets. Around 60 hours is the best case scenario.

So are you prepared to play over 600 hours at the bare minimum to reach level 50?

(starting from level 40)

In all seriousness, it’s a daunting number. It could be over 1000 hours to go from 40-50. What kind of people invest that much time into this game?

I myself played at max 2 hours a week. At this rate, I will have to spend 9 years killing brainless pixels. It's not an easy thing.

-------

Pt. 2: Hard Work

As illustrated in the prologue, the game is not only grinding for levels. You have to grind for everything if you want to be a free to play player and not spend a dime.

Now grinding and farming for gold can be somewhat versatile. There are various bosses with consistent spawn times, and many places you can gather creatures in mobs to kill, despite the fact that there are practically the same thing.Contrary to the pro’s initial statements, grinding is not hard. Sitting still and grouping creatures over and over for hours is hard. Googling any person’s guide on the wiki is hard. There are already so many of the same thing. Kill spiders, kill woopas, spawn camp bosses. Everyone thinks this is some revolutionary concept. It’s not. There is genuinely no other way.

Taking the classic guide, farming spiders and woopas maxes your revenue at, let’s say, 80k an hour. This is a nice average that a player at level 20 could achieve. Now if you recall, money is a requirement because it is necessary for getting equipment to progress further in the game, so in this case, let’s say that you need 30 mil to succeed and afford everything. This is including your skills and your equipment.

On the 80k average, one can assume it takes ~400 hours. So just grinding alone requires 400 hours. Player may argue that when you level, you can farm higher level things, and that 30mil is a high requirement for some classes. However, that is definitely not true. Even looking at items like the power glove, or other high level necessities one may try to achieve, those well enough top that estimate. So from my point of view, there is no point in arguing that 400 hours is a bad estimate, because it’s an estimate.And if you think you have chance of farming bosses, good luck trying to compete with higher level guilds which keep the boss spawn times unknown.

Then with that conclusion, one can assume that if you are lvl 45, you have played (unless you bought the account), 2000+ hours of leveling and 400+ hours of grinding.

2400 hours is the threshold.

It is said a player reached level 51, which alone takes 280 hours.

So to my dear pro of the Bigmama server, I am going to have to tell you something...

Diagnosing Autism

I am afraid to tell my dear pro friend, that he is the real idiot here. If 400 hours minimum of grinding or thousands of hours leveling is not a statement alone, bare in mind that there are only 2 types of monsters. The programming is all spaghetti code and all your armor achieved is just amateur pixel drawings.

Now this is not an accusation. I am not insulting players who are pros. I am simply giving a gentle diagnosis because these symptoms are too easy to identify. Even I, at one point, was ok with grinding for many hours just to get some cloak. I too read guides online, telling me to do the same thing and get rich.

Though moving my thumbs is not difficult.

Googling and reading a guide is not hard.

There is no skill in this game whatsoever, and if you want to pvp, you better grind your ass off because if you don’t, you will already be at an item disadvantage.

The Youtube community is a nice depiction of this. If you look at different channels and their attitudes, some genuinely make me interested in the game again. They have a fantastic charisma and characters that are incredibly badass. However, others convince me I have no life, recording themselves mindlessly gathering mobs for hours on end. Only the passionate and no-lifes are represented. The extremes of the spectrum. To me, there is no middle man. No player who’s just a casual gamer with a couple of hours to play and a few bucks he’s willing to spend to have a good time.

To the passionate players, I do respect their intentions to share their success. I see how getting a certain item or robe is worth hours on end. However, not everyone is going to spend thousands of hours for those items. And likewise, those who mindlessly grind are difficult to relate to.

------



Let’s just imagine that the intended players according to Come2us was meant to be ages 12-24. Now according to my calculations, if you're 14 and have reached this point of level 50, you have spent 1/10 of your life on this game. Holy shit. You actually ate, shit and breathed TWOM. And if you are 24 years old, 1/20 of your life is in this game.

There is something wrong with this game. The only logical explanation is that all players above lvl 30 have no lives. It’s a harsh conclusion.

Now everything makes sense. People with no lives can tolerate grinding. People with no lives have all the time in the world. People with no lives can be lazy and arrogant at the same time!

Those are the “pros”. The “hard working players.”

Money Money Money





“What is the intrinsic value of an armor b enchant?” - me

“That’s a stupid question” - pro

It is important to understand that games with a free market economy follow the same principles as a real life economy, taking both supply and demand into account. However, despite these oscillating prices, there should be an defined value based on the spawn rate and level requirement to obtain. Take for instance an armor b enchant. This item oscillates between 10-15k, however its intrinsic value should be somewhere in the middle, depending on the server and how many players are able to kill monsters to obtain it.

The intrinsic value should be somewhat as follows (taking these factors into account):

(Drop rate) … (Level requirement to kill the monster that drops it) … (abundance in the game) = intrinsic value

However, clearly these factors are unknown, and only the most experienced players can control these prices. Take for instance a player who understands that at its low, armor b enchants are 10,000. Then he can profit by flipping the items like a stock, buying them at 10k and selling at 15k. This of course is easier said than done, however with patience, the math should always check out. This can be done for several items, and hypothetically can be very profitable. Thus, the more a player plays and understands, he is rewarded for being adept. Fantastic! This a way to make a player feel rewarded for spending time in the game. He knows the drop rates and begins to comprehend basic economic principles. What then is wrong?

Take for instance the ancient coin. About four years ago, I quit playing this game for its prevalent issues of grinding; but before doing so, I made 10 million of flipping ancient coins. It was an item with consistent demand from high level players, and was obtainable from all kinds of sources. Looking at the different servers now, the disparity between pricing is ridiculous. One server has it at 7k, while the other has it at 25k.

How is this possible?

Despite what you may believe, this is 100% evidence of supply control by some sources. Someone is, in one way or another, manipulating the prices to be above 25k in order to profit. For me, I was lucky. I had 200 ancient coins when I stopped playing 4 years ago, and now they have quadrupled in value. But what about the real influences? With wealth and price understanding, this manipulation easily made them hundreds of millions.

Likewise, we can analyze the pet system. Every time a new pet is added, an old one from years ago become obsolete. Each time the company tries to make money, a player who owned a pet feels like shit because it’s worth nothing now. Before when I played, pets were valued at 100k. Now they are over 300k. Despite the increasing stat values and desire for money, the fact that the respective economy is not taken into account is absurd. A million dollar item (rare pet) cannot be decreased to nothing in a year just so people have the incentive to spend real money on the game. A money sink model of platinum, requiring the player to spend money in order to continue with stat trend, needs a functional economy to maintain its player base. Now I have a few cute mushrooms that are better off crushed in the dirt.

In many ways, the economy needs to be somewhat controlled in order to guarantee a positive new player experience. Whether it be through direct influence such as injecting items or increasing drop rates, each server needs to reflect a certain trend without monopolization. If I were to buy a skill, it should not be a ridiculous price due to guild spawn time control. I will mention this later in regards to community improvements, but for now, I will give my opinion as both economist and game developer.

The economy needs to make sense so that experienced players feel rewarded for their knowledge. At the same time, the economy needs to feel welcome and accessible to new players.

Now to address a player which has spent over 2000 hours in this game: I asked a genuine million dollar (in game currency) question of intrinsic value, and got a bland response. It begs the question: what kinds of players play this game.

The Brainless



When you look on the TWOM wiki, it's beautiful. It has several interfaces, is updated frequently, and has many contributors. When I quit playing four years ago, I left the responsibility of voicing out issues to this community, in hopes that the game would change.

Now, the problems are worse than ever.

The economy, the grinding, the monopolization, leveling curve….so on and so forth, has been present for a very long time. There is nothing new.

So who’s fault is it? The community, for not voicing out their desires and difficulties, or the game developers, who ignored obvious criticism. Highly plausible, though since I am part of it, I suppose I don’t favor this theory. Maybe Come2us wants this as a money sink and nothing more, and no-lifes will naturally come and play, wherever they are in the world.

Yet with a simple survey, the answer became clear. Among 120 players I interviewed across several servers, the prevalent issues were the ones I described. There was a unanimous agreement, whether they were level 20, or level 40.

It is said that it takes 10,000 hours to become a master at something. For me, I was a chess master after 500. So who the fuck has this level of dedication to tolerate such disrespect of time. If everyone knows the problems with the game, why are they treating it like something that should be shared in a positive manner.

Look at this wiki and its farming guides. Woopas. Spiders. You name it. Just kill millions and you will make money. This mentality should be changed and criticized, not celebrated like some hidden achievement. It’s not like there are any other ways to make money. It’s not like every farming guide is the same thing.

There is a dichotomy. The people who celebrate the farming, and the people who know the issues of it. I speak for the latter, and from those I interviewed, it was the only opinion.

Improvements:

As a programmer and economist, I know the step by step solutions to fix this game. Some things could be an overnight fix, but others will take years of fine tuning. When I look at this game, I see an incredible potential. There is a functional capitalist economy with a versatile players base and somewhat linear way of making money. It is just a seed of a possibly fantastic industry.

A rationale leveling curve, or incentive to level. This encompasses a change in monster algorithms and patterns so that a level 40 monster does not behave the same as a level 5 one. If this is a tough change, temporary quests for xp can be added. Also, there could be an overnight xp system that gives experience just for consistently returning. However that requires more fine tuning due the the economy of ancient coins and leveling at the moment.

Random spawn times: The monsters need a set variation of spawn times to avoid people from monopolizing certain drops that have no merit. Although people like farming bosses at higher levels, this removes the fun from lower level players who want to enjoy the same experience. And specific cool drops with low drop rates (ie flare 2) need to be tuned so that it’s not worth millions, an impossible value to reach for someone learning.

Less grindy: scale the levels completely upwards so that the proportion of experience obtained is preserved. Although this may injure the higher level player base, they are minimal and autistic. Their opinions don’t matter when acting for the majority.

Make the business model rational. With more logic, the players attracted will want to play more. Because in the end of the day, farming is not hard work. It’s lazy, mind-numbing, and bland. It insults both player and developer- to have such a great interface, and not invest anytime into its improvement.

Add an economist. After playing several years as an on and off merchant, I have seen the price of items fluctuate to ridiculous extremes. Although that’s the nature of capitalism, and those who control the market are very likely to spend money on platinum, both factors destroy the new player experience. We need economist charts and depictions like the one portrayed so that players can understand both supply and demand. A live market pricing could solve this, or a meager api of information would encourage the community and third parties to improve the quality of the game.

Add and modify classes. With change comes complete remodeling. Though traditional spells are cool in their own right, there is no reason for slam to take up ⅓ of the screen, and firebolt to be a pathetic spark. Even out both animations and damage, so people stop orgasming about 1-2 damage increases, which to a new player, would be a pathetic amount. Scale both damage and character stat bonuses.

Attract players: The gift boxes are nice; however they are a pathetic introduction to a game with only one functional quest: the lighthouse dungeon. Add both advertisement and npc to make the information accessible. With enough players, the knowledgeable one’s will improve the community, and eventually, the game will be self-sustaining.

(if any suggestions, please comment)



Thank you for your time.

--Sorrowz

----------

At the end of the day, attracting new players is the most important. If you have made it here after reading through my shower thoughts, then I will make this article less of a clickbait.

Three percent milk is a nonexistent drink in several countries and simply does not fit the current dairy business model. Thus, this game is like that aspect. Although the only advantage the game is convenience, it does not mean that it should only fit a niche audience. Three percent milk is only available in Norway. Yet as a consumer, I want some because it’s different and interesting.

Come2us needs to stop limiting its model to small niches with people with no life, and give into that prevalent interest in the community and across the world. Mobile gaming is different and interesting. The platform is global and growing.

I have always had faith in the mobile gaming MMORPG industry, and TWOM is undoubtedly the most developed one on the market. And like every game, this one has its flaws. Thus, the community has done its part by voicing out issues and changes. Now, the responsibility has shifted.

So Come2me and the community.