Dog Faced Showdown Showcase

Well, it certainly wasn't a boring weekend. I took last week off because there was literally nothing to say about feud that I hadn't said about ten times prior in prior feud threads. It was a feud event, end of.

• First off, to whoever thought that a tour where you have to beat a 6SB Razor with one of two characters who have no business being 5SG let alone 6SB (Quake, SB Yoko), you shouldn't be ingesting those kinds of substances at work. Either that, or you're just an asshole, who's to say. Same goes for most of the other tours (Damage CTRL's being heavily paywalled or 'Beat a 6SB Rhea with a 4SG at best Dakota' and the nWo tour being another tour that would be the worst tour in any event that wasn't this one - I actually did beat the 6SB MEM Rock with a 5SS Easy E, using a handful of props and an absolute meme build in a match that took me about 20 minutes) - if you didn't want to give out 300 Steiner shards to people that badly, just don't give them out. I'd be less upset seeing that the free total was exceedingly low rather than get ingame and realize that you pulled the rug on everyone. God knows Showdown Scrimmage hasn't been about making characters that are easier to get for months now anyways - and the prize wall certainly backs that claim up.
• This weekend showdown isn't as bad as the traditional showdown that we got a taste of this week (not glacially slow in terms of energy, you're not totally locked down offensively and defensively, payouts are actually pretty good per match) but there's definitely a some red flags in this first weekend.
• First off, I feel the energy itself is overcorrected and is coming in too quickly, and I feel like I need to be constantly chained to the game in order to get anything done - to keep on top of the rankings (which reward a ton of solo points), to keep from 'wasting' energy by sitting on a full set of energy, and generally because you're consistently rewarded per win now. This all encourages staying around and playing and the like, but one of the things I like about showdown (and feud) is that I feel that there's an end point where I can go "Well I got about all I want from this, I can take a break and stop playing the event". That doesn't exist here. I feel as if I'm not playing showdown constantly, I'm behind the 8-ball, and I'm not even done with Saturday as of typing this and I'm exhausted facing the same 6-star clowns in this mode. This is further exacerbated by the fact you still have to open with a powerhouse on offense, meaning I have only a couple of options for dealing with top guys at 6-star bronze, furthering the monotony.
• The Showcase competition is interesting in that it's basically the Showdown equivalent of Boss Battle's Superstar Competition - the grindable portion that holds the lion's share of points for the contest. This honestly wasn't too bad so far (though missing one requirement means you have to do an extra 60 matches, which means you can quickly be kicked out of contention if the requirements are against you) but it wasn't a fun grind and the milestones directly gave out energy - which meant if you didn't want to get a bunch of energy you didn't want or need quite yet, you need to avoid these like the plague until you're both out of energy and feel like wanting to use more - a rare moment in this mode. I'd just recommend giving out vouchers we could freely trade for energy instead, so we have agency in getting that energy.
• Another showdown, another dreadful prize wall. What you could get for free won't get you anything other than econ, uninspired straps, and some Striker Lashley shards - making it probably the first time one could actually buy Lashley shards for free in a scrimmage shop. 7 months after Lashley released. I suppose that's still shorter than the 'never' a lot of other posters are set at, but again, this is the Scrimmage contest we're talking about here.
• This is basically shouting redundantly into the void with how literally every faction-based contest is conducted, but I don't like how one could pay for an advantage with the buyable energy effectively allowing people to, in theory, get in more matches and get a higher rank for the contest. Defense playing a part in things already complicates things (as it's really all down to whether the matchmaking system throws you to the wolves or not) but in particular the ability to directly put in money to influence one's standing in the showdown rankings makes them actually being a competition a bit of a joke.

I have to say that after this weekend and it's Showdown related activities...I am not in any way upset.

• The expedited energy is a great feature for the event itself and on top of that...GETTING ENERGY IN THE ACTUAL REWARD MILESTONES AS YOU PROGESSED IS VERY GOOD. I really liked that in particular. My energy never went below 15 at any point during the event at all.
• This showdown was NOT hard at all to progress whatsoever. I like the kinds of events that if you merely play the game and grind a bit and put it in the effort, you are rewarded. It isn't an easy grind cause that would be pointless, but one where you have to grind to get the max, and that was an attainable thing in this instance.
• I can understand the frustration of being locked to one specific class in the first slot but the second slot being OPEN makes up for it. Along with defense being OPEN as well. I ended up managing fine with a 5SG Otis.
• Maybe it's me but I had no issue using the contest superstars. I got the points for the ones I had on my roster, and then I was back to using whatever I wanted in slot 2.
• Did I have to do coin refreshes to get easier opponents?? Yes, but I didn't have to do it that often. That's just a normal Showdown experience at this point haha.

All in all, this was something new and is expected to receive backlash, but if you actually take the time and play it out, you'll see...there was nothing wrong with this Showdown at all.

THIS SHOWDOWN EVENT IS A TOTAL FAILURE. FIRST THE NEW SHOWDOWN IS TRASH, NOTHING INNOVATION, IT'S JUST PAY TO WIN AND ONLY WHALES WIN. THE FACTION EVENT IS HORRIBLE. PITCHED BY THE AMBITIONS OF A COMPANY THAT ONLY THINKS ABOUT MONEY, NOT THE PLAYER. EVERY TIME I GET FURTHER FROM THIS GAME AND GO TO ANOTHER TO SPEND MY MONEY.

"Or Plan B: Wait until the first actual Showdown Tournament goes live with all the changes. Then you see the full potential of every improvement and how it affects/benefits you in the end. :)" - @Firpo

Well, here we are. I waited until the first actual Showdown Tournament.

This event made me the angriest I've ever been at this game, fuming at a last-minute attack that dropped me out of the reward bracket that would've allowed me to achieve the 22nd of 25 milestones in the solo contest at no extra cost after some light spending for soft subscriptions like the weekly $5 feud step pack. Instead, I eventually was worn down mentally to purchase four pulls at the end of the night to bridge the gap and do SOMETHING to keep up with the Joneses.

So it's clear to me now, after I've waited until the first actual Showdown Tournament to "see the full potential of every improvement" - I am not a player that benefits from these changes. I may sprain my shoulder patting my own back after predicting that this would be the case before seeing anything go live.

Ultimately, I did not put forth the effort to overcome the two CSS I was missing in the side contest - due to energy constraints, I would've needed to basically pull an all-nighter - working twice as hard as those around me for the same (and arguably less!) results.

Also, when we're talking about tangible effects, I canceled my King of Kings pass after this event. Other than 2x speed, what am I getting from it?

• Showdown coin promoters don't count towards showdown coin tasks in contests;
• Can't use Ghostbusters Cena in the lead spot on offense;
• If I win with Ghostbusters Cena in the lead spot on defense, I see very little benefit from it.

That's an easy decision to make. Of course I can't stand the animation speed in this game, so I'll probably come back for the next 2x speed buckle, but it will be done with me holding my nose to block the stink coming off this particular purchase.

My suggestions for improvements (this is the part where you can stop reading ;) ):

• Defensive wins MUST matter. I did not see a single member of my own faction in matchmaking this weekend. Which means that even if I wanted to risk my own winstreak to help my teammates, I couldn't. So if that's something that's common amongst players, who are we trying to restrict with these zero point defensive wins? The people at the top of the leaderboard? That will NOT change in a statistically significant way if you assign point values or notoriety boosts to these defensive wins. Please rethink this, as it's an absolute losing strategy. I'm going to lose my winstreak anyway because you don't protect me from players that have spent the farm on ultimate skill plates/mega characters. At least give me a little bit from the few defensive wins I do accomplish.
• Alternatively, introduce SHIELDS. I will never, EVER, EVER, buy energy. But if you sold shields for a variety of timeframes with associated costs that would protect my notoriety from ANY attacks, I'd be the first in line with money in hand. And of course, if the shielded player attacks another player, that shield would be broken.
• Reverse plans to keep "promoted" showdown coin earnings from counting in side contests. This is an absolutely nonsense decision and I will not listen to any tone-deaf takes that think this would be an "unfair advantage" for people who have the King of Kings pass. It completely ignores the reality of this game's structure in the first place where spenders already obviously have an outsized advantage. I could see the argument for boss, sure - but for this, there are just too many factors for you to already kneecap your new promoters like this. I can't justify this like any of the other greedy decisions made by developers - it doesn't make any sense. And after this weekend, I canceled my KOK pass because I felt like I wasn't getting any value from it

Overall I think mixed opinion on this showdown.

Positives in my opiniin

we could obtain more SD coins from the event, as long as you had energy could earn more coins. Having 24 energy max and every few hours it would be full, could make it so it was not an overall continuous grind.

Rewards were attainable by grinding

What could be improved:

6 star opponents even in lower leagues, saw 6* opponents to start off.

Defensive perks much outweighs offensive perks. Especially MP perks

Regular showdown coins not counting towards event (but at least it said we would not be getting them)

The powerhouse in first slot, we shall see if it changed every time, or will it be same class.

You completely ruined Showdown. Outside of the SD shop ( which is good so kudos for that) SD is destroyed especially for us non whales. The rich get richer and we fall further behind.

The new showdown was a plus. I like there’s no cap on the coins you can earn and you can keep on grinding if you would like to. Match making for me was better. One negative is losing your winning streak because of your defense when you have no control over how your defense plays.

The showdown part wasn't terrible. The new career showdown is so incredibly bad that the event showdown was actually a pleasant surprise.

If you made the career showdown exactly like the new event showdown then the new career showdown would be decent enough.

On its own merit without comparison to other modes, I still say the new event showdown wasn't terrible. The energy concept needs to go. If the energy if the trade off for having unlimited coin earning, I would take limited coin earning. I suppose the unlimited coin earning is also the reason we did not get the customary bonus on Sunday morning. Thats not shocking but it should be the sort of thing one communicates to the player base.

Why are defensive wins worth nothing?

Congratulations on the new event showdown not being the unplayable garbage that the new career showdown is. Now, get rid of the energy, open up the team options and let us play.

The rest of the event...lack luster. Two years ago one could get about 50% of the shards to recruit the new poster on a reliable basis. Now you're lucky to get 25%. It takes away any sense of excitement for me.

I was never a Steiner fan but they're important to wrestling history so its good to see them coming in. I assume Scott will show up soon, too.

The game is getting lazy though. You have a rat pack link with Ted, Hacksaw, and Doink. From a 1980s era stable in mid south. You have a Flair/Greg Valentine link. From a 1970s era tag team in Mid Atlantic. You made a Steiner "Brothers" link without Scott in the game. But no Varsity Club link for Rick and IRS? Come on now.

The milestone & sd coins I normally get was pretty much what I got with the new event sd.

The only problem is the matchmaking.

I would of thought the tier system you implemented would of been part of the algorithm but it seems it isn’t!

Putting it bluntly, an attack & defence consisting of x4 tier B shouldn’t be matched with x4 Tier S line ups . Period

Positives:

• Potential to earn lots of Showdown coins and a much better store to spend them in.
• An actual competitive leaderboard based on notoriety.
• Throwing defensive wins to help your lucky bucket friends is gone.
• Challenging tours without ultra rare CSS.

Negatives/Suggestions:

• Energy and timing. While the amount of energy overall was fine, the one major issue I had was that showdown runs from 4am until 8am the following day for me. This meant that I missed out on using about 30 or so energy as I slept. Players in other timezones can play from the beginning and right until the end of the event, and recharge their energy while they sleep at night. I would love if energy wasn't capped at 24 and continued to stack to give everyone a better opportunity to play as much as possible.
• SD coin promoters should count towards the event, just like FB promoters should. Players have spent real many and resources on these characters, they should help us to progress.
• SD Notoriety leaderboard prizes weren't good enough. Despite earning a pretty decent amount of solo points from the leaderboard, it got me nowhere near another milestone so it was effectively worthless. In fact, even finishing in the top 10 positions wouldn't have earned me a further milestone. Another option here would be to have more milestones in the solo contest. Having milestones $20-$50 apart rather than $150+ away would incentive spending for an additional milestone.
• While I enjoyed having to beat 3 very challenging tour nodes for the shards behind the CSS, I still ended the event with only 1300 of 1600 shards. This is about on par with past scrimmage events where beating the tours and finishing SD matches was very easy. Shouldn't more difficult content have better rewards? Also, given the amount of strap, medal, and plate moves I needed to make for these tours, I think the main solo event should have more of these resources to compensate.
• Defensive wins should have some type of reward if losses have a negative effect. We don't want to go back to people exploiting but either earning SD coins (which maybe don't count towards the event) or even additional energy would be nice. Hopefully limited energy and the importance of notoriety mean that we can reward defensive wins without the system being abused.
• Prizewall options and costs could have been better. I finished with over 50k medallions but had very few valuable options. I understand that the big prizes started at 75k but it would have been nice to have more value at the lower end.

Alright, I played the first week of the new showdown, I played the first weekend of the new showdown - are people allowed to say they don't like it yet, or do Firpo and the content creators want people to suffer through it for a few more months before they're allowed to say they don't like it?

• First off, to whoever thought that a tour where you have to beat a 6SB Razor with one of two characters who have no business being 5SG let alone 6SB (Quake, SB Yoko), you shouldn't be ingesting those kinds of substances at work. Either that, or you're just an asshole, who's to say. Same goes for most of the other tours (Damage CTRL's being heavily paywalled or 'Beat a 6SB Rhea with a 4SG at best Dakota' and the nWo tour being another tour that would be the worst tour in any event that wasn't this one, especially with everyone catered to counter Stevie Ray) - if you didn't want to give out 300 Steiner shards to people that badly, just don't give them out. I'd be less upset seeing that the free total was exceedingly low rather than get ingame and realize that you pulled the rug on everyone. God knows Showdown Scrimmage hasn't been about making characters that are easier to get for months now anyways - and the prize wall certainly backs that claim up.
• This weekend showdown isn't as bad as the traditional showdown that we got a taste of this week (not glacially slow in terms of energy, you're not totally locked down offensively and defensively, payouts are actually pretty good per match) but there's definitely a lot of red flags in this first weekend.
• First off, I feel the energy itself is overcorrected and is coming in too quickly, and I feel like I need to be constantly chained to the game in order to get anything done - to keep on top of the rankings (which reward a ton of solo points), to keep from 'wasting' energy by sitting on a full set of energy, and generally because you're consistently rewarded per win now. This all encourages staying around and playing and the like, but one of the things I like about showdown (and feud) is that I feel that there's an end point where I can go "Well I got about all I want from this, I can take a break and stop playing the event". That doesn't exist here. I feel as if I'm not playing showdown constantly, I'm behind the 8-ball, and I'm not even done with Saturday as of typing this and I'm exhausted facing the same 6-star clowns in this mode. This is further exacerbated by the fact you still have to open with a powerhouse on offense, meaning I have only a couple of options for dealing with top guys at 6-star bronze, furthering the monotony.
• The Showcase competition is interesting in that it's basically the Showdown equivalent of Boss Battle's Superstar Competition - the grindable portion that holds the lion's share of points for the contest. This honestly wasn't too bad so far (though missing one requirement means you have to do an extra 60 matches, which means you can quickly be kicked out of contention if the requirements are against you) but it wasn't a fun grind and the milestones directly gave out energy - which meant if you didn't want to get a bunch of energy you didn't want or need quite yet, you need to avoid these like the plague until you're both out of energy and feel like wanting to use more - a rare moment in this mode. I'd just recommend giving out vouchers we could freely trade for energy instead, so we have agency in getting that energy.
• Another showdown, another dreadful prize wall. What you could get for free won't get you anything other than econ, uninspired straps, and some Striker Lashley shards - making it probably the first time one could actually buy Lashley shards for free in a scrimmage shop. 7 months after Lashley released. I suppose that's still shorter than the 'never' a lot of other posters are set at, but again, this is the Scrimmage contest we're talking about here.
• This is basically shouting redundantly into the void with how literally every faction-based contest is conducted, but I don't like how one could pay for an advantage with the buyable energy effectively allowing people to, in theory, get in more matches and get a higher rank for the contest. Defense playing a part in things already complicates things (as it's really all down to whether the matchmaking system throws you to the wolves or not) but in particular the ability to directly put in money to influence one's standing in the showdown rankings makes them actually being a competition a bit of a joke.