Cold Hard Truth

“F2P Parasites are not the Heart of the Game”

Over the past week, AFK Journey has been through a whirlwind of emotions as the Paragon changes were revealed and then play-tested. As expected, these changes were alarming and oppressive, quickly highlighting the difficulty in defeating teams even just one Paragon tier higher. The community’s reaction spiraled, reaching a frenzy not seen since Season 1’s launch. However, at the core of these complaints lies a sense of entitlement, as a group of players demands that the game cater to their desires, without considering why these changes were implemented in the first place.

Season 2 was nearing its end, with little left to do aside from managing Ravage Realm, when previews for the upcoming season were revealed. Initially, the community focused on the three new celestial and hypogean heroes, with little attention given to the Paragon changes. For those who had these heroes, it seemed like a much-needed improvement, as Paragon levels had scaled poorly in the base arena. A mixed P1/P2 team could often defeat P3 teams and even had a slim chance at beating P4 teams. Rivalry stats, while important, weren’t as crucial when staying within one or two tiers. The new stats—Inspiration and Intimidation—seemed like a game-changing addition, but potentially overpowered on paper as they would stack across both teams.

When Season 3 launched on VN servers, it did not take long for the community’s fears to be validated. As the numbers behind the changes became clear, content creators quickly began producing videos warning of the game’s impending balance issues. Anger began to grow, and a vocal segment of the community began demanding the reversal of these changes, with players from F2P to Kraken voicing their concerns.

At this point, the conversation shifted away from understanding the intent behind the changes and was hijacked by players more interested in causing disruption than in constructive dialogue.

The Paragon system has always had its flaws. It was clear that Paragon units had diminishing returns, with the Rivalry stat increase being linear despite the increasing number of copies required for each hero. This created an environment that clearly defined which heroes benefitted most from Rivalry stats. Under this system, supporting heroes gained little from these stats and were often overshadowed by DPS heroes. The developers recognized this imbalance and sought to correct it, but the method they chose was flawed.

Inspiration and Intimidation need to be removed, but new stats should be introduced for support heroes at higher Paragon levels. Simple solutions, like boosting healing and shielding for individual heroes, or extending the duration of channeled healing or shields, could address this issue without unbalancing the game. Another option could be reducing the number of copies needed for P3 and P4 heroes to coincide with the linear stat progression. However, debuffing enemy support, as these changes do, is not the right direction.

The Paragon system certainly requires adjustments, but not the kind we've been seeing. Many players seem to be missing the core issue, focusing more on stirring up conflict than understanding the rationale behind these changes. The reality is that the game needs everyone to succeed. Recent data reveals that 22% of players have spent between $101-$500, 16% are entirely F2P, and 11% spent under $100. Together, these groups make up half of the player base, and Lilith must recognize that leaving them behind is not an option. At the same time, over 50% of players have spent more than $501, and their investment should be properly acknowledged and rewarded.

We are all the Heart of the Game