UMM... What will happen to those who wasted their money on elevator pass will they get something special or energy...

...

The first thing that came to my mind was a vision of the Dark Harvest. Infinite Grinding. ._.

The thing I'm honestly worried about the most is the economy. I'm not sure it will survive this update. >.< Of course, like Kilpik, said, I'm glad people won't be pressured into farming FSC.

I am worried. This sounds like to me "We're shutting down! Please have all the things and enjoy the last days!"

Can you categorically say here that neither OOO, Sega, or any other associated company have any plans to shut the game down?

I am confused on how I feel... I can't really post judgement until I see it... I feel somewhat annoyed yet happy at the same time... I feel this song is fitting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maOsDfYz_KE

Damn, just noticed ce, trink and wep spots ton be expensive
RAGE BUY
- your friendly neighborhood jim

Feels like some kind of retro rpg game mechanics...I approve of retroness :P

Woah woah woah now. What about mist tanks and Elevator passes? Are we going to get Energy for them or something to make up for it?

Possible exploit?

If elevators are free, can't I just go to Haven and join the party again?

I ninja'd Eury, I can die in peace.

I'd assume they'll just make it so if you re-join within X amount of time you're still dead. Or just have the instance remember "if X player was dead when he/she left and he/she rejoins, remember that they're dead".

You cannot RIP in peace yet. D:

Got that. But then, another minor detail, I can go to Haven, switch gear and return?

This could be important. Rather than carrying a DVS for Vana's mask the whole dungeon, I could switch next to the elevator on D27.

What sort of bonuses do fire crystals give, will they give Unique Variants? I assume you still have to level up your gear 10 times with fire crystals to get to the next level is that correct?

Also, what will be the pricing on Orbs of alchemy for each level? 10/50/200/400/800 ce from supply depot? Or will it cost more/less?

Lol'd at Gfj and Eury's table episode.

Anyways, i like how the updates look, but how will you make money other than DLC and other things purchasable...?

Edit: Adding, since energy will no longer be used in Elevators... What. Type of lore is fitted here...? Has HQ been able to-- HGGGK!

Awesome!

Finally, a way to make progression feasable for those who aren't willing to pay or are just coming in, so that they aren't abruptly brought to a stop and are ultimately encouraged to stop playing the game, leaving desolate environments for paying clientele. People who've had mist alts will have enjoyed the amount of items they've been able to craft and the free energy they've been able to obtain, but now, even more players will be able to enjoy purchasing items without having to worry about having them become a semi-temporary purchases when their game is throttled down if they don't maintain their monthly energy payments.

But I wonder, given that OOO is willing to go this far, could that also mean OOO might reconsider its stance with the DLC, like its asiatic counterpart/subsidiary?

Will danger rooms still cost energy?

Yeah, this is my last straw here.

I'm seeing it as OOO will lose huge amounts of profit from this. What reason is there to buy Crystal Energy anymore? Almost Zero. If you can run levels for the Orbs of Alchemy, why buy them from Kozma? If you die, what's the point of revival? Just saving time? And what about the people who currently have Elevator Passes enabled? Those will just become absolutely worthless and people who have bought quite a few this month will be screwed over, right?

The Energy System despite its flaws and complaints was there to keep the market in check and help support the game with purchases. You're tearing down a wall that was meant to support the game and keep everything stable. Tearing down that wall will bring in new players which is clearly what you want but in the long run will severely cause you to lose profits.

Why buy CE when I can just run a level infinitely until I get all the Orbs of Alchemy? Oh, no need for Kozma! No need for that Supply Depot! Why revive when I can just keep doing the same level over and over?

Counting what's in the game, there's only four things that will use CE: Trinket/Weapon Slots, Silverkeys, Shadow Keys, and Revives.

This may seem good from a Free-to-Play perspective but I see this as the downfall of the game.

"All of these changes represent a huge realignment of the game, and we’re aware that this will generate debate. Over the next couple of months, we will focus on refining these features and other areas of the game further to improve the overall experience of Spiral Knights"

This gets me, Nick. Didn't you say the exact thing about everything else that was released? Remember that UI update that everyone hated? Remember Operation: Crimson Hammer? How about the Mission UI?

It's all a matter of opinion but I seriously don't see this update being a good thing in the long-run. People will exhaust the game much faster than they are now, and complain even more about the lack of content that we keep getting promised. Battle Sprites? Oh, that's neat. But what else is there supporting the game anymore? All people are going to do is run Firestorm Citadel... With Sprites.

I will say that you've made a fantastic game, Nick, and you have an incredible set of Gamemasters there to support it. I was hoping to see a turn around at some point but I don't see this being anything to cheer about, at least from my end.

Thanks for the two years, guys. It's been a blast.

Hate me all you want for what I've said community (I expect lots of hate), but opinions are opinions.

I totally agree with that.

This is the final verson of the post that I prepared for one month. It will be long and with some additions.

Ook, here we go.

First up, what this update has brought.

Party system is destroyed. What were the incentives of going in a party? Reviving with the help of your teammates, having a nicer time with monsters if you party or more difficulty when you go alone, not be compelled to take loot. With personal loot and no health sharing, there is no reason to be in a party if you don’t stick together, and that will require a change on the playerbase level that will not happen shortly. People tend to act recklessly. When they are soloing, because it’s only they or the monsters. Nothing to care about but loot. In parties, with health sharing, because you will have your teammates to take you up again. Also you don’t have to look after loot because your teammates and the RNG will administrate it for you. Now no more. With no health sharing, people would like to go alone even in parties because of, well, the difficulty. You can kill things pretty well in a party of 4 even if you are alone. Game modes will solve it? Time will tell. Returning on track, loot setting will affect the energy market, and badly.
EDIT: although, pills and vitapods will be shared, so there will be more overall health. Also, there are not many ways to split in this game. Finish fast or get more loot, and I like that.
In a few words, there will be no need for it unless the enmies are too strong, and difficulty setting will take care of that.
Only one thing. Enemies don't spawn on loot. If there is a vial/ cr/ heat ember/ material on their spawning position, the spawning position changes.
in d25 FSC, bottom right room, loot is great and room is little. where do enemies spawn?
Now off we go with the other things. That is, entering in detail.

Orbs of alchemy don’t get much off me, since the prices will practically stay the same.
Same with sparks of life, except that more energy will be consumed/ saved, depending on the number of consecutive deaths one can now afford. Well, not exactly afford, but whatever.
EDIT needed. After sparks of life got 50 energy. Crod no. 25. 30. Not 50. 50 is too much. 25 is affordable. Don’t do this. It’s suicide. It’s like rasing taxes, the more you raise, the less people will be likely to pay them.
RE-EDIT: without mist, there is now no quarter. You have to pay to revive, or you have to be lucky and have a rare drop. More on mist later.

No health reviving pisses me off a bit. If you could, I don’t know, break a shard to revive a downed party member (even without full health), maybe even with a price of your own health, and then keep another life shard with which you could craft another Spark after a while, it would be great. EDIT: read first edit, and consider this less.

Now, difficulty settings. From what I heard from the testers, it’s more health and speed. Crap, if you have the old AIs, why don’t you use them? Why pumping monsters with health when you know that with Battle Sprites our dps will increase? Why pumping them with speed when we have UVs that now own the monsters and will take off the challenge of the Elite difficulty? You are giving us the difficulty and the tools to surpass it. But there was a way better way (imo).
AFTER NICK POST ON DIFFICULTY: can’t wait to see the changes on first release then. Say that before, no huh?

Loot distribution, a way to stick together that will not work. I have an idea. It could be crazy and it could change nothing but whatever. Give the new loot system only to materials, and leave sharing on crowns and heat. If you need materials you kill monsters. That is the plan.
This is before nick post on loot. Placed here for the luls. Don’t pay it attention. Now if you want loot, go get it. Like pills. Yeah, my vision has changed a lot.

Equipment limits, mmm. I hope you will give the appropriate rank to whoever has a 5* item, or things will go bad. Not everyone like missions, not everyone like ranks, and ultimately, everyone has worked hard for those equips. Leave the existent bound equips as they are and give the new ones and the unbound ones the limitations. Unbinding would restrict them.
EDIT: well, that has happened. Sort of. Way to go.

Analysis of your summary:

Our goal with the next set of releases is to encourage players to enjoy the process of finding materials and crafting their way to more powerful gear. Battle Sprites and the addition of Orbs are both features that will encourage more focus on individual choices about crafting and how they equip themselves for missions.

So, the objectives of the update are:
Encourage people to actually get their materials to craft. Done.
Make them enjoy it. I would laugh but there is nothing to laugh for.
Encourage variety. You got this right.

These are my first impressions to node 83402. The statements I make are my opinion only and will probably be crushed or surpassed by people more experienced or more intelligent than me. I don’t care.
OOO, you must understand that there must be communication. You must tell us why you are making this and how have the problems appeared. With only this, I will be satisfied.

Well, yeah. That was the things I thought after node 83402. Now let’s jump to 84730, 5 days before the update.
Battle sprites and difficulty modes have already been explained.
Mist is now gone. The energy system that maintained this economy standing is now not any more. Markets will change. I don’t know how.

Orbs and sparks will only add a step. If you are reviving buying a spark now, you are either mad or ready to revive more than 4 times, cause otherwise the previous system was better. Orbs will be found in the clockworks and can be bought, so they will not be obstacles.

Fire sparks, new things we need for leveling up gear. This will slow down progress, as there is no mention in buying them. If they can be bought, they will not work. Now we will think more carefully for our weapons, and also we will associate them with battle sprites, as the leveling is practically the same.

Ok, done. Now to the community:
Newbies, new to the forums: the update will change Spiral Knights, radically. Don’t cheer. It’s the devastation of a war.
The ones who see the good that this update bring, I call upon you to crush the horde of complainers that will charge. I don’t ask you to stop them, I ask you to bring them to unite, so there is more room to fight back.
As for the complainers, you have lots of reason to complain and lots to complain for. I don’t think you will stop if I say so. Just stay in one thread. Don’t spam the forums, see what you can make for this update, because it will not change. If you begin to destroy the forums, I will kill you all.

I was just about to buy ridiculous amounts of CE to get better gear. Thanks for the tip, now I can just spam runs like no tomorrow. The energy system is what made this game so special, thanks for ruining it. I also was debating whether to quit or not. Thanks for making the decision 10x easier for me. I'll just stay to screw around with my pet and quit. Thanks for the 2 years of fun. Cya, off to farming IP for Jayce.

"gogogo heat everything nownownownownow!"

EDIT: And my later ones after reading the rest of the thread.

"everything Glacies said except the quitting part"

"Well, I always did want to get to diamond league SCII... I think now's a good time."

To be fair, I don't think we're losing anything of value with you leaving. Also, to be fair, under their new system, making things should be easier even if you have a metric *%(@ton of CE if only because you can just buy the equivalent metric *(#% of Orbs of Alchemy from the Supply Depot. The only difference in that regard is what looks to be an extra layer of transactions that can be made, which isn't so terrible as long as the Orbs of Alchemy are reasonably priced/balanced as such.

So yeah, enjoy League of Legends.