New Mode to Address Loot Concerns with Upgrade
I believe that in addition to the struggle for loot, much of the push back with the new upgrade is due to battle fatigue. In the real world, war and strife are not constants. People can not live in a continuous state of battle. There are periods of war, and periods of rebuilding. Or people leave as refugees.
As Supercell knows, there is a lot of psychology at play with this game. I believe that when players are continuously on the defensive (and still lose loot anyway), must constantly battle to get ahead (we don't all have time for that), and there is no option to rebuild, then they fall into despair and give up. In this case, that means giving up the game.
My idea for a solution is a new game mode that gives people that option. If the current mode of play could be considered "Battle" mode, the new mode would be called "Rebuild" or "Farming" mode. In Farming mode, the risk levels are reduced. Attacks may still come, but at reduced frequency, and with lower losses. Players could slowly save to build, which is a bit draw of the game for many players.
Of course there need to be incentives to keep players from staying in Farming mode all the time. While they could still go on raids to gain some loot to build, perhaps the levels of loot are lower. Perhaps they can not go to war while in farming mode. And perhaps there is a time limit on how long you can stay in farming mode.
Incentives to be in Battle mode would be higher reward in exchange for the higher risk. Battling should be key component of the game, but at least farming mode would give people another option, and an option that allows them to continue to play (vs. shield), when they need a bit of a break from the more intense levels of play.
