Been playing 5 days and something disturbs me greatly

[Benny101]

The guy is right about something. If you want to reach the top, you need skill but also very deep pockets.

[carlito]

Its very possible to enjoy this game and not spend a penny....

I have maxed out TH9 completely including walls - but excluding heroes
I have hit champion
I have created a clan that I am proud to say has many members in it that have been with me for over a year

Like you, I bought gems to get the 5th builder but I have not spent a penny since. If I were starting today, I would not even bother with that initial purchase because SC now make it more than possible to get all builders from achievements alone...

Right now I have nearly 5k gems all from achievements / obstacles / left over from my builder purchase and I dont feel at all pressured to spend them...not until SC release the 2500 Gem cost Goblin Prince hero!!

[Stormegetton]

Supercell wont force you to buy gem. No need to call your mommy for a lawsuit

[Deedle]

I'm almost tempted to ask a few friends of mine or my step mother whom are lawyers to see if their is anyway to clarify this game as being a ponzi scheme that is accessible by children. Just because the game tells these poor souls over spending that "pay money and you can skip the most satisfying part of the game only to realize that you will never stop paying because we have you addicted", when it's also "pay money to get to a point that you think is the finish line, only to realize you can only stay there if you keep giving us your money, but instead of 500 gems its now 2000 gems, and now its 5000 gems". This is the very definition of a ponzi scheme.

Indeed. The VERY definition of a ponzi scheme. But, in fact, I think it's far worse. I'm almost tempted to ask my step-brother's high school football coach's sister who is a paralegal, but it's pretty clear what's really going on is some form calculated effort to unlawfully manipulate the energy markets, creating rolling black-outs to murder elderly individuals who are on life support systems with minimal battery back-up. Consider: my phone battery runs-out slower when playing the game then when I'm not. If that isn't the VERY definition of murder (yes, murder), then I must be full of it. In fact, I've only been playing the game for twenty minutes, but my conclusions are far reaching and have implications for all society.

[PhillipM]

You can enjoy the game without spending money on it, but you hit the nail on the head @OP.

[samyforse3]

i'm someone who in the past has played games like starcraft/aoe/lol/wow/runescape, you name it i played it. Not only did i play them but i was always top 5% except in runescape of course because that game didn't have any competitive aspects. Now some of my cousins introduced me to clash of clans a few days ago and i was blown away at how fun and satisfying it is. I thought to myself "this is what age of empires online wanted to be except this is way more accessible. I bought a few builders homes because it was pretty obvious this was the only real investment i could justify making without ruining my gameplay experience. I got excited when after an hour i could build archers, then after a day i could train wizards. I constantly fought to get gold to upgrade my walls to all dark iron or w\e and one little gold wall in front of my wizard tower. So naturally i went to look up youtube videos of coc gameplay to see if there were any viable strategies where people just mass trained wizard. This is where i saw something very dark and almost disgusting.

i watched a video where a guy spent hundreds of dollars in a matter of minutes training troops and making spells. Upgrading everything in a matter of an hour while spending thousands. On the forums top players posting that you either pay or you won't be competitive. At first i thought "surely there must be a daily limit you can spend on this game", then when i found out that there was no limit i began to realize the game was one giant scheme for the people who buy gems constantly. When you buy gems to upgrade something there is always something else to spend cash on. Their is no end to it. I felt sick looking at what i was watching. Not because i was "jealous", but because i had never seen people throw away the chance to upgrade over time with buddies and try getting the top 5 spots or so in your clan just for fun. It was something much darker i was witnessing. I checked the timeline for coc and i realized its relatively new so i think the company has a chance to fix this issue by putting a harsh cap on the amount of cash people can spend on the game per month.this will increase the longevity of the game, attract people looking for a legit aoe style moba without scaring them away, and help a lot of people who have put on different forums that the game ruined their lives because they spent so much cash only to realize that there was no end to it. Sure i could spend 200-300 dollars a week buying gems, but what am i gaining except skipping out on the satisfaction you get from leveling stuff up like in most games.

If the company doesn't change its policy soon i'm almost tempted to ask a few friends of mine or my step mother whom are lawyers to see if their is anyway to clarify this game as being a ponzi scheme that is accessible by children. Just because the game tells these poor souls over spending that "pay money and you can skip the most satisfying part of the game only to realize that you will never stop paying because we have you addicted", when it's also "pay money to get to a point that you think is the finish line, only to realize you can only stay there if you keep giving us your money, but instead of 500 gems its now 2000 gems, and now its 5000 gems". This is the very definition of a ponzi scheme.
i know it seems silly to write this after 5 days but when i play a game i like to watch youtube vids/read the forums/the reddit. The rate at which i was always to find out how dark this game was for a lot of people and very quickly.

edit: The reason i say this is a ponzi scheme is because their is always a higher prices to be payed around the corner. They get you to spend 600 gems so your town hall can upgrade, then the next time its 900, the next time its 1500 ect ect. Except apply this to everything in the game. It's the idea of "just one more investment and you can get to the next level only to realize there is a level beyond and then you realize you wasted all your money because their is no end and your paycheck is gone. This is what ponzi schemers do to their victims. They take their money and say we will double it, then they double it and ask for more, eventually they run off with your money and call it a day.

edit#2: I know i can enjoy the game without paying (this is the same rhetoric you hear from a lot of pay to win games). Im simply stating some worries i have about the games ethical values. When you have the option to push a button that will drink your bank account while furthering your account with no effort and the price gets higher and higher every time you do....it just seems very wrong (for those people who can't control themselves, for the kids who steal their parents credit cards, for the gambling addicts, for the regular kid who saved up for a bit and figured he could spare a few only to empty his saving in a few weeks). I'm not these people but this just seems unethical.

dont play too much haha, dont really, ​xd

[nana121314]

I would like to talk to OP after he gets a little older, and takes a business class or 2.

[BegaBogan]

I played evony,it's the same buy coins (gems) to get higher faster.If i gem,its my choice,its my money,its my game,its my life.Its not that your forced to buy gems,same as your choice to play it,if you don't like it,don't play it easy go outside and get a life :eek:


Cheers
Begabogan

[stupidgame67]

The reason you need more and more gems the higher up you go is because gems don't pay for you townhall, they pay for the resources that pay for your townhall. If 1 gem (totally made up numbers) equals 100,000 gold, and it takes 100,000 gold to upgrade your townhall, it would take 200,000 gold, essentially 2 gems, for the next townhall. The reason games are fun is because you can advance, because it gets more challenging.

I disagree, this is not a ponzi scheme. If I interpreted correctly, the ponzi scheme is accepting money from someone, then paying a higher return back, with someone else's money, rather than their own profits, keeping the money of the first person. However, Supercell is acting like a normal company, exchanging services or products for a currency. Their service is whatever digital thing you are buying, and are getting money back. Did they give you products that someone else had owned? No. They manufactured these digital things with their own resources. Also, it is very hard to relate the Ponzi scheme to a digital game, IMO.

I agree that the top spots are reserved for the top gemmers. To answer an earlier post, top gemmers doesen't mean people with a lot of money, there are ways to access "free gems". Back on topic, these players are spending money to buy "time", and in game resources. These payers know perfectly well that they are spending money (unless they are intoxicated or stoned, still their own fault), and it is not Supercell's fault if the payers continue to do so, because SC is not forcing them to do so, or tricking them. Its like saying we should nail those chocolate makers for making chocolate that is so god damn addictive.

[GameloverHD]

You might want to check out a business class before you insult the way this game is made. Oh, you can also try playing some other money-sapping games. Honestly, every game with in-app-purchases (IAPs) will try to be as addicting as possible so they can gain the most money. Obviously, better things cost more money so the part about every Town Hall Level being more and more expensive is entirely true which is why I don't understand your complaints about it.......

In conclusion, this game is just like other games that are free on the outside but then want you to buy IAPs. What would be truly disturbing was if you were FORCED to spend money to get ahead in the game. You can play the game without spending a cent so you don't exactly have to complain about those people at the top who want to spend TONS of time and money.