Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-35081236-20180512032634/@comment-35315474-20180512220942

Anything MyTona changes to keep players actively playing the game would be advantageous to them... up to a point.

(1) While players are playing SN, they are not playing something else. I had been checking out several other games when I first started playing SN. Every time I hit a limit of no energy or no passes when needed, I stopped playing SN and started playing one other game. That meant I could have become hooked on the other game, giving them my money. Instead, I found all of you here, and through the wonderful TT gifts you sent, I played SN so much that I dropped the other game. The other game got none of my money while SN got more than I would like to admit.

(2) The more a player becomes invested into playing SN, the more likely they will spend money. As I said before, the more time spent on SN, the more offers we see, and the more likely we'll eventually accept an offer. It's really hard to accept an offer if you aren't playing SN and don't see it! Plus, being more invested in the game often encourages players to want to progress more in the game, leading to spending money. I will spend more money on eyeglasses if I'm searching a room 50 times than if I can only search it 5 times due to limited energy or passes.

And that's just a couple of examples.

But there does come a limit. There are only 24 hours in a day. And even with endless play (TTing to keep talismans, including a SOV active for as long as I want), I eventually tire and stop playing. So giving me more wouldn't increase my time playing. Each player will have a limit. So the benefits of any changes that increase the time players can actively play is limited. Beyond that, it can become counter-helpful by removing any challenge in the game. If everything came easily, then there is no feeling of success from accomplishing anything.

However, I believe their current limits and costs (e.g., rubies, number of passes needed for each time searching a room) are far too high to meet the balance between keeping the game challenging and driving players away from the game. Without TTing, the balance would be so far off, it would drive many players away from the game (and directly into the arms of another game).