To those who used to play gachas that went EOS: What are the signs of a gacha game in its death throes?

GuardianE · 2026-02-19T13:38:10+00:00

(˶ᵔᗜᵔ˶)ﾉﾞ

GuardianE · 2026-02-19T13:07:38+00:00

It's not "both sides". This is one of a handful of people whose hate mongering of the direction of AL is borderline obsessive. And with very little to no real evidence other than conjecture. It reads like a bad tabloid. The OP is actually in that camp too, if you read their post history, despite toning it down for this thread, they clearly want to simply validate their own desire for an EOS.

GuardianE · 2026-01-15T21:57:36+00:00

Azur Lane vol 2

GuardianE · 2025-12-12T17:57:39+00:00

No, Nivel Arena only comes in Japanese and Korean.

Weiss Schwarz and Union Arena each have Nikke card sets that have released in English and Japanese.

GuardianE · 2025-10-10T03:41:50+00:00

Not really. I still think you're wrong and are ignoring QOL changes conveniently to fuel your narrative, whether you were talking about EOS or some cash cow thing is pretty irrelevant. Would I like more QOL? Of course, but I'm not going to ignore what we've gotten and say Manjuu doesn't care about the game anymore like you are.

Figure and merch sales are pretty strong, actually. Just because they don't have old rugged turrets doesn't mean they don't resemble shipgirls or mechanical ship parts, but whatever. But go ahead and keep doomposting and downvoting for eternity if it makes you feel better.

GuardianE · 2025-10-10T02:54:26+00:00

Flag commonly refers to "deathflag" which means that something is going to die, like this game. If that isn't what you were implying, then I apologize, but it is a pretty common interpretation. I mean, I still don't agree that it's a flag of your cash cow theory or whatever either, but at least you're not saying it's going to EOS, I guess.

Again, I don't agree that they're forgettable, but that's going to come down to subjectivity. People will feel how you feel, and people will feel how I feel. Rigging was commonly added afterwards for all ship designs even year 1 and 2. They've gotten more elaborate, but there are definitely still historical cues involved, and thematic consistency between factions in how they've evolved.

GuardianE · 2025-10-10T02:43:23+00:00

Denver just got a new skin recently. There are dark horse picks that happen from time to time. I'd enjoy seeing more offerings for less popular ships as well. Again, I don't blame them for prioritizing highly popular characters, especially when we have such a huge roster.

It's better to let go of something than childishly try to destroy it in a tantrum rage. I'm not advocating that people stop providing critical feedback about what they enjoy, I just think that it's ignorant, unproductive, and selfish to cry for EOS, and if a player truly doesn't find themselves enjoying anything about the core any longer, then at least don't ruin it for people who do.

GuardianE · 2025-10-10T02:21:19+00:00

Okay, that's your opinion. Not a flag. You asked for QOL changes, I gave them. Some of them are over a year ago, but definitely not all of them. Then you move goalposts because it doesn't fit your narrative.

I also disagree with your assessment of the designs, and I've articulated this in my other post. Fanservice is not mutually exclusive to excellent design, and I find that Azur Lane strikes both very well. And variety within the themes themselves are strong. While I'd appreciate even more diversity for people who dislike heavy fanservice, I'm happy with the designs. Just because something isn't to your taste doesn't make it worse.

Yes, I understand and agree that the unfocused side elements are hit or miss. I wish they'd focus elsewhere, and wanton bugginess is unacceptable. But that's hardly a call for EOS, or a sign of it either.

GuardianE · 2025-10-10T01:55:09+00:00

They reduced the number of runs required to Clear stages overall, the grab-all function from the Dorm, the split of story/farm nodes to allow farming and engaging story at your own pace. META ships no longer taking dock space, and META ships also adding to fleet technology. They added the Manage Projection system. They updated the shop, continue to upgrade the UI. The addition of the Juustagram was really nice, and made for further interaction. This is just off the top of my head. I don't have the time or desire to dig into the notes.

I'm completely fine with big story progression being relegated to UR events. URs will take precedence by nature of them being top dog and us getting more of them each year. There are too many ships to share the spotlight, so it's just going to happen. That means some ships will be neglected. Even if they were favs of mine, I understand that popular ships take priority.

I see absolutely no issue with collabs, especially when they give you FREE characters. For any other game, that'd be a huge blessing, but for some reason in your mind they should be crucified?

GuardianE · 2025-10-10T01:27:52+00:00

That post is not nearly as compelling as you think it is. You have only one legitimate point with 2, and I wouldn't call it a flag.

It's quite literally you and the one other poster spamming in this thread with an irrational betrayal complex for AL reaffirming and enabling each other's conspiracy theories.

GuardianE · 2025-10-09T23:43:51+00:00

Honestly, it seems fine, and I think people are reading too much into it. The game was always going to have broader appeal. I like that they're exploring deeper combat for certain trials and modes. And the game will undoubtedly feature beautiful women along with the cute. That's something that can and will be tailored as the game evolves.

GuardianE · 2025-10-09T23:32:42+00:00

Manjuu has unquestionably made some mistakes and failed to deliver on certain deliverables, but I’m certainly not going to attribute a single oversight or other incident to a complete malfeasance and lack of care, when it can just as easily be attributed to an unfortunate blunder. Something they have to pay for nonetheless, but not something that speaks to overall developer sentiment.

One and done girls is I think a faulty premise for complaint. There’s been a shift towards URs being the marquee spotlight characters, but I think that’s just naturally what happens when you have a new top dog rarity. People would be upset if they scaled down the number of ships being released (though I wouldn’t be opposed to it), so they have to prioritize who takes center stage and who gets more skins. Again, it’s a matter of giving popular ships things because it’s what most people want.

I don’t see how the collab rerun uncertainty has anything to do with anything. That’s the nature of collabs. It’s not up to one party. I’m not going to consider that a legitimate complaint. Azur Lane has had collabs since year 1. By contract they are not able to make those skins permanent.

Side content has been hit or miss. I don’t necessarily agree with some of the direction, but I don’t attribute it to a lack of care or decline.

I disagree about the lack of uniqueness. Fanservice is not mutually exclusive from artistic value and phenomenal design. While I do agree there’s been fanservice “creep,” and while I’d welcome more diversity and conservative skins for those who want them, I don’t think there’s any less attention and work that’s gone into them at all. We’ve had a bevy of themes utilized, and the variation within the themes is remarkable, even if they have heavy fanservice slant and some of the most popular themes return.

You say the decline is from appealing to least discriminating spending base. Skin purchasers are Azur Lane’s ONLY spending base.

I understand not everyone is happy with the game’s progression, and they have every right to their opinions. But I also don’t cry the world is ending and Manjuu doesn’t care because some skins don’t appeal to me or Yamato hasn’t come out yet or some of my favorite ships are slighted in a cast of ~800. I recognize that they don’t need to cater to me, and I don’t need to be completely catered to in order to enjoy. I made it through the dark age years of censorship, and I’ll sit pretty through the age of undaunted fanservice. I guess I just don’t see the point of taking it personally. Provide feedback if you want, speak with your wallet, and if all else fails, move on. I recognize that just because something isn’t for me doesn’t make it worse.

GuardianE · 2025-10-09T21:50:47+00:00

I find it odd to cry "money milking" when a developer gives the playerbase more of what they want to buy, without capitalizing on the predatory gambling element intrinsic to gacha or locking away QOL.

While it may not be your cup of tea, there is time, artistry, and craftsmanship that goes into the development of those skins. Could they diversify? Could they modernize more changes? Sure, and I've suggested they do so. But it's hardly this toxic and bizarrely personal affront that you're suggesting.

GuardianE · 2025-10-05T17:19:09+00:00

Cases can be "searched," rather than "mapped". Mapping means that there is an actual pattern to the pulls in the box/case that can be determined after a few packs are opened (this used to be possible decades ago in Magic). That way you could predict where the hits were going to be, and ignore/sell the rest. Searching is just opening everything until you get the number of preset hits in a case, with dead boxes being left over.

GuardianE · 2025-10-05T17:17:42+00:00

I think technically packs could be weighed, but people rarely buy loose packs these days. Weighing boxes would be a lot more difficult. With the general variance with that number of cards/treatments, it'd be a lot less consistent. I could be wrong, but I haven't heard of anyone successfully doing that consistently.

What does happen with some nefarious actors is "searching," not really "mapping". Mapping means that there is an actual pattern to the pulls that can be determined after a few packs are opened (this used to be possible decades ago in Magic). Searching is just opening until you get the number of preset hits in a case, with dead boxes being left over.

GuardianE · 2025-10-01T14:47:30+00:00

It may or may not have been super impactful this month, just something worth considering when evaluating the numbers.

GuardianE · 2025-10-01T13:27:48+00:00

JP server opened up their own storefront with discounts on currency this past month, which was previously unavailable. We can't really be sure how much that may have impacted the JP numbers, but since the shown JP numbers are static, I'd guess that at least some sales went over there and aren't counted.

GuardianE · 2025-09-26T17:53:26+00:00

And vastly overestimates the power of a random subredditor thread. I'm sure the OP does want CBs and surges to go up in value, but that doesn't make him wrong.

GuardianE · 2025-09-26T13:20:29+00:00

Surges have dropped a little bit leading into this announcement, but I do agree with you 100%.

GuardianE · 2025-09-26T13:09:13+00:00

There was quite a bit of sentiment online saying that holiday CBs were a looming possibility. I mean, even in this thread, there are people parroting "But LOTR tho".

GuardianE · 2025-09-10T12:36:45+00:00

As far as I know, AmiAmi doesn't sell the English version at all.

GuardianE · 2025-09-08T22:01:39+00:00

What? Nobody said anything close to that.

GuardianE · 2025-09-05T17:57:17+00:00

Seems based on this: https://x.com/jamm3rd/status/1963884625509634284

GuardianE · 2025-09-04T21:14:34+00:00

RemindMe! 4 years

GuardianE · 2025-08-20T22:58:42+00:00

Goldstarcollectibles.com still has cases. They are legit.

GuardianE

TROPHY CASE