Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 606 - 589: The Pros and Cons of the Reverse Pool

Chapter 606: Chapter 589: The Pros and Cons of the Reverse Pool

Gerlin’s star ratings also follow the usual pattern, mainly focusing on two-star and full stars.

The stat increase at two-star has always been quite good. Now that Gerlin’s base stats have been strengthened, this increase is even more attractive.

However, unlike other characters, Gerlin’s three-star is also very desirable.

A three-star generally involves a minor mechanical change or a comfort improvement, either making the controls more mindless or unlocking team formations.

For other characters, three stars aren’t particularly important since the stats aren’t much different from two-star, and the change in comfort doesn’t matter much—you just have to operate a few more times.

But Gerlin’s case is a bit different.

Because his three-star enhances domineering body and damage reduction effects.

Originally, Gerlin had a minor domineering body and damage reduction under the raging state, but this domineering body is only the lowest level of interruption resistance, meaning normal attacks are fine, but slightly stronger collision skills can disrupt his raging state, requiring reactivation.

That’s not so pleasant.

The three-star effect enhances domineering body and damage reduction further, turning Gerlin into a truly mindless state where holding down the attack key ignores all attacks and clears the screen.

Of course, this is with reasonable equipment and team formation.

From this perspective, the uplift from Gerlin’s two-star and three-star is quite significant!

Many people had bent their luck towards the Permanent Pool before, but many only managed to get one or two Gerlins.

So they can only watch their zero or one-star Gerlin and sigh in disappointment.

It would be so great if it were a three-star!

Really got too few!

Even many who pulled from the current UP pool, initially aiming for Lie Hunter or Priestess Xie, ended up getting Gerlin and smashing the table on the spot.

Not out of anger, but out of joy.

Because getting Gerlin is even more worth it than those two UP characters!

Many wealthy whales would like to spend money on draws, but unfortunately, it’s not something you can just buy with money!

Because Gerlin is a Permanent Character, he doesn’t appear in the UP pool.

And if you want to draw from the Permanent Pool, since there are many other permanent characters in the pool and you can’t target specifically, the chance of getting Gerlin is actually very low.

It’s quite normal if after thousands or tens of thousands spent, all other characters show up except Gerlin.

Just goes to show, some are happy, some are sad.

The enhancement of Gerlin has created a very strange phenomenon in "Endless Fantasy Legend 2", players don’t even think getting a permanent draw is a bad thing anymore, of course, as long as it’s Gerlin.

Getting one Gerlin can even make people happier than getting two Gold Coins.

Of course, many whale players are protesting: Why can’t there be an UP pool for such a strong character like Gerlin? I have money!

But clearly, this voice will never be responded to by Nitiandang.

...

On forums, players have started another major discussion about Nitiandang’s gacha mechanics.

Since these mechanics are different from other gacha games, players naturally abbreviated it as "Reverse Pool," or "Nitiandang’s Card Pool."

It has three main features:

The first is a human-set luck cycle, roughly cycling every 1000 draws, starting lucky, becoming unlucky later.

The second is that weak characters are periodically strengthened, even if these characters are from the Permanent Pool and not the UP pool, and the enhancement magnitude is substantial.

The third is that UP pool characters have a noticeable lag, in the current UP, these two UP characters are likely unremarkable, even suppressed by the current environment, until one or two versions later, where these characters might encounter an environment favorable to them, whereas in other games, UP characters are basically lifted by the current environment.

From these three differences, the difference with traditional pools is indeed substantial.

As for whether the "Reverse Pool" is better or worse compared to traditional pools, players are also fiercely arguing and can’t reach a consensus.

The controversy has existed since day one of the game’s launch, but with the strengthening of Gerlin, this controversy has once again reached a peak.

"I just don’t understand why there are still people defending the Reverse Pool; it’s a completely trashy design, purely disgusting, isn’t it clear what the problem is?"

"Is the luck cycle designed by people? Gacha is originally a luck game, creating a luck cycle, with no UP character in over a hundred draws, does anyone find that enjoyable?"

"Exactly, it’s the first time I’ve seen a game where the current environment doesn’t lift the UP pool characters. I spent money! Drawing new characters but not letting me enjoy it, needing to wait one or two versions later, what kind of logic is that!"

"Randomly strengthening Permanent Pool characters is the most outrageous, and yet it’s so hard to even draw one Gerlin, really speechless!"

There are quite a few players opposing the Nitiandang pool, which is normal.

After all, the pool that Lilith designed was intended to annoy players from the start.

Whether it’s the cycle design of luck followed by unluck, or the current UP characters being targeted by the environment, it was all planned from the beginning, with the purpose of collecting players’ negative emotions.

But...

No matter how well a plan is laid out, it doesn’t necessarily always develop according to plan, there are always surprises.

At this moment, the opinions of another group of players are just that surprise.

For example, a post by a player was pushed to the front page of the forum and received many likes.

"Seeing a lot of people cursing the Nitiandang pool, I actually think the design of this pool is really good!

"Don’t look at the issues in isolation, if you take each setting of the Nitiandang pool individually, they all seem outrageous, making it seem intentionally annoying. But what if you look at it as a whole?

"You know, other games’ gacha pools have always had an unresolved chronic issue, which is that characters depreciate in value.

"And depreciation of character value spawns a series of problems such as ’off-meta characters not worth it’, ’character lovers becoming version regressers’, ’new characters bursting old characters’ Gold Coins’.

"Although many players have gotten used to this setup, still, just because it has always been like this, is it right?

"According to the general mindset of manufacturers, the new characters in UP pools are definitely hoped to be drawn by players, as that’s how the manufacturers make money. And to make players happily draw, besides XP, the character also needs to have excellent stats, and a comfortable environment.

"So when a UP pool updates, the game introduces enemies that are countered by this character, allowing players to enjoy as much as possible.

"At first glance, this is great, players who spent money on UP characters are enjoying, but think about it, what problems does this bring?

"Firstly, old characters getting ’burst by Gold Coins’ is inevitable.

"Because to make players draw new characters, new characters must be obviously stronger than old characters, hence the characters that players draw are always depreciating, always getting their Gold Coins burst by newer characters, it’s just a matter of time.

"Secondly, the characters in the Permanent Pool, as well as old characters from previous versions, can never be enhanced. Because enhancing old characters is equivalent to indirectly bursting the Gold Coins of new characters, how would you then sell new characters?

"Then, adding a 50% off-meta probability, it also means that once a player goes off-meta, it’s like watering down 648 or even more money, and the off-meta permanent character will never have a chance to play.

"To enjoy the game, the optimal solution for players is to become strength-oriented. Only draw the strongest characters, because the strongest characters retain their value longer.

"And for XP enthusiasts, it inevitably means seriously sacrificing their gaming experience. After all, if your XP is a weak character, chances are they will be weak forever.

"But the Nitiandang pool really solves this problem, eliminating all strength anxiety for everyone, letting them play according to their own XP!

"Because everyone knows, even if it’s a weak character, they will definitely be enhanced in the future. XP enthusiasts sticking to weak characters, when they are enhanced, that joy is indescribable.

"And the UP pool being targeted by the environment is also a great merit.

"Because this is the official discouraging mindless spending! Only if you really like a character should you pay for them.

"In this mode, going off-meta on Permanent characters also doesn’t matter anymore, because these permanents will also be enhanced in the future, just like Gerlin this time.

"Of course, the Nitiandang pool will inevitably cause problems of value inflation.

"After all, only enhancing without reducing, value inflation is inevitable.

"But other games also have value inflation, right? If you want to add stats to new characters, it will inevitably inflate.

"Compared to others, Nitiandang’s pool is friendlier, because the Permanent Pool will also be enhanced, and new players entering the game can still wreak havoc with Permanent characters.

"Switching to other games, new players using Permanent characters might find it difficult to even get through the main storyline.

"This is clearly a huge concession from the officials to the players, why don’t people understand?

"Besides, there’s the issue of the luck and unluck cycle, which I think is adaptable.

"Because the overall gacha probability is just that much, regardless of whether there’s a luck-unluck cycle or not, the number of items you get within a thousand draws in Nitiandang and other pools are similar.

"Other pools lack this cycle of luck and unluck, and every time you draw you’re unsure whether you’ll be lucky or unlucky, which is certainly more thrilling but also makes planning your draws harder.

"Sometimes players estimate based on normal probabilities, but end up being particularly unlucky when drawing, missing their desired star level by tens of draws, and have no choice but to spend money.

"But with the existence of this cycle of luck and unluck in Nitiandang, everyone can plan their draws better, and even separate their draws between five-star and four-star characters!

"When we are in a luckier cycle, we go for the five-star characters we’re satisfied with, because the drop rate is high; when in an unluckier cycle, we go for the four-star characters we want, because the drop rate of four-star characters isn’t affected, and we can also get through an unluckier cycle in the meantime.

"In conclusion, although this luck-unluck cycle setting felt uncomfortable at first, after getting used to it, it’s really not that bad, right?

"Some also say, the drop rate of Nitiandang is slightly lower than other games.

"Yes, I won’t deny this, as the actual data is there.

"But pay attention: firstly, Nitiandang characters are five-star full stars, not six stars, so they require fewer draws compared to other games, secondly, a 64 in Nitiandang is about 80 draws, which is more cost-effective compared to many other gacha games; and finally, Nitiandang’s Permanent Pool also holds value, so even if you go off-meta on permanent, it’s not money wasted, as the character will definitely be useful later.

"So overall, I think the Nitiandang model is not bad either! It even feels more friendly towards average players!"