Gang Member Limit - Discussion

[Alex]

Hi everyone,

In light of the recent discussion about the gang limit, we want to clarify a few facts and invite everyone to voice their opinion.

Before continuing, we ask everyone to please keep in mind the following:

- The limit was never intended or announced as a game-play rule. That means that is was never part of the rules that the game was meant to be played by. It was only a mathematical limit set in the game's code.

- This is the reason why it was not announced. As you have seen this year, we make sure to announce all important and less important changes and updates.

- For example, the first gang limit in the code was set at 1000, but only because it was considered that it would never be reached. When a player reached that limit for the first time, the limit was raised so all players could benefit from it.

- Subsequently, it does not matter who is the first player that reaches a limit - we would always increase it when reached, for the benefit of all players. Keeping it in the code would only result in different errors.


Also, some of you might remember that in the past we had a public poll about gang members and most players voted to keep the rule as it presently is - meaning that gang members should always count in fights.

Given the situation in which some players might amass a very large number of gang members, we are considering setting a final, game-play limit for gang members. If this happens, we will of course announce it as it will, from then on, become a game-play rule.

Please keep in mind that when engaging others from the Fight list, there is already a limit (dependent on the level) to how many gang members can be used and so this limit - whether imposed as a game-play rule or just present in the code - does not affect anyone.
Only engaging from the Bounties list will allow players to use their entire gang, but as stated, we will be considering setting a rule for a final limit. Please leave us your suggestions regarding this.

Again, this was never meant or announced as a game-play rule, but only a small oversight in the game's code. It was always increased in the past, when any player had reached it.

We apologize for any inconvenience and misunderstanding this has created and invite everyone to discuss the issue and tell us of any suggestions they might have. Thank you!

[Ferdinand W Kristianto]

Hi Dev,

I think it's better to have limit for each, gangs member from facebook friend, and gangs member from gold at the beginning.
If not, this game only for the people who had money.
I know this is a profit but, if you not set the limit right, the one who playing this game, only who pay with gold.
That's my 2 cent.

Ferdinand

[Jason Bies]

As i wrote to you before, I agree with a gang cap limit. The highest in the game is now 8500, so cap it around 10,000. Thats more than enough for anyone. All other games are around 500, so there is no need to have it continue going higher and out of control. People are already close to being banned from adding friends, or past players losing accounts trying to add gang, so just cap it. People who spend can still spend cash, just limit the gang size, and add a button to add gang from inside the app, and you will continue to have one of the best apps out there... just my personal opinion.

*one more thing. There is not enough people who play the game to reach 8000 gang unless they spend a ton of money. Also, people have lost accounts, or have been banned prematurely do to trying to add so many people to play, just to build gang. We have to look at things from their side, and keep it on a level playing field for EVERYONE who plays, not just for an elite few. People who spend can continue to spend, dont limit that, Im not saying handcuff them, but just limit gang size so we all can be competitive with each other.

[Fangdog]

I believe Gang size should be limited with Level.....For example, you have people that are level 300 with over 4,000 gang members......That size gang should be for people over level say 1,500......You have people NOT leveling up (playing the game) just collecting bounties, but they have huge gang sizes......Set up a limit of gang members for say each 100 in levels.......So everybody near that level has a fighting chance.......That would be Max number of gang members, some people just don't want to increase, so be it, let them stay small. MAKE people level up so they can increase their gang size or get "Pounded".....

[Veerle D'hanis]

I agree Fandog, you wrote your message while I was preparing mine :D

Just some personal reflections about this topic...


I never knew there was a limit to the number of gangmembers and personally I do not see the need for it.
If someone wants to pay a lot for a very big army, so what...
Putting a gang limit will not prevent people to spend a lot of money just to be better then the rest.
If it is not spent on gang, it will be spent on attack/defense/skill points,... whatever is needed to outrange other players.
As long as it is possible to buy things that give you an advantage to other players, money will be spent.
All parameters can be limited then, and the game will become boring.
I think that the possibility to put different accents just make the game interesting and challenging.
I gives the opportunity for different strategies.


Winning a fight is not just about the gangsize.
I lost when Philip attacked me, but I could win from him on the bountylist this morning, and my gangsize is about half of his.
Having a big gang is 1 thing, but it should be equipped as well, and attack and defense values are as important in the game (I even think more important then gangsize).
Some players spend a lot of money on attack/defense and can win from very high levels with a big gang although they do have low level and small gang.


A to large gang could even be a disadvantage in the long run. People that build more slowly in the game will be better equipped,... and thus be stronger.
The game should be played, not just put masses of cash in it to outrange others. You should build, have a strategy, be faithfull to the strategy you've choosen and PLAY the game. This is what in the long run will give the best result. Of course this takes more time.


One should respect everyones gamestrategy. You cannot always win everywhere, one should accept some players are stronger in 1 area and others in other.


There always has been a big difference in the gangsize of players, even at lower levels. Now there is a lot to do about the fact that Philip has 8500 gang because he asked some people if he could attack them to test his strength. And then at once his big gang was noticed. He was just testing, never with the intention to go attacking everyone he can get. There is nothing unfair about that. If Philip had lost his fights, even with 8500 gang, nobody would have said something.


I think there are other ways of playing that (seems to me) are far more unfair. There are some lower level players that just buy a lot of gang and do nothing else then fighting. They try to stay low level as long as possible to fight as much as possible.




If there should be a limit on gang, why do we all kill Stonewalls and are unhappy when rewards do not give a soldier ?


It's a strategic game, and one should determine his strategy with the means the game gives, not the other way around. Players should not claim parameters that fit better in there strategy .


A game is a kind of a reflection of real life. In real live also one should adapt his strategy to changing environmental parameters to stay competitive in mensworld

[Jason Bies]

I disagree but respect Veerles opinion, its a great opinion and thought provoking, but considering the fact that all games set a cap limit on apps, is the exact reason there should be one. Reason is, If you have the money to buy it, you have the money to equip it just as easily, so that argument is fruitless in my opinion. People have a hard enough time getting gang, why make it that much harder, and risk getting suspended or even banned from FB?? Its easy for a money spender to get huge gangs when they spend 500 bucks... But someone who spends 500 bucks a week needs to have a limit put on him/her because it then becomes like gambling, where you get addicted to spending money on something pointless, that doesnt benefit your everyday needs.... Its a game app, and if you want people to start quitting, keep letting the rich get richer, while the rest of us just lose enthusiasm over this app, and go play something else.... Mafia Wars was ruined by the rich spenders, and a lot of people quit playing because of it. I had to spend money I didnt have just to defend myself vs. top 1000 level players... If spending gets out of control, the only thing to do for everyone else, is to either spend to keep up, or fall behind and become a target...END OF STORY!

[Ferdinand W Kristianto]

And Yes if they can buy 10.000 gangs member, they also can buy a weapon to equip that too, so it's pointless with no limit.
Even if you set the gangs 10.000, it's already to hight, maybe 10x bigger then other games.
Then only the big spender get on top of the list, and no other way for other players to catch up unless they are willing to spend some money.
This game already taken so much time to play, 4x refill in a day ? come on, are this game only for people who don't have life outside fb?
Even with people who spend they whole time in this game cannot catch up with people who spend less less time but buying the gold, so the point is, this game only for spender.
n Good Luck with that :)

[Susan Rose Hammock]

i agree with Veerle it's not gang size that matters it's how you arm them and a/d points, that being said, I also believe(my own opinion) that a person(not me) who has been playing this game since day one and is in the top players grouping who doesn't have more than say 5000 gang I don't see a need to go any higher than say 7000 gang or so. Obviously it's everyone's choice as to how they chose to play the game or spend their money. So whatever is decided is fine with me. I just don't want to see the game go away, or go downhill. You at DOA support staff as well as Ken and Alex have always made this game fun and I'm thrilled playing it. So keep on doing what you guys do best.

[Veerle D'hanis]

My point is that spending cash for an extraorinary gang is in fact the worst thing you can do because it turns against you in the long run. It is the most harmless thing for other players.

Spending cash for extraordinary defense/attack is far more dangerous for other players.

Just try to move up about 10 levels (might be 5 is enough to see the effect) and don't spend anything on equipment. If you expand your gang meanwhile, the effect will show up sooner.
You'll notice that your shots become less effective (less damage caused) and your personal health damage will increase.

I still think all this rumour about gang cap is a storm in a glass of water.

Taking Susan of the bountylist was a much harder job for me then taking Philip of, although Susan has about the same level and gang as me. She just has a far more better equipped gang and more balanced skill points then Philip.

So my point, if gang is limited, the rest should be limited too (has much more effect on other players) and if that is done, the fun in the game is over.

[Ferdinand W Kristianto]

In the end , doesn't matter about my opinion, cause maybe the dev hear only the one with big pocket (sorry dev, nothing personal) , and that's reasonable, cause that's where the profit comes.
For me the game is fun if I can win without much spending the money and can still compete with others.
Buying golds not wrong, it's suppose help players with late start, u can buy stamina, energy to catch up the level. Where is the fun, if everybody can buy gangs, equipment and anything else like rare items with gold without limit, the limit only for the items that we buy with duel point, 5 pcs max, even with poor strategy and sadly still can win and stay on top of the list. And the other players that not buying the gold just left behind with more and more gap in power, even if they had a very good strategy.
So this is not a strategy game, just money game.

[Veerle D'hanis]

Your opinion DOES matter Ferdinand :D.
But if you look at the top of the ranking, their are people playing the game for a very long time, working hard to get there, and I know that most of them hardly spend any cash.
Greg is at the top for years, and he does not spend 1 $. So far, nobody was able to even come in his neighbourhood. He was at level 350 when I started (I remember well, I found it crasy at that time :D), and still is 300 levels in front of me.

[Anthony Dewsnap]

in my opinion all it does is get u in trouble ie fb jail also when u r many levels in front of a player its annoying that they can beat u in fights because of gang members it just dont sit right for me,im sorry but thats my opinion,because i for 1 am sick of getting in fb jail i gave up sending requests for gang members, & this also includes friends suggesting friends then i have sent request & still ended up in fb jail

[Ferdinand W Kristianto]

Thanks Veerle, I just don't want to see many people leave because of this matter, DOA players are already just a few people.

[Jason Bies]

The one problem you do have right now is the fact that in your attempts to protect lower levels from getting abused by higher levels with more gang, you fail... you treat the bounty list differently... I have one of the highest gang counts in the game, yet i cant defend myself with my gang due to the limits you set on the bounty. It needs to be the same on both sides, bounty and fight list. I have 4744 gang, i need to defend with 4744 gang, why does it have to be different?? If 500 gang just stayed at home in real life, Im sure they wouldnt live long to regret it.


I just got blasted off the bounty by a member who has 500 less gang, if I could use my 500 extra, I might have survived him.

[Susan Rose Hammock]

Jason, obviously (and this is my opinion only) but your gang arming and attack/defense points are not as good as the player with 500 less gang has therefore that is why you got beat, you need to look to improve those areas and then you will be able to hold your own against players who attack you whether they are lower or higher in gang. There are a lot of players low in gang that because of their inventory and attack and defense points can beat players who are tremendously higher in gang.

[Shorty Lewis]

I've been playing since the game started. I have over 3000 gang & don't buy gang members. It has been been difficult to recruit with fb rules for sending friend requests. I have only been spanked twice by fb for sending requests & have given advice on how to avoid this however some people won't take that advice and cry when the are banned. I hear many complain about being banned & loosing accounts for this reason.

If there was an in-game way to recruit I think that would help. I also see that those who have bought many gang members probably didn't know about all the groups that you can join to recruit, so they opted to buy members. Every person plays differently for different reasons. Some will spend $$ to buy skill points other spend $$ for gang and then there are those that just like to play without spending $$ and work hard to build their character. (That is where I fit in) I feel that if there was a cap put in place it should of been done in the beginning. I was surprised when I first reached 1000 and found there was no cap. Then when I got to 1500 I was really surprised. I have had to clean out my fb accnt several times as I would reach the fb limit of 5000 friends. This was a pain to do!!! It took away from being able to enjoy & play the game. I felt like I spent more time cleaning up friends in order to play.

My chief complaint is that every time there is an update to the game, my recruit gang button does not work so I am not able to send gang invites from within the game. With the old method it was very time consuming and with the new method well it doesn't work for me, even after reporting it. So unless I am sent the game invite I can't grow my gang so I don't feel the need to send request for fb friends that play either. I do however accept them and my gang still grows slower but at least it grows.

My opinion on a large gang is that it really does not have a big advantage unless you are able to equipt them all with the best stuff available and have a high attack/defense. Even then you don't use all your gang. Also with a big gang, means more fb friends which slows your feed which in turn means you miss out on a bunch of posts as they appear slower or you lose out to the loot grabbing apps out there. If you have opted to purchase gang, then you still miss out on loot as the bought ones can't post rewards. lol

Anyhow, I feel it is too late to cap unless its a ridiculous amount of gang that is capped. I feel an in-game recruit would work best if it worked all the time & not go down with every update. I feel those that are buying gang would recruit & spend on their character. Then we would have the cry babies that would complain about the people spending $$$ on that. No one is ever happy. With that being said........~~~~Happy Trails~~~~~~~

[Philip Lambiase]

I originally used the gang size to catch up with the other big levels, and always requested permission to attack someone to compare strengths etc etc. When i realized that gang size was the most efficient way to catch up to the top ten players i enhanced my account. i was shocked at the response, people who had been my friends suddenly trashed me, for doing what they do clear the bounty list and from that moment on suddenly i was jerk number one. I had for months played consistently and daily and yet people called me everything in the book, and the worse betrayal came from the person who i loved the most in the game and hence why i left.

I do not know if gang size should be limited but i think some people take this game way to serious, and once you do enhance your account for ever will people hold that against you. So enhance at your own risk,