The game just isn't fun anymore

[Odigitria5]

Something strange happened to me. Once I hit level 10, the game suddenly got a whole TON harder. Really. I used to be a competitive player. I won more than half the matches I played. But now, every player I meet absolutely curbstomps me. I've only won one or two games in the past week. I lose time and time again and I've slid way back down into level 9.

The game just isn't fun anymore. Why does EA take away medals for losing? If we received just a few medals/credits/both as a consolation prize for losing, there would be a point to logging in and trying a few matches. Losing wouldn't bother me – I’d just think “Sure, why not play another match?”

But as it is, losing is too depressing. I just slide back down a slippery slope, losing ground just for trying my best.

Please stop taking away medals for losing, EA.

[Odigitria5]

I know this post sounds a bit whiny. People would probably just tell me to "git gud noob."

Things is, I was good. I won plenty of times, before I hit level 10.

I think this game should be accessible to people of all skill levels. Don't punish players for losing! People will play so much more if they know they're not going to get slammed for losing. Losing should feel like a learning experience, nothing more, not a punishment.

[obifett]

I mean, you hit the top tier levels of players. Its definitely going to feel like a wall, but I'd recommend looking at what specifically is beating you.

Is it army composition? Are there specific units that tend to beat you more than others? If so, start packing better counters. Pay attention to the units that are kicking your butt and bring stuff to kick theirs.

Is it macro strategy? Are you losing to more aggressive or defensive strats? If you tend to lose to defensive strats, then try to be more aggressive. If you lose to more aggressive strats, then up that defense. How about production? Are your opponents producing the exact counters as you are producing the units? If so, switch it up and produce the counter to the unit of the unit you are about to produce. Step up those mindgames!

Is it micro strategy? Are your opponents positioning their units better? Pay attention to the choices they are making and adopt those movements/placements in your future games. Move your units often, send rocks to soak damage from other rocks before you send your paper in.

Is it unit levels? Do your opponents have much higher unit levels? If so, take into account you are punching up. That should make the losses sting less and the wins feel sweeter. Focus on levelling the units you use the most.

You should be proud you made it to level 10 and are in the top percentage of players. It would be kind of boring if it was easy even up there. Take the time to learn and get better. Losses still give fuel, which gives more cards, so it isn't a total waste of time when you lose.

[Odigitria5]

Thanks for the advice obifett. I'm definitely losing to army composition and macro strategy. Air tends to get me down, especially Kodiaks. Everyone I meet seems to play hyper-aggressive.

I can't help but feel that EA wants this feeling of frustration. They probably think that I'm more likely to throw money at the game if I feel inadequate.

[obifett]

I mean you went 10 levels into the game without any frustration. I doubt they want you to feel frustration, you just gotta adapt. Watch those replays and figure out where you are going wrong. 

[Odigitria5]

Thanks for the advice, I'll give the game another go.

[MasterClockwork]

Part of the problem is the rock, paper, scissor aspect of this game. Some units just outclass others with certain maps offering different advantage depending on your unit load out. Since you can't prepare for every scenario, depending on what your opponent has you can potentially outclassed do to not having the proper counters.

Make no mistake, matchmaking isn't purely random. There is an algorithm and EA is well known to be psychologically manipulative to push people into spending money. Why it might feel like the game throws you a bone now and then against a relatively easy opponent just before you totally loose patience and quit outright.

[DaSud]

I do think the matchmaking is a little loose in favor of the higher levels in an attempt to keep their wait times down (it's about 1000 medals give or take), but it took me hundreds of games to get decent enough to get to 14. Some days you're just going to lose 300 medals.

While there is no lack of people who I'm sure will try to take the wallet solution, this is also one of the only mobile games that has a skill floor and ceiling, and a bad player with higher level units isn't necessarily guaranteed a win (it does help, but mainly against people around your skill level). A guy with lv9 units who forgets to make units, lets his harvester die, and forgets about capture pads will lose consistently against a lv7-8 who doesn't.