Erase runs by stages

[jagged iron]

It's probably too late for this but here it is.
Having different stage runs and having each one cost a different amount of money makes economy, game understanding and illuvial/ores balancing a nightmare.

Now interestingly enough there is no reason to do this. Why even divide runs into tiers? It just doesn't make sense

Picture runs without stages where:
We have much more illuvial and ore diversity which has been a pain to balance (and let's agree it's incredibly numb to see 10 times the same stage 1 illuvial in 1 run)
People don't have to think about which one to go, just portal in.
People don't have to speculate which tier is better to get each type of illuvial/ore.
Seeing a tier 5 illuvial is equally amusing and possible for everyone, anytime
Same as above for rare ores.
Easier economy and fuel balance.
Everyone plays the same game.

What's the downside to this? I hear you guys in the comments. Cheers!

[lofty matrix]

It makes sense because the game designer designed it this way. You may not like it and it's fine. There are others who suggest the same about the 3 fuels.

The more complex a game economy is, the better. Players who put in the time to study it will gain more. It also leaves more room for trading.

[prime locust]

i wouldn't use the word nightmare, but interesting instead 🙃
i guess that's a very subjectiv matter.

Making just 1 stage wouldn't spawn more high tiers/stages, it would still be the same as for example s3 is right now.
You can spawn higher tier more often and make it diverse, but you would make them less rare/valuable/desirable at the same time.

I think the think/speculating is just a matter of how experienced you are, but that is no difference to other (more complex than candy crush) games.

In general i think the less complex the more grindy/repetitivve/boring a game gets, but that's for sure a very subjectiv opinion.
Many people enjoy braindead games but i'm for sure not one of them.
So personally i wouldn't change it like you proposed, you saw/will see changes to make the game easier to understand and with that more beginner friendly and likely then see more complexity again introduced the more mature the iip gets as Aaron mentioned somewher.

[jagged iron]

alright i see then maybe thats just the way i see it mostly, thanks for the comments

maybe the lore adds more sense to it aswell, we'll see

[rare merlin]

I would add that having different tiers open up the possibility to a lower prices for some people and a higher price for some others. Stage 3 is 12$ and stage 1 1$ i think, if we would only have one stage it would be maybe like 5$ thats way too much for many and for the whales not enough

Having different stages also gives us the ability to initially progress through the stages