Dark Legends Removes Energy Mechanic In Response To Fan Criticism

When we previewed Dark Legends at the Games Developer Conference last February, we noted the new social-game mechanics, like Energy needing to be recharged to continue the progress in-game, as something that fans might not appreciate.

"With every new Legends title we try to push the bar as far as we can for mobile multiplayer gaming. Sometimes innovations are hits, and sometimes they are misses," said Spacetime Studios founder and CEO, Gary Gattis. "We have a very close relationship with a very passionate audience and they told us the way we integrated Energy into the 3d gameplay was definitely a miss."

It turns out that we were right, as the vocal fan base of Spacetime Studios' third game in their Legends franchise has spoken up. Kudos to the developer, however, as they've decided to respond to fans and remove the mechanics that fans didn't like.

"Luckily we have a very powerful engine that allows us to rapidly iterate major systems," continued Gattis. "In response to the player feedback; Energy will no longer be a gate, instead we'll introduce a host of new systems that will hopefully work much better and be more rewarding."

Those new systems include Allies and Minions, as detailed below. Kudos to Spacetime Studios for being responsive to their fanbase, something many companies might not even consider, nor be able to accomplish in such a quick timeline. The update is planned to go live this coming Tuesday, so make sure you keep an eye peeled. And don't try to go get it today, just sayin.

From the devs:

Changes to Energy Mechanics:
• 3D missions no longer require energy to initiate.
• Campaigns will now display a recommended minimum level to convey the difficulty level to players.

Allies (New!):
• Players will now use energy to send Allies on jobs.
• Allies are NPCs that the player unlocks when playing through a campaign. These Allies will assist the
player by performing jobs for them.
• Players must decide what type of job they want their ally to perform. Each ally has 3 different
jobs they can undertake.
• Each of the jobs has a different amount of time associated with it, but the same energy cost.
• The more time a job takes the better the reward.
• If players do not pick up a job within a certain period of time after it is ready they will lose part
of their reward.
• When Allies perform jobs with the longest timers, players will receive an item plus a chance to get new
legendary weapons.

Minions (New!):
• Players will receive their first minion. Minions are tied to players and live in their lair. This minion
will offer players a daily reward of cash and xp. If a player successfully collects their daily reward for 5 consecutive days they will earn a new, random, wearable item.

Other Changes:
• Minor changes to storyline of 3D missions