Just me or is AB2 ridiculously hard at random times?

[Krakham]

I’ve just started playing this about 2 weeks ago and while I enjoy it, there are times when it’s just so hard it’s frustrating. Here’s some examples of what ticks me off.

Matilda’s egg doesn’t always release where I want when I tap the screen.

Terence randomly doesn’t do anything. I can hit the side of wooden blocks and it literally doesn’t do anything. He just bounces off.

The smallest pigs won’t always pop. I had one small pig at the top of a rock structure ride it all the way down as it crumbled. The pig is getting beat and bounced around. It lands on the platform AND has a rock block land and break on its head and it still survives.

I can shoot a bird directly into a purple portal and it will either shoot back where it came from or just kinda trickle out of the other portal instead of sending the bird flying out.

In clutch moments the birds tend to inflict very little damage where as in any other time just 1 bird could be used to clear that particular stage.

Often given birds that I don’t need or ones that will inflict the least amount of damage for the task at hand. Thus leading to using 3 or more birds for the simplest of stages.

Pigs not popping and randomly falling in areas that no bird or spell can reach.

Topic

[AngryPlayer]

Welcome to the world of AB2. This is standard fare in the daily realm of gameplay and why, if you’ve read any of the other threads on the subject, players suspect Rovio of rigging/manipulating the game to frustrate players into spending money to buy gems and try to win.

My experiences on today’s Arena are exactly the same… check out my (and fellow players’) comments in the AB2 Arena thread.

[Dwhite]

The constant gameplay manipulation is why I quit a few months ago. I really love how Rovio denies it. The irony is rich.

[HaoleDave]

The fact that a Blue bird can go right through a balloon, but Terrence will stop suddenly as if he hit a brick wall makes me think they add extra weaknesses in the code. I mean it would make sense that Blue would do horrible against stone and well against glass, but Terrence does well against glass, so why not the balloon?

And I’m pretty sure they added extra health points to those mini pigs… Which makes no sense… :/

[swanamaker]

Those are the toughest balloons on the planet. I had one survive a bomb blast that was very close to the balloon. Balloons are the worst.

[Bluedog]

Yeah, I’ve written about this several times. Fact is, the game is marketed as random, when in fact it’s arbitrary. I’ve managed to complete pretty much every level, (currently on 723) and haven’t spent anything at all, or played the arena – consequently my birds are no higher than 4 which presents challenges. But I play it in a very off-hand way – no real love here. It’s difficult to buy in to a game that so obviously manipulates results; certain levels are actually impossible until Rovio decides you can win, and suddenly issues a flurry of free cards and strikes. So there’s zero sense of accomplishment. As you get into it further you’ll come across teleporting pigs that just move around as you aim at them, umbrella pigs that somehow float through carnage, earned cards which turn out to be ice (in my view, a complete waste of 2 cards – I mean seriously, has ANYONE ever chosen ice – and a whole raft of cheats to prolong or speed up the game, depending on Rovio’s will at the time.
It looks wonderful, it should be the best thing Rovio have ever done – but the naked manipulation (hilariously and ridiculously denied by Rovio) makes it a complete grind. I daresay most of us play AB to while away the time; but many of their other games are joyous things that you feel connected to and are happy to invest in. AB2 is just something I do now when there is literally nothing else.

[Raizir]

While everything here is true, there is ONE THING i have done research on…

Terence’s strength, From what i have examined, his strength is based on speed… if he is just slung head first into a mostly-Stone structure… he wont go far because of he is not going very fast, but if he is boosted of, say, a fan (or something), he will BLAST through lots of the structure, if not all of it. (note: obviously doesnt apply to the original Angry Birds).

(this is guess work, so i could be wrong)

[JezzaH99]

This game is all about paying money to Rovio, There is nothing random about it. It’s all planned by Rovio.

For example, why to small pigs burst easily at level 1 of the Arena but by level 3 they are virtually impossible to burst – yet somehow your “opponent” does appear to burts those pigs.

I’m afraid i got fed up of Rovio’s tactics ages ago. I play when I have nothing else to do or the TV is on in the background.

Wait until you play level 3 of the daily challenge.

Wait until you play level 736 in the most recent update.

It’s all about the money – and I refuse to pay.

[Porky Bonkers]

Totally agree with this…I held top spot twice on the Emerald Arena level then left for a few days and came back at the bottom just for a few games as was not bothered about competing. Strangely my win ratio has suddenly switched from 8/10 to 1/10 and against other same rank but weaker card players. All of a sudden unexplained lag in bird launch, ineffective strikes….its as if my birds are level 5 cards instead of 9s and 8s. I’m level 47 so am used to going up against players with 10’s and 11’s and still winning…what on earth is going on! Outside of the arena I also agree that at times the levels are very hard indeed and also more than repetitive. I’m not going to play the arena anymore as it’s obviously not a level playing field….

[Epic Buttstomp]

They ran out of ideas for the regular levels!!! Extra levels used to come faster but it takes long long time (at least 2 weeks) just to give you another 20.

Arena. You will have to play on multiple devices, used many tickets and spells, quit your day job so you can play more. All that just to keep up with the top player who seems to stay 200 stars ahead of everyone else 2 days into a new week. Did I mention that player never seems to sleep either! About 2 months back you could keep pace if you just play your 2 free games every 3 hrs, not anymore! Back then there was the leaderboard shuffles towards the 2nd half that will put you back among compatible players.

I have been at the current style of arena since start. Now I just want my win streak while trying to get demotion to lower leagues. Maybe down there I can play normal and win again. Wishful thinking I know.

[cognitive]

Agreed. Arena today is a function of how much time and tickets you have, not of player skill…

[Neil G]

I noticed the same thing. When playing a ‘hard’ level using normal birds most of the pigs are grouped together, but near impossible to pop. So, after a few tries, you elect to use some spells. Amazingly, the pigs are now all over the place, making it virtually to complete without buying more cards.
And I’m sure it is no coincidence where you have 1 pig left in a stone tower then watch a video for a ‘bonus’ bird, and EVERY TIME it will be Blues, which are useless against stone!

Rovio set the standard for this sort of game, but then just got greedy & made it pay-to-play, just like Candy Crush. I’d have rather paid for the app (just like the ORIGINAL game which made Rovio millions!)

[Putte]

Just download the multigem verion and keep on enjoying popping pigs…
Gone is that anger and frustration. Just pure fun as it should be….