What do you think about the Lives system?

[epicbird]

I play Angry Birds 2 in two devices. One show 5 lifes and other 3 lifes so I send an email to Rovio about it.

Hello,

We are currently running some tests to get the game as balanced and fun as possible. It seems that your devices have ended up in different test groups. Once we have collected enough information based on these tests there will be some changes to the game and you should then see the same amount of lives on both of your devices.

Kind regards,

Jenni
Rovio Support Team

[mspat]

Like most here, I hate it. No more lazy days spent with my birds fling and flinging. Wasn’t there a game a few years back where you could buy the mighty eagle for continued use? This is just not fun!

[epicbird]

@mspat And Mighty Eagle is not so efective than she was before. Some structures can goes down (wood) or not (stone).

[Sweeper]

I think this is a terrible system. I have deleted AB2 from my devices. The levels are difficult to complete without buying extra birds, and unless you want to put your life on standby as you wait for more hearts, your are spending a fortune. I checked my accounting on how fast I was spending money and went HOLY CREDIT CARD. This is ridiculous and I pity any parent who is financing a kid on this. The “free” is really misleading by a mile!.
Rovio, get back to basics and let people buy the game if they want, or make reasonably achievable without spending a fortune. I will NOT recommend anyone I know get started on this!

[firedragon]

Frankly, the reason why I quit Fight is I have to hack the game in order to make it easier. Sigh..I never thought I have to hack this game in order to bypass the “life timer” system. However, this may have a plus side that you have couple of hours to rest once you run out of your life, and you’re not force to “pay” to continue.

[FreckledPig147]

I also feel the life system is just a pile of nonsense. Who told the programmers to start implementing the life/energy system a year ago? Before the spinoffs came, Rovio’s game were one of the best games. But now most of the games seem like complete travesties rather than actual, enjoyable games. The spells aren’t even good either.

[Putte]

Bahhh… Ive soon finished all levels and will redo all 2star levels. ABout 10 of them.
Never spent a dime, no FB and have no problems with the live system. See it as a real life system. There has been a lot of comersials though… :o)

[dmsral]

The life is system is frustrating when you start and only have a few of the weaker birders. (Not the best feature for getting people to enjoy a new game.) However, once you get the entire flock and gain experience, the lives become less intrusive and you can play much longer without burning through lives. The big annoyance when chasing points is when have a less than desirable shot, you still have to play through the entire level to avoid losing a life instead of just restarting. I’d like to see the lives turned off for levels you’ve completed.

[monsterpighunter]

the lives system sucks, rovio just had to keep it like it was in most other angry birds games

[Sweeper]

Well, they are not really “keeping” anything in my view. I don’t recall having to wait to get lives back or pay to play the basic birds again in a number of the games I play. They are certainly not going to keep customers at the rates they are charging. They have totally lost me on Angry birds 2 and I am on the verge of quitting Angry Birds Friends after over a 30 percent decrease in what you get for the price you used to pay. (24000 instead of 33000 power up at most expensive. and then more expensive to use coins to get the power up itself.) It is ridiculous and a complete turn off. If they want the honest customers to stay they need to rethink their marketing strategy! Those kinds of increases are not justified by any standard!

[AndalayBay]

I hate the lives system. It’s just another aspect of this game that makes it very tense for me. There is so much pressure in this game to purchase something. I’m worried about making the perfect shot all the time. I know it’s dumb, but as others have said, it can take a lot of repeated attempts to get any stars in a level, let alone three stars. Running out of lives also ruins your rhythm. You’ve just started to figure out a strategy and you run out of lives.

At least I didn’t spend any money on this game and I have no intention of doing so.

[DarHalen]

I hate it. In many levels the piggies are spread out so thin that it takes 3,4, or even five birds to pop them all. Then you have piggies that drop into tiny spaces that don’t pop or the frackin baloon piggie that floats too far out of reach. I have spent fifty lives on one level. I am NEVER paying cash for lives. Get rid of the life system or meet another uninstaller!

[RizDub]

The lives are honestly the only thing I dislike about AB2. I’ve heard complaints about how you have to choose your own lineup, but that’s actually something I find fun. And if I start with a bad lineup (i.e. if I get a tall stone structure and start off with Blues, Chuck, and Matilda), I can restart the level without any penalties.

But I don’t like the lives. I’ve always had five lives, even after the update. I don’t use powerups/spells unless they’re pre-provided, and I don’t like to resort to the “last chance”-type “add an extra bird” option, so lives are the only thing I ever spend gems on. I can see how this would be an issue for people who do use those other features.

I do think the energy/lives system makes sense in the Epic arena and in Fight, because otherwise people with more time could jump to the top of the leaderboards within a matter of days, and stay there with unbeatable scores. But in this game (and in AB Pop as well), there seems to be no purpose for the lives other than to slow down the player and/or force them to take a break from the game. I like the suggestion @dmsral made about the lives only being relevant in levels you haven’t beaten yet (kinda like the Mighty Eagle timer in AB Classic).

[DrRoadRunner]

I like it only for the Arena, it drives me nuts otherwise.

[FreckledPig147]

To add to everything that’s already been mentioned, the life system deducts even if you weren’t able to complete the level for a reason besides manual abortion or running out of birds. And AB2 doesn’t exactly keep your progress if you close the game without exiting, if you know what I mean. Deductions should be applied after the confirmed failure of a level, and that causes frustrations when a crash occurs. But I wouldn’t mind too much unless Rovio decided to allow the game to deduct a life even if you didn’t sling a single bird at all.

[pisces377]

I just noticed that my lives went from 5 to 3 now, is that normal??