Clash of Clans: Update(s)

Version 3.25 Released

and a small confession...

Looks like our good friends at Supercell in Finland have released an update for Clash of Clans. I won't take up (not) valuable space to list all the changes, but you can find the particulars here.  New unit upgrades, traps, hero improvements, and leaderboards, to name a few. Again, if you are not playing this game, you are sorely missing out on one of the best Free-To-Play titles out there. Combat, base-building, compelling player vs. player - you name it, it has your flavor of gaming crack.

And now, my confession. I actually broke down and made an IAP (In App Purchase) in Clash of Clans. 500 Crystals, to be exact, which cost me $4.99 USD. But the game made me do it - seriously. I was hovering around Level 30, and needed to upgrade my Town Hall to Level 7. A Level 7 TH unlocks a slew of additional buildings, as well some much needed upgrades. Unfortunately, a Level 7 Town Hall requires 1,200,000 gold. Unfortunately times two, I would amass around 400,000 gold, and someone would attack me, and steal 100,000+, I'd get a 12 hour or 16 hour Shield, regain the 100K gold, be attacked again, and lose said gold. Lather, rinse, repeat, Sisyphus.  And so, I buckled, and got a 7-day Shield. To me, this is was a shocking discovery, as there seemed to be no legitimate way to gather the necessary resources without paying for the additional Shield time protection. And to date, Supercell have made IAP a 'want', not a 'need', in order to progress in the game. Not sure what the solution is - increased Shield time based on your level perhaps?

But in the end, I can't say I felt all that cheated - for a game that's given me more fun than many a  $60 retail console title, $4.99 for some crystals for CoC seems like a bargain.