Over 4000 NBA players were born in the United States, none are from Vermont. Let's look at the others. *Edit/extra info at the bottom* Alabama (87 players) All-Time: Charles Barkley (Leeds) - 22.1/11.7/3.9 (1984-2000) - The Round Mound of Rebound, the 1992-93 MVP, NBA analyst Charles Barkley finished his illustrious career as an 11 time All Star and currently is 6th in all time offensive rebounds, 20th in total rebounds, and 31st in points. Active: DeMarcus Cousins (Mobile) - 21.0/10.8/3.2 (2011- ) - DeMarcus Cousins was one of the best offensive big men in the league during his prime. Unfortunately, due to multiple serious injuries has struggled to get back on the court the past few years but is currently playing for the Houston Rockets. ----- Alaska (1 player) Only: Mario Chalmers (Anchorage) - 8.9/2.5/3.7 (2008-2018) - Famously a member of the Big 4 in Miami, Mario Chalmers won two championships starting for the Heat. He is still playing pro basketball in Greece. ----- Arizona (17 players) All-Time: Sean Elliot (Tucson) - 14.2/4.3/2.6 (1990-2001) - Two-time All-Star for the Spurs, Sean Elliot's number 32 jersey was retired in 2005. After his first all-star season he was traded by the Spurs for Dennis Rodman, averaged 12 points, and traded back the next season where he became an all-star again the season afterwards. Active: Marvin Bagley III (Tempe) -14.6/7.6/1.0 (2018- ) - Most famous for being drafted before a superstar and getting injured. I swear he's pretty good, I think. ----- Arkansas (54 players) All-Time: Scottie Pippen (Hamburg) - 16.1/6.4/5.2 (1988-2004) - The ultimate Robin, one of the best perimeter defenders ever, and a 6-time champion Scottie Pippen remains as the most underrated player of all time, well maybe not anymore. Active: Mike Conley (Fayetteville) -14.9/3.0/5.7 (2008- ) - One of the most common answers to "Who is the best player to never be an All-Star?" Mike Conley was the starting point guard for the Grit and Grind Grizzlies and currently seems to be having another comeback season on the Utah Jazz. ----- California (416 players) All-Time and Active: Kawhi Leonard (Los Angeles) - 18.8/6.4/2.8 (2012- ) - The most populous state in the nation guarantees a tough choice and disagreement, but I'm going with Kawhi Leonard. The two-time Finals MVP and two-time DPOY was one of the best perimeter defenders in NBA history during defensive prime and is one the best players in the league today. ----- Colorado (19 players) All-Time: Chauncey Billups (Denver) - 15.2/2.9/5.4 (1998-2014) - One of the most famous "late-bloomers" in the NBA, the two-way guard is most famous for his 2004 Finals MVP. Billups made five all-star teams in a row after becoming a champion and had his number 1 jersey retired by the Detroit Pistons. Active: Derrick White (Parker) - 9.7/3.2/3.4 (2018- ) - With his current injury, there are technically no actively playing NBA players from Colorado. Anyways, White is one the Spurs collection of up-and-coming young guards. ----- Connecticut (37 players) All-Time: Calvin Murphy (Norwalk) - 17.9/2.1/4.4 (1971-1983) - The shortest Hall of Famer (5'9) and world-class baton twirler, Calvin Murphy was only a one time all-star but did lead the Rockets in all-time scoring before Olajuwon. Active: Kris Dunn (New London) - 8.3/3.3/4.2 (2017- ) - A defensive specialist who was recently signed by the Atlanta Hawks, Dunn is currently out for ankle surgery but it seems only a matter of time (or rather minutes) before he makes an all-defense team. ----- Delaware (9 players) All-Time: Walt Hazzard/Mahdi Abdul-Rahman (Wilmington) - 12.6/3.0/4.9 (1965-1974) - Hazzard was a one time all-star in his career, notably averaging 24 points a game on the first team of the Seattle Supersonics. Active: Donte DiVincenzo (Newark) - 10.1/3.9/2.5 (2018- ) - The best young player in Milwaukee, the Big Ragu looks to have, once again, sacrificed 2p% for 3p% this season after a good defensive season last year. ----- District of Columbia (73 players) All-Time and Active: Kevin Durant - 27.1/7.1/4.1 (2008- ) - Another tough decision but I went with my gut/recency bias and chose Kevin Durant. 2013-14 MVP, 2x Finals MVP, 4x Scoring Champion, Durant is simply one the best scorers to ever play in the NBA. He currently looks to be starting another amazing season after missing a year with a torn achilles. ---- Florida (118 players) All-Time: David Robinson (Key West) - 21.1/10.6/2.5 (1989-2003) - Coming out the gates with All-NBA and All-Defense selections as a rookie, Robinson was instantly one of the best in the NBA. The Admiral is also part of an exclusive club of players who won both an MVP and DPOY. He also also he has a better moustache than Ewing and Olajuwon. Active: Trevor Ariza (Miami) - 10.5/4.8/2.2 (2005- ) - The most traded player in NBA history Trevor Ariza will most likely be remembered for his time as the starting small forward on the 65-17 Houston Rockets team and as being one the best 3&D players in the league during his prime. ----- Georgia (133 players) All-Time and Active: Dwight Howard (Atlanta) - 16.6/12.2/1.4 (2004- ) - Superman Dwight Howard was undoubtedly the best center in the league during his prime. The 3x DPOY lead the Orlando Magic to their 2nd Finals Appearance in 2009 and then went to, like, a lot of different teams. ----- Hawaii (2 players) All-Time: Cedric Ceballos (Maui) - 14.3/5.3/1.2 (1990-2001) - Ceballos was a one time all-star for the Lakers in the mid-nineties where he had back to back 21 points per game seasons. He appeared with Shawn Marion on the Amazing Race in 2018 where they were eliminated 4th. ----- Idaho (5 players) All-Time: Luke Ridnour (Coeur d'Alene) - 9.3/2.3/4.5 (2003-2015) - Luke Ridnour was a solid point guard for 12 years. The year before he retired, he was traded four times in six days. (Magic > Grizzlies > Hornets > Thunder >Raptors > Waived) ----- Illinois (288 players) All-Time: Dwyane Wade (Chicago) - 22.0/4.7/5.4 (2003-2019) - Flash was a thirteen time All-Star and had eight All-NBA selections. Wade is most remembered for his time has a member of the big three in Miami, but his all-time finals performance in 2006 is what puts him in the greatest shooting guard conversation. Active: Anthony Davis (Chicago) - 21.3/9.0/3.4 (2012- ) - Anthony Davis is coming off his first championship win and is the best center in the league despite playing power forward. Consistently one of the best players on both ends of the floor, Davis is a leading candidate for Defensive Player of Year, again. ----- Indiana (155 players) All-Time: Larry Bird (West Baden) - 24.3/10.0/6.3 (1979-1992) - Easily one of the greatest of all time. Larry Bird was consistently amazing throughout his unfortunately brief prime. One of three people to win three MVP awards in a row and the best player on the of the greatest teams of all-time in the 1986 Celtics. He the only person in the NBA to win MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year. Active: Gordon Hayward (Indianapolis) - 15.4/4.4/3.5 (2010- ) - After becoming an all-star for Utah, Gordon Hayward signed a massive deal with Boston in free agency where he snapped his leg 5 minutes into his first game in green. After a few more freak injuries, Hayward looks to be back to all-star form in Charlotte. ----- Iowa (23 players) All-Time and Active: Harrison Barnes (Ames) - 13.7/4.9/1.7 (2012- ) - The original tall guy on Golden State's death lineup, Barnes would win a championship with the Warriors in 2015 and started on the 73-9 team. He currently plays forward for the Sacramento Kings. Last season Barnes was more efficient in the post than Davis and Towns. ----- Kansas (36 players) All-Time: Alvan Adams (Lawrence) - 14.1/7.0/4.1 (1975-1988) - The Oklahoma Kid, Alvan Adams, became an all-star and lead the Suns to the finals in his rookie year. He spent his entire career in Phoenix and still works there as the Sun's VP for Facility Management. Active: Willie Cauley-Stein (Spearville) - 9.5/6.3/1.6 (2015- ) - Currently the third most famous center for the Dallas Mavericks. In 2015 Willie added Stein to his last name after his mother and made his nickname, Trill, his new middle name. ----- Kentucky (113 players) All-Time: Wes Unseld (Louisville) - 10.8/14.0/3.9 (1968-1981) - Wes Unseld won both MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same year, one of two people to do so. The Big U stayed with the Bullets for his entire career and last worked as an assistant coach, head coach, vice president, and general manager for the team. Active: Rajon Rondo (Louisville) - 10.2/4.7/8.2 (2006- ). Rondo was very suddenly pushed into the spotlight as the 24-58 team he first played for became the championship favorite over one offseason. Rondo would later go on to win two championships, have four All-Star and All-Defense appearances, and lead the league in assists per game three times. ----- Louisiana (121 players) All-Time: Bill Russell (Monroe) - 15.1/22.5/4.3 (1956-1969) - He won ELEVEN championships what do you want. Active: Paul Millsap (Monroe) - 13.9/7.3/2.2 (2006- ) - Paul Millsap became a four-time all-star after signing with the Atlanta Hawks and was an important member for the 60-win team in 2015. Underrated in the all-time second round picks discussion. ----- Maine (2 players) All-Time and Active: Duncan Robinson (York) - 14.8/3.9/1.7 (2018- ) - One of the Miami Heat's breakout undrafted players last year. Duncan Robinson looks to be on track to becoming one of the best three-point specialists in the NBA, shooting 44% last season. He also shot 65% on 2 pointers. ----- Maryland (74 players) All-Time: Sam Cassell (Baltimore) - 15.7/3.2/6.0 (1993-2008) - Sam Cassell was another late bloomer winning his first All-Star appearance and All-NBA selection in 2004 at age 34. The three-time champion came into the league with the 1994 Houston Rockets and retired with the 2008 Boston Celtics. Active: Victor Oladipo (Silver Spring) - 17.4/4.6/3.9 (2013- ) - Oladipo broke out in the 2017-18 season winning Most Improved Player along with his first All-Star, All-Defense, and All-NBA selections. Since that season he has been dealing with injuries but has very recently been traded to the Houston Rockets. ----- Massachusetts (45 players) All-Time: Bill Laimbeer (Boston) - 12.9/9.7/2.0 (1980-1993) - In the eighties Laimbeer was one of the most infamous players in the league as he and the Bad Boy Pistons won two championships. An early stretch 5, in 1989-1990 he shot 36% from 3 on a team high two attempts a game. The three-time all-star has also won three WNBA championships and two WNBA Coach of the Year Awards. Active: Michael Carter-Williams (Hamilton) - 10.3/4.4/4.3 (2013- ) - His NBA debut was 22 points, 7 rebounds, 12 assists, and 9 steals. Unfortunately, MCW has never quite reached that level of hype or performance again. ----- Michigan (158 players) All-Time: Magic Johnson (Lansing) - 19.5/7.2/11.2 (1979-1991 1996) - The greatest point guard of all time despite a tragically shortened career. Awards: 12x All-Star, 10x All-NBA, 3x MVP, 5x Champion, 3x FMVP. Lead the league in assists four times and steals twice. P4P best smile. Active: Draymond Green (Saginaw) - 8.9/6.9/5.0 (2012- ) - One of the most versatile defenders ever, one of the best passing big men ever, one of the shortest big men ever. Green was one of the key pieces of the Warriors dynasty that won three championships in five consecutive finals appearances. In that time, he won DPOY and made 3 All-Star teams, 2 All-NBA teams, and 5 All-Defensive teams. ----- Minnesota (60 players) All-Time: Kevin McHale (Hibbing) - 17.9/7.3/1.7 (1980-93) - McHale started his career as one the best sixth men of all time before taking his spot in the starting lineup and developed into one of the best power forwards of all-time. He won three championships and had seven all-star selections as a career Celtic. Active: Tyus Jones (Burnsville) - 5.7/1.6/3.6 (2015- ) - A solid two-way point guard for the Memphis Grizzlies, Tyus Jones holds the record for the highest assist to turnover ratio in a season from his 2018-19 season with 6.9:1. ----- Mississippi (92 players) All-Time: Spencer Haywood (Silver City) - 20.3/10.3/1.8 (1969-1970 (ABA) 1971-1980 1981-1983) - Haywood won ABA MVP and ROY in 1970 averaging 30 points and 19.5 rebounds, leading the league in both categories. In the NBA he was a five All-Star and made the All-NBA team four times. Active: Rodney Hood (Meridian) - 12.1/2.8/1.9 (2014- ) - Rodney Hood has been a solid offensive 2/3 since coming into the league. He is coming back from an achilles tear suffered last season. ----- Missouri (69 players) All-Time and Active: Jayson Tatum (St Louis) - 17.7/6.0/2.3 (2017- ) - Too early? Jayson Tatum looks to be a superstar two-way forward for the Boston Celtics, making an All-NBA team in his third season as well as leading the team to the ECF. Tatum finished second in all-time rookie playoff points with 351, only a single point behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. ----- Montana (11 players) All-Time: Mike Lewis (Missoula) - 12.1/11.9/3.0 (1968-1974) - Drafted by the Celtics but only ever played in the ABA, his career was cut short by an achilles injury. His basketball reference page says he was a two-time all-star but only shows one star. ----- Nebraska (14 players) All-Time: Bob Boozer (Omaha) - 14.8/8.1/1.4 (1960-1971) - One time all-star for the Bulls 1967-68 and went out with a championship with the Bucks. Not related to Carlos. ----- Nevada (12 Players) All-Time: Ricky Davis (Las Vegas) - 13.5/3.5/3.3 (1999-2010) - Nicknamed Wrong Rim Ricky, he most notably averaged 20 points a game on the Cavs team that drafted Lebron. Active: Troy Brown Jr (Las Vegas) - 7.6/4.3/2.1 (2018- ) - Young small forward for the Wizards, showed improvement in his sophomore season but he seen reduced minutes in his third season so far. ----- New Hampshire (1 player) Only: Matt Bonner (Concord) - 5.8/3.0/0.7 (2004- 2016) - Longtime backup big man for the Spurs where he won two championships. Assumed to still be searching for the Hoagie Grail. ----- New Jersey (143 players) All-Time: Shaquille O'Neal (Newark) - 23.7/10.9/2.5 (1992-2011) - THE MOST DOMINANT BIG MAN IN NBA HISTORY. Four rings, fifteen time All-Star, fourteen time All-NBA, 2000 MVP. Currently hanging out with Tony the Tiger. Active: Karl-Anthony Towns (Edison) - 22.7/11.8/2.8 (2015- ) - Had to choose between him and Bam, so not sure about this one. Either way, KAT is going to be best shooting big man of all time. Currently dealing with health issues, hopefully he comes back strong. ----- New Mexico (7 players) All-Time: Bill Bridges (Hobbs) - 11.9/11.9/2.8 (1963-1975) - Was a three time All-Star, two time All-Defense, and won a championship in 1975 with the Warriors. Not a lot of information about the guy unfortunately. ----- New York (411 players) All-Time: Michael Jordan (Brooklyn) - 30.1/6.2/5.3 (1984-1993 1995-1998 2001-2003) - Its between him and Abdul-Jabbar. The most common GOAT answer. Jordan led the league in scoring ten times, five MVPs, six championships. Most important person in basketball history other than maybe Naismith and Stern. Active: Carmelo Anthony (Brooklyn) - 23.4/6.5/2.9 (2003- ) - Ten time All-Star, six time All-NBA, lead the league in scoring in 2012-13, one of the faces of 21st century basketball. Only player to win every rookie of the month award and not win rookie of the year. Currently coming off the bench for Portland. ----- North Carolina (139 players) All-Time and Active: Chris Paul (Winston-Salem) - 18.4/4.5/9.5 (2005- ) - One of the greatest point guards ever. Kinda bored of listing awards, he has simply been great and an absolute game-changer since day one. Will finish top 5 in assists and steals. ----- North Dakota (6 players) All-Time and Active: Doug McDermott (Grand Forks) - 8.4/2.2/0.9 (2014- ) - Dougie McBuckets has been an automatic three-point shooter since his sophomore season and judging by Korver's and Kerr's careers, he has quite a few years to go. ----- Ohio (195 players) All-Time and Active: Lebron James (Akron) - 27.0/7.4/7.4 (2003- ) - The other GOAT guy. Still arguably the best player in the NBA at 36. You've heard it all. Ten finals appearances, four rings, 16 time All-Star and All-NBA (most first team selections too), four-time MVP. Also, shoutout to Steph Curry, best shooter ever. ----- Oklahoma (48 players) All-Time and Active: Blake Griffin (Oklahoma City) - 21.5/8.8/4.4 (2010- ) - One of the best highlight reels in the sport. Started out as a super explosive rookie all-star and later transitioned into becoming one of the most well-rounded players in the league. Had injury problems throughout his career and it seems they finally took him down a peg these past couple of seasons. ----- Oregon (32 players) All-Time: A.C. Green (Portland) - 9.6/7.4/1.1 (1985-2001) - The power forward for late period Showtime. Won three championships as a Laker, one time All-Star and All-Defense. Played 1192 consecutive games and only missed 3 total games in his career. Active: Domantas Sabonis (Portland) - 12.5/8.2/2.7 (2016- ) - Carrying on the Sabonis legacy by becoming one the best big men in league, combining passing and post play while also adding some three-point attempts recently. Already an all-star in fourth season and has a bright future. ----- Pennsylvania (239 players) All-Time: Wilt Chamberlain (Philadelphia) - 30.1/22.9/4.4 (1959-1973) - Wilt has lots of awards and most of the NBA records. Kobe is also one the greatest of all time with five championships and is arguably the best scorer of the 21st century but isn't eligible for the list. Active: Kyle Lowry (Philadelphia) - 14.8/4.3/6.2 (2006- ) - One of the best two-way point guards of this decade. Six time all-star and a championship along with one of the cutest bromances. Literally drew 2 charges in the last minute of the all-star game how do you not love this guy. ----- Rhode Island (10 players) All-Time: Marvin Barnes (Providence) - 16.0/9.1/2.1 (1974-1976 (ABA) 1976-1980) - ABA rookie of year and two time all-star. There is a story that when a flight was scheduled to arrive before it departure time (going from eastern time to central time), he refused to board due to this and rented a car instead stating "I ain't getting in no damn time machine." ----- South Carolina (46 players) All-Time: Kevin Garnett (Greenville) - 17.8/10.0/3.7 (1995-2016) - Arguably the best American-born power forward. Another player to win both DPOY and MVP in his career, Garnett also was a 15x All-Star, 9x All-NBA, and 12x All-Defense. The best player in Timberwolves history and the first in Minnesota's lineage of star big men named K. Active: Khris Middleton (Charleston) - 16.5/4.7/5.4 (2012- ) - Middleton is a star 2/3 for the Milwaukee Bucks. Coming off his second all-star appearance, the two-way wing is still seeking to become the ninth member of the 50/40/90 club in the NBA. ----- South Dakota (5 players) All-Time: Mike Miller (Mitchell) - 10.6/4.2/2.6 (2000-2017) - Long-time 3pt specialist, Mike Miller, is notable for having won Rookie of The Year in 2000; considered one of the weakest draft classes of the modern era. Miller also won Sixth Man of the Year in 2005-06 and two championships with the Heatles. He once owned a crab-eating macaque. ----- Tennessee (95 players) All-Time: Oscar Robertson (Charlotte) - 25.7/7.5/9.5 (1960-1974) - Oscar Robertson is the all-time leader in triple-doubles as well as the first person to average a triple double for a season. An all-time great guard, Robertson struggled to carry the Cincinnati Royals past the first round but was later able to win a championship with the Bucks in 1971. Active: Lou Williams (Memphis) - 14.4/2.3/3.4 (2005- ) - The record-tying three-time Sixth Man of the Year is one of the best scorers off the bench in NBA history. A late bloomer, Williams had arguably his best seasons in his early thirties but is currently facing reduced minutes on the LA Clippers this season. ----- Texas (193 players) All-Time: Chris Bosh (Dallas) - 19.2/8.5/2.0 (2003-2016) - The tale of a career we saw the almost the entire prime of, but not quite enough of to leave no questions about the extent of his legacy. Chris Bosh was a two-time champion and eleven time All-Star but only ever made one All-NBA team. Active: LaMarcus Aldridge (Dallas) - 19.5/8.3/2.0 (2006- ) - The hall of very good guy. One of the best big men in the league for almost a decade straight for Portland and San Antonio. Aldridge was the star acquisition that catapulted the 2015-16 Spurs to 67 wins and the unfortunate distinction of one the best teams to never win a championship. ----- Utah (26 players) All-Time: Tom Chambers (Ogden) - 18.1/6.1/2.1 (1981-1995 1997) - Tom Chambers was a four time All-Star and had two All-NBA selections. Famously the first ever unrestricted free agent, he joined the Phoenix Suns, the first team to send him an offer. Active: John Collins (Layton) - 16.2/8.8/1.6 (2017- ) - John Collins is a crazy efficient 23 year old power forward coming off two 20/10 seasons. Despite his potential, he seems having a down year on a good then not so good Atlanta Hawks team. ----- Vermont (0 players) ----- Virginia (82 players) All-Time: Moses Malone (Petersburg) - 20.3/12.3/1.3 (1974-1976 (ABA) 1976-1994) - The best undrafted player in NBA history and will probably remain so for a very long time. Over his career he was a three-time MVP, one-time champion, and had thirteen all-star appearances. In his rookie year in the NBA he played six minutes in Buffalo before being traded for two first round picks, preventing a trio of McAdoo, Malone, and Dantley. Active: Jeremy Lamb (Henrico) - 10.5/3.7/1.6 (2012- ) - Lamb had a bit of a breakout year in Charlotte during the 2018-19 season when he started most of the games he played for the first time in his career. Currently a member of the Indiana Pacers, Lamb is recovering from a major knee injury sustained last year. ----- Washington (64 players) All-Time: John Stockton (Spokane)- 13.5/2.7/10.5 (1984-2003) - John Stockton is the all-time leader in assists and steal and look to remain so for a very long time as well. His almost insurmountable lead on the assist record comes from him leading the league in total assists nine times in a row, as well as only missing 14 games out of a possible 1518. Active: Zach LaVine (Renton) - 18.0/3.7/3.7 (2014- ) - LaVine has been on the cusp of an all-star appearance these past couple years and looks to be in the hunt again this year as he continues to be a versatile offensive wing. Someone sign Isaiah Thomas. ----- West Virginia (28 players) All-Time: Jerry West (Chelyan) - 27.0/5.8/6.7 (1960-1974) - The Logo himself, Jerry West was an All-Star every season of his 14-year career along with 12 All-NBA selections. While West was one of the faces of the 1960s, he didn't win a championship until 1972, thanks bill. West went on to have a successful career as an executive, currently working for the LA Clippers. ----- Wisconsin (65 Players) All-Time: Latrell Sprewell (Milwaukee) - 18.3/4.1/4.0 (1992-2005) - Sprewell was a four time All-Star and made the first team All-NBA and second team All-Defense in his second season. In 1997 was suspended for the 82 games, later shortened to 68 games, good for second longest in NBA history. Active: Tyler Herro (Milwaukee) - 14.1/4.5/2.4 (2019- ) - A young prospect for the Miami Heat and although he had a good rookie year (a good start to his second season), he has so far been defined by his 37 point performance in the ECF last season. ----- Wyoming (7 players) All-Time and Active: James Johnson (Cheyenne) - 8.0/3.6/2.1 (2009- ) - Johnson is a versatile journeyman big man who currently plays for the Dallas Mavericks after being traded three times in 2020. Has a 20-0 record in kickboxing. ----- So that's my list, if you think I should add anything, clean up a paragraph, or spot some mistakes let me know. Sourced from basketball reference, nba.com, and wikipedia ***** EDIT: Should've specified a few things first:
"Active" is meant to be the active player with the best overall career rather than the best this season
I went with where someone was born based off their wikipedia and basketball reference page. I ignored where people spent most of their childhood/lives for the sake of simplicity on my part.
FAQ: Bill Russell was born in Louisiana, Jordan was born in NY, Kevin Love was born in California, Kyrie Irving was born in Australia, and Carlos Boozer was born in Germany. Kevin Durant was born in a DC hospital and thus on the pages I checked he is listed as from DC, oh also DC isn't in Maryland or Virginia, its different.
I forgot about Jimmy Butler in Texas (;_;)
----- US Virgin Islands (3 players) All-Time: Tim Duncan - 19.0/10.8/3.0 (1997-2016) - Tim Duncan , much like Spurs teammate David Robinson, was instantly one of the best players in the league winning FMVP in his second season. Over the rest of his career he won 5 championships, 2 MVPs, 15x All-Star and All-NBA including the oldest All-NBA first team selection at 36. He was a record breaking 15x All-Defense and is often considered the second best defender in NBA history despite not winning a DPOY. ----- Puerto Rico (8 players) All-Time: JJ Barea - 8.9/2.1/3.9 (2006-2020) - Longtime Maverick and fan favorite point guard JJ Barea won a championship in Dallas in 2011. He was still an effective scorer into his thirties scoring 10+ points per game in his age 31-34 seasons despite limited appearances. ***** did you know mark eaton is the only multi-time dpoy winner to not win it consecutively
Call of Duty: Mobile - February 12th Community Update
https://preview.redd.it/2vfos4e705h61.png?width=800&format=png&auto=webp&s=3f7a51e7db844f8fbe9a94f4b2fde4f46877db73 Greetings Call of Duty: Mobile Community! We are back today with news about how the public test build has been going, new modes launching this week, a variety of Holiday themed events and content drops, and your usual flurry of feedback and bug reports. For you folks that love Hardcore, you have some brand-new modes to try today! https://preview.redd.it/0bsxp7wa05h61.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ff91a60e79de02d54d1e5e9f36252689349936cd First things first! Today, we’d like to give a moment of a silence to mourn for the players who picked Cordis Die faction in Fight For Humanity. You may be losing the fight, but hopefully you are grabbing a variety of rewards along the way! Keep up the fight and show those on Atlas that there is still time to even up the score. There are seven more days to go in this event and today’s task involves the newest modes, Hardcore Hardpoint and Headquarters. The Hardcore variants of these well-known and well-liked modes make it so that precision is more important than ever, thanks to a serious increase in damage to all weapons. Just a few well-placed shots is all you need. Try the Hardcore Hold Playlist and see if you are up for the challenge of Hardcore. We know many of you have had questions or inquiries about this over the last week, so we’ll start this community post with some updates about the public test build. Let’s jump into the usual event calendar first though! https://preview.redd.it/xcp7pbxc05h61.png?width=800&format=png&auto=webp&s=29ffe93a25fa1a889ffb3b260cd2fa3aa9350207 Here is a quick look at all of the new events starting today and others launch soon:
02/05 – 02/19 ~ Fight For Humanity event
02/08 – 02/14 ~ Grind Baby, Grind! (MP)
02/10 ~ Two New Seasonal Challenges
02/10 – 02/16 ~ Russian Nuketown 24/7 (MP)
02/11 – 02/18 ~ Year of the Ox Event
02/12 – 02/18 ~ BR Warfare
02/12 – 02/18 ~ Hardcore Hold (MP)
02/12 – 02/25 ~ Valentine Redux Draw
02/15 – 02/21 ~ Gun Game Moshpit (MP)
*All Dates UTC Just your weekly reminder that we have different Battle Royale modes dropping throughout many weeks of this season and this week we have Battle Royale Warfare coming up! That chaotic and action-packed mode has just launched, and the newest mode - BR Blitz will be back next week. https://preview.redd.it/tbzyy0rg15h61.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ce78a832137d4a1d09251cfc0f1d3d0358572da0 February Public Test Build #1 Thank you all of the passionate interest in this first public test build of February! Yes, we said first 😉. There may be more later in the month after this one ends, but we still do not have a specific end date on this first version and whether or not we launch a second one depends on how this first one goes. As of yesterday the public test build is officially full! You have filled up all 40,000 registration slots on both platforms and at the moment we do not plan to open up more for this first test. There have also been a variety of questions and concerns about this build so far, which we will answer below, but just a general reminder that everything in the public test build is subject to change. This content, whether it is something significant like a map or something less obvious like text on an item, may end up releasing in any future update. We are looking at you, Overkill Perk (hopefully this still releases someday). As it is a test, it may also be buggy, have half finished features, or placeholders. Some of this may be intentional, but first let’s speak about what is not intentional – movement changes. The following changes are bugs that will be addressed, and are not intentional changes:
Sliding being interrupted while aiming and the speed of sliding reduced while aiming
Sliding aim animation bug
Speed is reduced once ADS instead of being reduced after ADS completes
However, for intentional changes we are testing some changes related to the ability to drop shot. That’s the ability to immediately go prone and fire at an enemy. If you aren’t familiar, this a long-standing tactic in many FPS titles that allows players to quickly change their hitbox by dropping to the ground and giving them the advantage on an approaching enemy. Lastly, not everything in this test was available right at the start and more pieces of content will be rolling throughout the testing period. You may see more modes, items, perks, or general pieces of content drop in later. Keep an eye out and please report issues in-game there or through the survey. Gunzo – Clown Coded We’d just like to say thank you for all of the positive feedback around Gunzo – Clown Coded and the ICR-1 – Forced Laughter. Both of these designs were unique, not only because they were perfectly creepy, but also because they were full of intricate and delightful details. Details like the unnerving way the hair on ICR-1 variant moves or the way Gunzo’s voice actor, Jason Spisak, perfectly captured this newest version of the insane clown. We’ve seen the comments and the love, and we appreciate that you all enjoy these little details. The love for Gunzo has led us to make a video just to highlight him a bit more. Unfortunately, the draw he was featured in, the Social Disruptor Draw, is no longer active on the store, but we are sure he’ll be back sometime in the future and we’d like to share all the same. https://reddit.com/link/lip2k3/video/cyxpsowl15h61/player Seasonal Challenges One more week, one more community update, and one more release of two new seasonal challenges! This time around we have one challenge for MP and one for BP, and with them comes your chance to grab the epic blueprint the GKS – Kistune. Also, for everyone asking about the SKS that is still coming and will be releasing next week on 2.19 (UTC) in the BR Buff event. Run & Gun This six-part seasonal challenge is all about using different SMGs in Battle Royale and Multiplayer. Some require just a basic use of a specific setup in a match, while others may require you to get kills or win matches with certain perks equipped. It is all focused on fast and quick setups, and if you manage it you’ll be able to snag the following rewards:
(Uncommon) Medic – Warp
(Uncommon) .50 GS– Warp
(Uncommon) KN-44 - Warp
(Rare) Backpack – Cosmic Wave
(Epic) GKS – Kitsune
https://preview.redd.it/jrx06cdq15h61.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=7c51133f8a3e88b3ac4ca4f34f90f56121973dd2 Master Operator This four-part seasonal challenge is relatively simple with one clear goal - use Operator Skills and specific ones. This is the easiest to tackle challenge of the two new ones this week and while it doesn’t have an epic weapon blueprint to give out, it does reward you with plenty of Battle Pass XP (17K in total) and the following items:
(Rare) Spray - Ouroborous
(Rare) Avatar – Robot Buddy
(Rare) M16 – Trance
Valentine’s Day This year for Valentine’s Day we’ve decided to celebrate this joyful and generosity-focused holiday by releasing two new content drops while also using it an excuse to give out gifts to our community. One the content side, we have the Sweet Valentine Crate and the Valentine Redux Draw. With the Sweet Valentine Crate we’ve decided that anime is perfectly appropriate for the holiday and for Battle Royale. You can now roll into BR in style with a bright pink tank that will make your enemies stare in awe as you load a shell, aim your sights, and send them crawling back to the lobby screen! This same style is available for a variety of other BR vehicles. Check it out in-game now. https://reddit.com/link/lip2k3/video/gotd1dal25h61/player Next up, we have the Valentine Redux Draw! If you were around last year, like many of you dedicated folks in the community, you’ll recognize the two main items in this one: the legendary S36 – Phobos and Battery – Valentine. This draw comes with a variety of other items as well, most of which are based around the Valentine series of camos, and it will be available until February 25th (UTC). Find it in-game now through the store or lucky draw icon on the top left of the lobby. https://reddit.com/link/lip2k3/video/mt2yjz7m25h61/player Lastly, for those of you looking for something free dropping this holiday you’ll have to head to our global social media channels or participating content creators. On the day after Valentine’s Day, February 15th, we’ll be starting this event and offering gifts from the previous two content drops to whoever wins! Check back then and best of luck to everyone who participates. Lunar New Year Just like Valentine’s Day, this is the second time we’ve tackled this holiday for COD: Mobile and this time around we have both a content drop & a featured event available. The content drop, the Lunar New Year crate, primarily offers the epic blueprint AK47 - Year of Ox. There are a variety of other items, like the Quartz series of camos available in this crate, and it is all live now in the store. From the event side, we have the Year Of The Ox event. This event tasks you with getting kills through MP matches and in particular by playing Hardpoint, TDM, Frontline, Domination, and S&D. It has plenty of variety for tasks and the only rewards you can earn on this one are those Lunar New Year Crates. This event is only available for six more days, so make sure to grab those crates now. Carnival Last but not least, we have a small celebratory bundle available for Brazil’s Carnival. This vivacious and exciting festival runs from February 12th to February 17th in Brazil, and while we know it may be hard to celebrate in person this year, you can get in the mood with Outrider, the ASM10, Avatar – Masquerade, and Calling Card – Samba School. Check out that bundle in-game now! https://preview.redd.it/cxeuxp7p25h61.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=464372c0d839c24f8d9b3c3bf316a6f2a366c686 We also have a special treat for our players in Brazil for Carnival, a unique Call of Duty: Mobile music video with none other than the fantastic singer and songwriter Jojo Maronttinni! Take a look at the Que Tiro Foi Esse Remix and happy Carnival: https://youtu.be/QLOTgeO_EHY Feedback Thanks to the over 800 comments last week in the community update and the large number of feedback & bug reports posted there. We’ll have some direct responses to those today. Just a reminder, but please check previous community updates for other frequency asked questions because they often come up right after we address them in an update (like when is Ghost’s voice is coming to CODM). However, there are still a few topics we’d like to discuss this week!
Do Not Disturb or Hidden Feature – One low-key but commonly requested feature is something that will allow players to either be displayed as hidden or block invites for a certain amount of time. We have conveyed this request to the team before and unfortunately it isn’t something that is currently slated for the next update, but it is still being considered and will hopefully be something we can add relatively soon. Thanks for all of the concise requests for this one.
China Version Content – As many of you have seen, some content that is currently released in the China version is being tested in the public test build for our Global and Garena versions. We can’t often directly comment on when X feature from that build is coming (or even if it is coming) since that is all up to our dev teams to discuss, test, and decide first. There may be content in Global or in the China version that is essentially being tested to see if it performs well there first, like all new features or pieces of content, and then if it does perform well it may be considered for release in other versions.
Cheater Reports – Last week, we talked a bit about how cheater reports tend to increase around season releases and then usually die off again a week or two into the season. However, our CODM Security & Enforcement team has shared that they’ve also been battling new cheats and ways people are trying to exploit the game. As a result, they’ve been updating our anti-cheat tools more than normal recently and we are monitoring to make sure there are no misfires here. All that means on your end though, is please keep reporting players and sharing information about cheats & exploits that you see others abusing. It is always appreciated!
Prestige or Additional Levels – We’ve seen this request popping up more often now that many players have hit that lvl 150 cap. Our teams are considering various options for adding additional progression to the game, in the past we considered Gunsmith’s addition as a way to add progression even though it wasn’t tied to the main profile level system, but we don’t have any information on additional systems or options being added in the near future. We’ll be sure to bring that up as soon as there is news.
Next Ranked Series – Lastly, a simple one! The next ranked series will be releasing alongside Season 2 in March. More on that later as we get closer to the release.
Bug Reports In the last week we’ve primarily been going through and reporting up a variety of smaller bugs, which are important but not experienced by the majority of the playerbase. For bigger issues, like Black Screen and BR related bugs, please check the previous community update for our comments on that. We still have plenty coming on both of those fronts in relation to fixes and improvements.
Peacekeeper MK2 - Artifact Death Effect Issue – We have been aware of an issue with the death effect of this mythic weapon causing sound related issues and unfortunately we have not been able to deploy a fix for it yet. This may be a surprisingly complicated issue that cannot be patched through a normal hotfix, but we are still checking on the status of that one to see exactly when it will be fixed.
Cluster Smoke Grenade in BR Intermittently Working – This issue is unfortunately one that has been troublesome to reproduce with it rarely happening during tests. However, we have seen it continually brought up in community channels and are looking through recent posts for new information that may help us identify what is causing this to occasionally malfunction. If you always experience this issue please reach out so we can share that info with our teams.
ADS Issues with certain weapons in BR – We’ve been investigating various weapons experiencing problems when trying to use ADS (Aim Down Sights). Some of these we have replicated and our teams are planning to fix them, but since these seem to only be happening on very specific weapon setups or blueprints we still worry they may be some we have not seen. If you are seeing this one, please also report it up so we can make sure we’ve captured all of these. Thanks to the folks who originally reported this with clear videos and examples.
Eject Bug in BR – This issue has been a long-term one that we’ve been trying to identify and fix for quite some time, but we’ve never been able to reproduce it consistently even after a hundred attempts. Like the previous two bugs addressed here, if you’ve experienced this bug and have any information about how it occurs please reach out to us or our Player Support teams to share that.
Desync – Lastly, we’ve seen some improvements on this front thanks to server optimizations and for some regions entirely new servers. However, this is a long-term battle where we are constantly monitoring servers, ping, and connection to see what regions are lacking, where we can make improvements, and who may be running into this issue the most as a result of server related issues. We’ll keep doing what we can to improve this for all of our players around the world, but please make sure that you are playing on a stable and strong network (not Wifi) to minimize the possibility of this type of issue occurring.
Support Options Lastly, thank you to everyone who have been reporting various issues since Season 1 released and please do keep using our support channels on top of community areas to repot issues. In the off-chance you haven’t seen this information in every single one of our community updates 😉, here are our main support channels:
Final Notes As this week comes to a close our teams look towards the future of Call of Duty: Mobile throughout 2021. As you may know, the ambitious approach of one season nearly every single month has been a monumental challenge and while we may not always hit that goal our teams are still working nearly non-stop to make CODM one of the best FPS games out there! https://preview.redd.it/mdhtet4g45h61.jpg?width=6000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=819e948cdff81e58acc62154040ef4859d58f5a3 There is so much on the way and so much to be planned for, whether that is brand-new seasons, exciting new opportunities, competitive gaming and tournaments, region based events, in-game events and so many other different ways we’d like to keep showing the world why this title is still a truly AAA gaming experience on mobile. The future is promising! This game is truly global now as we are available in the majority of the world through various versions, and the commitment to growing & supporting the game is just as strong as it was last year. We aren’t going to let up and we can’t wait to share our plans, new content, and excitement with you all! We leave you on that hopeful note and to all of those celebrating various holidays around the world this week – be safe and enjoy! We’ll see you next time. -The Call of Duty: Mobile Team
Comprehensive Guide about BB and how it shall take off in coming years
Alright folks, here's the comprehensive guide about the BB products, revenue details, customers, and what's in the store in the future. It's quite a lengthy one, please bare with me as you read and this is the first time I looked up regarding a company at this depth. Some background on the John Chen, who took up a massive challenge when he was the CEO for Sybase where the stock price was around 4-5$. But when he sold off to SAP it was around 65$, although it took 10 years to accomplish. He understands the business quite well and knows where to focus to generate more revenue and certainly be the best in what they do and provide the best to their customers.
Why should companies embrace BB products?
Best-in-class security
Safety
Reliability
Achievements:
18 of the G20 governments as customers
Leader in EPP sector
Only software company to attain various security certifications from US Govt
BlackBerry’s solutions address over 96% of the collective threats (Frost & Sullivan research data)
Named as a Leader in Gartner’s 2019 Magic Quadrant for Unified Endpoint Management Tools for the fourth consecutive year
Collaboration with Ansys to support BlackBerry QNX’s “RTOS” for connected and autonomous vehicles
WM Motor to embed BlackBerry’s QNX Neutrino Realtime Operating System and other BlackBerry QNX software products within the company’s third-generation SUVs
Integration of the QNX Platform for Digital Cockpits in MARELLI Electronics China’s eCockpit and Digital Cluster solution
Reece Group is now using BlackBerry Cylance technology to protect thousands of endpoints across its retail stores and offices in Australia and the United States
Agreement with ETAS GmbH, a subsidiary of Bosch, to cooperate on the joint development and marketing of an automotive software platform based on the AUTOSAR Adaptive standard
Deeper partnership with Jaguar Land Rover for the use of the Company’s AI and machine learning technologies, BlackBerry QNX software and BlackBerry Cybersecurity Consulting services
LG Electronics Inc. to accelerate the deployment of connected and autonomous vehicle technology for automotive OEMs and Tier 1 vendors
SYNNEX Corporation to distribute the BlackBerry Enterprise Mobility Suite in the United States and accelerate partner recruitment for the BlackBerry Enterprise Partner Program
BlackBerry Limited announced that the NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency has awarded a contract for BlackBerry’s SecuSUITE® for Government to encrypt the conversations of its technology and cyber leaders
Certifications Let's highlight the security certifications BB got in 2020. Before you read about the certifications which BB got, let this statement sink in deeply
No other software vendor in the cybersecurity space has been awarded more security certification by the US Government than BlackBerry.
In Q3 2020, BlackBerry UEM achieved the National Security Agency, NSA, commercial solution for classified program approval. This adds to the portfolio of US government certifications we have received for BlackBerry UEM including the NIAP-certification, the Department of Defense Information Network Approved Product List, which I think we talked about last quarter, DoDIN APL, FedRAMP and FIPS 140-2. Context from Q3 2020 earnings call: Recognition As you see from multiple research firms, BB stands out in what are they doing Ref: https://imgur.com/2CMg3OV https://imgur.com/qE13Y32
Which Markets BB has and will be targeting?
IoT
Cybersecurity
Connected transportation
Healthcare
Financial services
Government markets
Energy
Oil
Gas
What Products are offered by BB?
I'll share brief info about the below products specific to QNX itself QNX OTA: QNX Over the Air (OTA) is a customized remote software update solution addressing the increasingly complex requirements of embedded system manufacturers. It can be tailored to seamlessly and securely update and manage endpoints on a variety of embedded systems. QNX Acoustics Management Platform: Design and manage the total vehicle sonic experience with a pure software solution designed to run on general-purpose application processor cores for cost-effective high-fidelity sound. QNX Multimedia Suite: If the OEM or developers would like to use a framework to build multimedia players. QNX Black Channel Communications: It provides reliable data transmission and consumption and greatly reduces the scope of certification while eliminating the need to have a safety certified network stack. It's critical across automotive, robotics, industrial controls, and medical device industries. It can run on QNX® OS (SDP 7.0 or QOS 2.1), Linux® or SafeRTOS. QNX ADAS: Integrates sensor feeds from diverse sources (Camera, Radar, LiDAR, IMU, GPS sensors, etc.) into your critical embedded systems, including autonomous driving applications. RADAR: Launched in 2016, it is a complete asset tracking solution providing reliable visibility to trailer, chassis, containers and equipment. These ruggedized devices are easy-to-install, low maintenance and long-lasting to minimize operational disruptions and maximize your ROI. How it’s different from rest of the competitors:
High volume of collection, up to 100 times more than other solutions in the market
It is designed for cloud-based – cloud-hosted business analytics applications, and reporting in one integrated and scalable platform
Long lasting battery, its modular architecture, and the ease of installation
How can the BB retain leading position in different sectors?
The Company’s goal is to remain a leader in regulated industries and other core verticals by continuing to extend the functionality of its secure BlackBerry Spark® software platform (UEM + UES).
How does the EV Sector Exponential Growth help BB?
Well, the 2020 to 2022 is a period for gaining significant momentum in the Smart EV sector and which shall rapidly accelerate from 2023 to 2025. As we are noticing multiple companies in EV sector trying to launch their products. Most of the companies would love to be part of the growing EV sector as it just the beginning excluding TESLA. They will eventually develop products/platforms for OEM's and Tier1 and provide it as a service. As EV sector evolves more, we should see more partnerships across other companies which aren't part of BB yet might be inclined to use at least one product. As the BB product offerings are diverse and the customer success stories about how they have played a role while manufacturing their own EV products with minimal efforts can boost the marketing efforts. Chen stated they are going after the other 6 OEM's which aren't using the Blackberry yet. Currently, BlackBerry QNX has design wins with 19 of top 25 Electric Vehicle OEMs, who together have 61% of EV market.
How is BB coping up during the COVID?
The company expects BlackBerry QNX revenue to be negatively impacted by a slowdown in automotive market related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of which could be partially offset by increased customer demand for the Company’s endpoint security and productivity solutions that support business continuity and remote working environments, including the BlackBerry Spark platform, SecuSUITE and BlackBerry AtHoc.
What's upcoming and where is BB focusing strategically?
The Company is developing a concept system to integrate BlackBerry Spark capabilities, including AI and machine learning technologies, with BlackBerry QNX automotive solutions. Have to watch out for more information during the earnings calls.
How was the Customers growth among BB products?
QNX: QNX was acquired by BB in 2010, right from that moment, BB started its journey in Automotive industry. Initially, it has launched Infotainments and Telematic under QNX product category and it was deployed on leading car manufacturers. It started branching out and was able to offer more products under QNX. Now it is has aligned itself very well for the next gen EV cars. Adoption of QNX products from 2016 to 2020:
Under the terms of our agreement, BlackBerry will own all the commercial relationships with customers and will share revenues with AWS. The target is to be in the 2023 year’s auto model, with possibly potentially some professional services prior to it. While it is too early for us to provide a revenue outlook, we are confident that BlackBerry IVY addresses a very large market opportunity that will greatly increase our ASP.
Cylance: It is part of the Blackberry Spark product under UES category Typically, Cylance subscription period is 1 to 3 yrs. based on the deal’s BB made. Leader in EPP (Endpoint Protection Platform) and they are able to catch with competitors in EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) Customers: Added 279 new customers and new active subscription customer growth was about 15%. Notable new customers include General Motors, Becton Dickinson, Phillips Healthcare, SKF, which is one of Sweden’s largest manufacturers, the New Zealand Defense Force and the United States Census Bureau, just to name a few. Verizon launched their business internet secure offering, which includes our BlackBerry smart AV antivirus product and Cisco’s Umbrella security service. Blackberry Spark: Spark is collection of BlackBerry Cylance, BlackBerry® UEM, BlackBerry® Dynamics™ and BlackBerry® Workspaces products. BB to pushing its efforts for customers to choose this product in 2021. Spark, as a reminder, is a combination of UEM and UES, the Unified Endpoint Security offerings. In the 2020 Q2, Q3, BB made good progress in both the government, and financial services verticals with customer wins
U.S. Army
The United States Air Force, which upgraded over 90,000 users from UEM to the Spark Suite.
U.S. Postal Service
IRS
Department of Energy
Department of Justice
Raymond James Financial
Citibank
German Bundesbank
Bank of India
Government of Rwanda
UK Ministry of Defence
Royal Canadian Mint
Banco de Mexico
New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Rolls Royce
Lloyds Bank
Societe Générale
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
American Express
CIBC
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Qatar National Bank
The National Commercial Bank
Absa Bank
The Development Bank of Singapore
In addition, they had success in verticals including healthcare and manufacturing sector. Up on the acquisition of Cylance company, BB was able to integrate it with its existing products which will be part of UES suite. Customers are inclined to upgrade from UEM (Unified Endpoint Management) to UES (Unified Endpoint Security) Customers are eager to get with UES:
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Borse
ConvergeOne
Multiple ministries of the Dutch government
UEM Suite UEM Suite was added to the Department of Defense Information Network Approved Products List (DoDIN APL). BlackBerry is the only UEM vendor that has achieved this level of approval to date. This achievement is based on the completion of cybersecurity and interoperability certifications. This approval will provide us better access and a more streamlined approval process. This should naturally lead to greater revenue opportunities going forward. The latest release of UEM has also recently achieved NIAP accreditation AtHoc: Zoom was one of the customers who is using AtHoc product, after we know what happened to the stock when street found out that it wasn't secure. In this way, Zoom can highly secure way to hold virtual meetings in this new work-from-anywhere environment. Even, Microsoft Teams and ServiceNow’s Now platforms are on AtHoc. As we know, Teams market leader has 116 million active users and Service Now 51%, IT Service management. Customers:
NYSE
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Edmonton Police Service
US Department of Transportation
BlackBerry Radar: In 2020, Canadian Pacific Railway agreed to deploy product on 2,000 of its domestic intermodal chassis. In 2019, one of the top three U.S. retailers specializing in home improvement. The customer placed a 2,500 unit’s order. In 2019 fiscal year, they have added 50 new customers and recurring revenue from the existing customers.
A big part of our competitive advantage is the BlackBerry legacy experience in designing a reliable, secure solution,” Plaat said. “That’s an important issue in this industry with high capital assets that you keep for years. The ROI is very good for a reliable solution like ours.”
Customers:
Almon Equipment
Titanium Transportation Group
KreilKamp Trucking
RightLane Carrier
Axsun
Matson Logistics
CP
New Malwa Express
CTS (Contract Transport Services)
Polaris Transportation Group
XTL
BB Revenue:
Check the Spreadsheet for the Revenue Sources. 2021 Fiscal year Note: Software and Services include these products IoT, QNX, BlackBerry Spark, AtHoc, Radar. The revenue got impacted due to 2020 chaos especially on the QNX product side. According to the earning calls. There are still on track to maintain the gross margin over 70% and dollar net retention rate is above 90%. As you see, the gross margin has been consistent past few years and revenue is steadily increasing every year. Revenue, Gross Margin, Net Income, EPS for years 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016 Growth in Revenue from Products from 2019-2013 Notes: In 2019, due to restructuring, BB was unable to close deals, we should see +ve in 2020. IoT: Comprised of QNX products, UEM, & Radar Other: Handheld Devices and Service Access Fee (SAF) Since BB was moving away from manufacturing of devices gradually, in 2020 most of it done by third party companies. That’s why we have negative growth under Other.
Pricing for BB products
QNX Pricing: As there are many modules under QNX, like hypervisor, ADAS, clusters, cockpit, IVI. The cost ranges anywhere from the low-single digit dollars to literally high-single digit or low-double digit dollars per module. Trefis estimates BlackBerry generates about $4 in QNX revenue per vehicle. Automakers are only expected to ship about 62 million new vehicles this year, according to Statista Research. Assuming QNX is installed on at least half of those vehicles, BlackBerry would generate about $120 million in annual sales -- or nearly a fifth of its trailing 12-month software and services revenue -- from QNX this year. Link: https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/12/07/investors-overreacting-blackberry-deal-with-amazon/ Unfortunately, we don't know the exact price the QNX OS costs or per say other modules under QNX. If more modules of QNX are used, then it's adds up and the Average Rate for Per Unit might be 4x or 5x. This gives us an idea about how to get more revenue from QNX itself when the manufacturer would use other modules under QNX apart from OS. We have already seen list of the OEM's from previous posts and in the above spreadsheet you saw list of the QNX products certain OEM's are using IoT subscription period is typically 4 yrs. Radar Pricing: Estimation in 2017: BlackBerry charges $10 to $20 per month for every trailer connected to Radar. The Go-to-Market objective is to have approximately a 50-50 split in Radar sales between BlackBerry’s channel partners and its direct sales force. BlackBerry Radar partners typically sell only this particular solution. Recently, BB was able to expand channel ecosystem to more than 12 channel partners, this new partnership might help BB capture more of the logistics and transportation area. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blackberry-radar-expands-channel-ecosystem-with-new-partners-301052631.html https://www.reuters.com/article/us-blackberry-recovery/born-again-blackberry-canadian-icon-hopes-to-ride-trucks-to-growth-idUSKBN1901P1 Cylance Pricing: Cylance might charge 55$ per endpoint per year. Announced that Forrester found that BlackBerry Cylance’s AI-driven endpoint security products delivered a 99 percent return on investment. We will see more revenue in 2021 as we shared earlier that customers who bought UEM are excited about UES too. At present, the market share is below 1%. Ref: https://www.datanyze.com/market-share/ep--359 The outlook of the Cylance in 2021 and further Projected Product Sector Revenue Growth by 2025: QNX: According to survey, the Global In-Vehicle Infotainment Market size is expected to reach $42.7 billion by 2025 (This is where we shall see more competition from different OEM manufacturers as they build their own products) Global Market Insights, Inc. has recently added a new report on automotive operating system market which estimates the global market valuation for automotive OS will cross US$ 4.5 billion by 2026 And the QNX OS (Just the OS) segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of nearly 15% from 2020 to 2026 https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/11/24/2132346/0/en/Automotive-OS-Market-to-hit-USD-4-5-Bn-by-2026-Global-Market-Insights-Inc.html Endpoint Protection (Cylance): The global endpoint security market is expected to grow from 13.58 billion $ in 2020 to 19.24 billion $ in 2025 at a CAGR of 7.6% during the forecast period. https://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/endpoint-security-market. Assuming the market share in endpoint increases to ~3%. It can be around 577 million Asset Management (Radar): Global asset tracking market will reach $36.3B by 2025, growing at 15% CAGR https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/03/04/1995009/0/en/Global-Asset-Tracking-Market-2020-2025-Insights-Into-Technologies-Solutions-and-the-Ecosystem-Including-Major-Players.html We have to know what the priority level for BB for this product and how much market share they are targeting in the upcoming years. It’s quite early to say about it and the contribution to the revenue is insignificant compared to other products. Challenges: QNX: Toyota, VW, Mercedes Benz have started taking route of AGL (Automotive Grade Linux) which is an open source (free to use) which implies the QNX market share in OS is waning. These are big manufacturers and how blackberry shall adapt is wait and see game. There is always a case where companies might decide not to use more of the QNX modules just the OS, this will impact the Average Selling Price (ASP) per car as well as the revenue since those modules add up 4x-5x ASP. IVY: Revenue from Blackberry IVY shall be more reflective from 2023, stated by Chen. So, there is uncertainty in this area and no revenue estimate. We have to see how this partnership plays out how companies are willing to adopt cloud platform for insights and management of the automotive software’s. Cylance: Currently, the market is highly competitive, and BB has to make it way to top 10 and capture more market share. In 2021, it shall unfold more about it as we are seeing rapid growth in IoT sector across various sectors. The BB is in the right position to capture more of the automotive market and we have to see how it shall play out in coming years when EV sector is full blown and more cars are delivered, and security threats increase. Also, it offers the endpoint protection, which certainly companies can benefit but not necessarily the SMB which are driven through e-commerce platforms. Radar: It’s barely scratching the surface in this sector and as there are bigger sharks who have been in the market for long time. In the second quarter of fiscal 2019, the Company previously stated that it expected to generate $100 million in cumulative revenue from its BlackBerry Radar asset tracking solution over the next three years. The Company no longer expects to generate this revenue within this time frame. (This is a set back and there are other competitors who have been in the Logistics and Transportation Industry for quite some time). In general, BB has to pitch itself more aggressively in other sectors especially in Medical, Industrial, Oil and Energy. Considering the certifications they have and the clients they serve. Thanks to OP's and go give a read at these DD's too: https://new.reddit.com/wallstreetbets/comments/ks4s3s/bb_king_the_blast_from_the_past_with_the/ https://new.reddit.com/wallstreetbets/comments/l37ktg/bb_weekend_due_diligence_confirmation_bias/ Target Price in 2021: 25-30 (by not considering crazy valuations into account). I personally believe if the IVY platform and Spark product revenue increases then we can certainly see the stock price 4x-5x in coming years. Positions: 400 shares @ 12 and 2 Jan 20 2023 SP 15. I plan to add more as I see the potential and growth in the newly introduced products. Disclaimer: This is not a financial advice, I'm merely a random person who loves BB and would like to see this company fly to new heigths. Cheers to everyone!! Edit1: thanks u/melbogia, added the date which I missed earlier for the calls.
Comprehensive Guide about BB and how it shall take off in coming years
Alright folks, here's the comprehensive guide about the BB products, revenue details, customers, and what's in the store in the future. It's quite a lengthy one, please bare with me as you read and this is the first time I looked up regarding a company at this depth. Some background on the John Chen, who took up a massive challenge when he was the CEO for Sybase where the stock price was around 4-5$. But when he sold off to SAP it was around 65$, although it took 10 years to accomplish. He understands the business quite well and knows where to focus to generate more revenue and certainly be the best in what they do and provide the best to their customers.
Why should companies embrace BB products?
Best-in-class security
Safety
Reliability
Achievements:
18 of the G20 governments as customers
Leader in EPP sector
Only software company to attain various security certifications from US Govt
BlackBerry’s solutions address over 96% of the collective threats (Frost & Sullivan research data)
Named as a Leader in Gartner’s 2019 Magic Quadrant for Unified Endpoint Management Tools for the fourth consecutive year
Collaboration with Ansys to support BlackBerry QNX’s “RTOS” for connected and autonomous vehicles
WM Motor to embed BlackBerry’s QNX Neutrino Realtime Operating System and other BlackBerry QNX software products within the company’s third-generation SUVs
Integration of the QNX Platform for Digital Cockpits in MARELLI Electronics China’s eCockpit and Digital Cluster solution
Reece Group is now using BlackBerry Cylance technology to protect thousands of endpoints across its retail stores and offices in Australia and the United States
Agreement with ETAS GmbH, a subsidiary of Bosch, to cooperate on the joint development and marketing of an automotive software platform based on the AUTOSAR Adaptive standard
Deeper partnership with Jaguar Land Rover for the use of the Company’s AI and machine learning technologies, BlackBerry QNX software and BlackBerry Cybersecurity Consulting services
LG Electronics Inc. to accelerate the deployment of connected and autonomous vehicle technology for automotive OEMs and Tier 1 vendors
SYNNEX Corporation to distribute the BlackBerry Enterprise Mobility Suite in the United States and accelerate partner recruitment for the BlackBerry Enterprise Partner Program
BlackBerry Limited announced that the NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency has awarded a contract for BlackBerry’s SecuSUITE® for Government to encrypt the conversations of its technology and cyber leaders
Certifications Let's highlight the security certifications BB got in 2020. Before you read about the certifications which BB got, let this statement sink in deeply
No other software vendor in the cybersecurity space has been awarded more security certification by the US Government than BlackBerry.
In Q3 2020, BlackBerry UEM achieved the National Security Agency, NSA, commercial solution for classified program approval. This adds to the portfolio of US government certifications we have received for BlackBerry UEM including the NIAP-certification, the Department of Defense Information Network Approved Product List, which I think we talked about last quarter, DoDIN APL, FedRAMP and FIPS 140-2. Context from Q3 2020 earnings call: Recognition As you see from multiple research firms, BB stands out in what are they doing Ref: https://imgur.com/2CMg3OV https://imgur.com/qE13Y32
Which Markets BB has and will be targeting?
IoT
Cybersecurity
Connected transportation
Healthcare
Financial services
Government markets
Energy
Oil
Gas
What Products are offered by BB?
I'll share brief info about the below products specific to QNX itself QNX OTA: QNX Over the Air (OTA) is a customized remote software update solution addressing the increasingly complex requirements of embedded system manufacturers. It can be tailored to seamlessly and securely update and manage endpoints on a variety of embedded systems. QNX Acoustics Management Platform: Design and manage the total vehicle sonic experience with a pure software solution designed to run on general-purpose application processor cores for cost-effective high-fidelity sound. QNX Multimedia Suite: If the OEM or developers would like to use a framework to build multimedia players. QNX Black Channel Communications: It provides reliable data transmission and consumption and greatly reduces the scope of certification while eliminating the need to have a safety certified network stack. It's critical across automotive, robotics, industrial controls, and medical device industries. It can run on QNX® OS (SDP 7.0 or QOS 2.1), Linux® or SafeRTOS. QNX ADAS: Integrates sensor feeds from diverse sources (Camera, Radar, LiDAR, IMU, GPS sensors, etc.) into your critical embedded systems, including autonomous driving applications. RADAR: Launched in 2016, it is a complete asset tracking solution providing reliable visibility to trailer, chassis, containers and equipment. These ruggedized devices are easy-to-install, low maintenance and long-lasting to minimize operational disruptions and maximize your ROI. How it’s different from rest of the competitors:
High volume of collection, up to 100 times more than other solutions in the market
It is designed for cloud-based – cloud-hosted business analytics applications, and reporting in one integrated and scalable platform
Long lasting battery, its modular architecture, and the ease of installation
How can the BB retain leading position in different sectors?
The Company’s goal is to remain a leader in regulated industries and other core verticals by continuing to extend the functionality of its secure BlackBerry Spark® software platform (UEM + UES).
How does the EV Sector Exponential Growth help BB?
Well, the 2020 to 2022 is a period for gaining significant momentum in the Smart EV sector and which shall rapidly accelerate from 2023 to 2025. As we are noticing multiple companies in EV sector trying to launch their products. Most of the companies would love to be part of the growing EV sector as it just the beginning excluding TESLA. They will eventually develop products/platforms for OEM's and Tier1 and provide it as a service. As EV sector evolves more, we should see more partnerships across other companies which aren't part of BB yet might be inclined to use at least one product. As the BB product offerings are diverse and the customer success stories about how they have played a role while manufacturing their own EV products with minimal efforts can boost the marketing efforts. Chen stated they are going after the other 6 OEM's which aren't using the Blackberry yet. Currently, BlackBerry QNX has design wins with 19 of top 25 Electric Vehicle OEMs, who together have 61% of EV market.
How is BB coping up during the COVID?
The company expects BlackBerry QNX revenue to be negatively impacted by a slowdown in automotive market related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of which could be partially offset by increased customer demand for the Company’s endpoint security and productivity solutions that support business continuity and remote working environments, including the BlackBerry Spark platform, SecuSUITE and BlackBerry AtHoc.
What's upcoming and where is BB focusing strategically?
The Company is developing a concept system to integrate BlackBerry Spark capabilities, including AI and machine learning technologies, with BlackBerry QNX automotive solutions. Have to watch out for more information during the earnings calls.
How was the Customers growth among BB products?
QNX: QNX was acquired by BB in 2010, right from that moment, BB started its journey in Automotive industry. Initially, it has launched Infotainments and Telematic under QNX product category and it was deployed on leading car manufacturers. It started branching out and was able to offer more products under QNX. Now it is has aligned itself very well for the next gen EV cars. Adoption of QNX products from 2016 to 2020:
Under the terms of our agreement, BlackBerry will own all the commercial relationships with customers and will share revenues with AWS. The target is to be in the 2023 year’s auto model, with possibly potentially some professional services prior to it. While it is too early for us to provide a revenue outlook, we are confident that BlackBerry IVY addresses a very large market opportunity that will greatly increase our ASP.
Cylance: It is part of the Blackberry Spark product under UES category Typically, Cylance subscription period is 1 to 3 yrs. based on the deal’s BB made. Leader in EPP (Endpoint Protection Platform) and they are able to catch with competitors in EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) Customers: Added 279 new customers and new active subscription customer growth was about 15%. Notable new customers include General Motors, Becton Dickinson, Phillips Healthcare, SKF, which is one of Sweden’s largest manufacturers, the New Zealand Defense Force and the United States Census Bureau, just to name a few. Verizon launched their business internet secure offering, which includes our BlackBerry smart AV antivirus product and Cisco’s Umbrella security service. Blackberry Spark: Spark is collection of BlackBerry Cylance, BlackBerry® UEM, BlackBerry® Dynamics™ and BlackBerry® Workspaces products. BB to pushing its efforts for customers to choose this product in 2021. Spark, as a reminder, is a combination of UEM and UES, the Unified Endpoint Security offerings. In the 2020 Q2, Q3, BB made good progress in both the government, and financial services verticals with customer wins
U.S. Army
The United States Air Force, which upgraded over 90,000 users from UEM to the Spark Suite.
U.S. Postal Service
IRS
Department of Energy
Department of Justice
Raymond James Financial
Citibank
German Bundesbank
Bank of India
Government of Rwanda
UK Ministry of Defence
Royal Canadian Mint
Banco de Mexico
New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Rolls Royce
Lloyds Bank
Societe Générale
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
American Express
CIBC
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Qatar National Bank
The National Commercial Bank
Absa Bank
The Development Bank of Singapore
In addition, they had success in verticals including healthcare and manufacturing sector. Up on the acquisition of Cylance company, BB was able to integrate it with its existing products which will be part of UES suite. Customers are inclined to upgrade from UEM (Unified Endpoint Management) to UES (Unified Endpoint Security) Customers are eager to get with UES:
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Borse
ConvergeOne
Multiple ministries of the Dutch government
UEM Suite UEM Suite was added to the Department of Defense Information Network Approved Products List (DoDIN APL). BlackBerry is the only UEM vendor that has achieved this level of approval to date. This achievement is based on the completion of cybersecurity and interoperability certifications. This approval will provide us better access and a more streamlined approval process. This should naturally lead to greater revenue opportunities going forward. The latest release of UEM has also recently achieved NIAP accreditation AtHoc: Zoom was one of the customers who is using AtHoc product, after we know what happened to the stock when street found out that it wasn't secure. In this way, Zoom can highly secure way to hold virtual meetings in this new work-from-anywhere environment. Even, Microsoft Teams and ServiceNow’s Now platforms are on AtHoc. As we know, Teams market leader has 116 million active users and Service Now 51%, IT Service management. Customers:
NYSE
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Edmonton Police Service
US Department of Transportation
BlackBerry Radar: In 2020, Canadian Pacific Railway agreed to deploy product on 2,000 of its domestic intermodal chassis. In 2019, one of the top three U.S. retailers specializing in home improvement. The customer placed a 2,500 unit’s order. In 2019 fiscal year, they have added 50 new customers and recurring revenue from the existing customers.
A big part of our competitive advantage is the BlackBerry legacy experience in designing a reliable, secure solution,” Plaat said. “That’s an important issue in this industry with high capital assets that you keep for years. The ROI is very good for a reliable solution like ours.”
Customers:
Almon Equipment
Titanium Transportation Group
KreilKamp Trucking
RightLane Carrier
Axsun
Matson Logistics
CP
New Malwa Express
CTS (Contract Transport Services)
Polaris Transportation Group
XTL
BB Revenue:
Check the Spreadsheet for the Revenue Sources. 2021 Fiscal year Note: Software and Services include these products IoT, QNX, BlackBerry Spark, AtHoc, Radar. The revenue got impacted due to 2020 chaos especially on the QNX product side. According to the earning calls. There are still on track to maintain the gross margin over 70% and dollar net retention rate is above 90%. As you see, the gross margin has been consistent past few years and revenue is steadily increasing every year. Revenue, Gross Margin, Net Income, EPS for years 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016 Growth in Revenue from Products from 2019-2013 Notes: In 2019, due to restructuring, BB was unable to close deals, we should see +ve in 2020. IoT: Comprised of QNX products, UEM, & Radar Other: Handheld Devices and Service Access Fee (SAF) Since BB was moving away from manufacturing of devices gradually, in 2020 most of it done by third party companies. That’s why we have negative growth under Other.
Pricing for BB products
QNX Pricing: As there are many modules under QNX, like hypervisor, ADAS, clusters, cockpit, IVI. The cost ranges anywhere from the low-single digit dollars to literally high-single digit or low-double digit dollars per module. Trefis estimates BlackBerry generates about $4 in QNX revenue per vehicle. Automakers are only expected to ship about 62 million new vehicles this year, according to Statista Research. Assuming QNX is installed on at least half of those vehicles, BlackBerry would generate about $120 million in annual sales -- or nearly a fifth of its trailing 12-month software and services revenue -- from QNX this year. Link: https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/12/07/investors-overreacting-blackberry-deal-with-amazon/ Unfortunately, we don't know the exact price the QNX OS costs or per say other modules under QNX. If more modules of QNX are used, then it's adds up and the Average Rate for Per Unit might be 4x or 5x. This gives us an idea about how to get more revenue from QNX itself when the manufacturer would use other modules under QNX apart from OS. We have already seen list of the OEM's from previous posts and in the above spreadsheet you saw list of the QNX products certain OEM's are using IoT subscription period is typically 4 yrs. Radar Pricing: Estimation in 2017: BlackBerry charges $10 to $20 per month for every trailer connected to Radar. The Go-to-Market objective is to have approximately a 50-50 split in Radar sales between BlackBerry’s channel partners and its direct sales force. BlackBerry Radar partners typically sell only this particular solution. Recently, BB was able to expand channel ecosystem to more than 12 channel partners, this new partnership might help BB capture more of the logistics and transportation area. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blackberry-radar-expands-channel-ecosystem-with-new-partners-301052631.html https://www.reuters.com/article/us-blackberry-recovery/born-again-blackberry-canadian-icon-hopes-to-ride-trucks-to-growth-idUSKBN1901P1 Cylance Pricing: Cylance might charge 55$ per endpoint per year. Announced that Forrester found that BlackBerry Cylance’s AI-driven endpoint security products delivered a 99 percent return on investment. We will see more revenue in 2021 as we shared earlier that customers who bought UEM are excited about UES too. At present, the market share is below 1%. Ref: https://www.datanyze.com/market-share/ep--359 The outlook of the Cylance in 2021 and further Projected Product Sector Revenue Growth by 2025: QNX: According to survey, the Global In-Vehicle Infotainment Market size is expected to reach $42.7 billion by 2025 (This is where we shall see more competition from different OEM manufacturers as they build their own products) Global Market Insights, Inc. has recently added a new report on automotive operating system market which estimates the global market valuation for automotive OS will cross US$ 4.5 billion by 2026 And the QNX OS (Just the OS) segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of nearly 15% from 2020 to 2026 https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/11/24/2132346/0/en/Automotive-OS-Market-to-hit-USD-4-5-Bn-by-2026-Global-Market-Insights-Inc.html Endpoint Protection (Cylance): The global endpoint security market is expected to grow from 13.58 billion $ in 2020 to 19.24 billion $ in 2025 at a CAGR of 7.6% during the forecast period. https://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/endpoint-security-market. Assuming the market share in endpoint increases to ~3%. It can be around 577 million Asset Management (Radar): Global asset tracking market will reach $36.3B by 2025, growing at 15% CAGR https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/03/04/1995009/0/en/Global-Asset-Tracking-Market-2020-2025-Insights-Into-Technologies-Solutions-and-the-Ecosystem-Including-Major-Players.html We have to know what the priority level for BB for this product and how much market share they are targeting in the upcoming years. It’s quite early to say about it and the contribution to the revenue is insignificant compared to other products. Challenges: QNX: Toyota, VW, Mercedes Benz have started taking route of AGL (Automotive Grade Linux) which is an open source (free to use) which implies the QNX market share in OS is waning. These are big manufacturers and how blackberry shall adapt is wait and see game. There is always a case where companies might decide not to use more of the QNX modules just the OS, this will impact the Average Selling Price (ASP) per car as well as the revenue since those modules add up 4x-5x ASP. IVY: Revenue from Blackberry IVY shall be more reflective from 2023, stated by Chen. So, there is uncertainty in this area and no revenue estimate. We have to see how this partnership plays out how companies are willing to adopt cloud platform for insights and management of the automotive software’s. Cylance: Currently, the market is highly competitive, and BB has to make it way to top 10 and capture more market share. In 2021, it shall unfold more about it as we are seeing rapid growth in IoT sector across various sectors. The BB is in the right position to capture more of the automotive market and we have to see how it shall play out in coming years when EV sector is full blown and more cars are delivered, and security threats increase. Also, it offers the endpoint protection, which certainly companies can benefit but not necessarily the SMB which are driven through e-commerce platforms. Radar: It’s barely scratching the surface in this sector and as there are bigger sharks who have been in the market for long time. In the second quarter of fiscal 2019, the Company previously stated that it expected to generate $100 million in cumulative revenue from its BlackBerry Radar asset tracking solution over the next three years. The Company no longer expects to generate this revenue within this time frame. (This is a set back and there are other competitors who have been in the Logistics and Transportation Industry for quite some time). In general, BB has to pitch itself more aggressively in other sectors especially in Medical, Industrial, Oil and Energy. Considering the certifications they have and the clients they serve. Thanks to OP's and go give a read at these DD's too: https://new.reddit.com/wallstreetbets/comments/ks4s3s/bb_king_the_blast_from_the_past_with_the/ https://new.reddit.com/wallstreetbets/comments/l37ktg/bb_weekend_due_diligence_confirmation_bias/ Target Price in 2021: 25-30 (by not considering crazy valuations into account). I personally believe if the IVY platform and Spark product revenue increases then we can certainly see the stock price 4x-5x in coming years. Positions: 400 shares @ 12 and 2 Jan 20 2023 SP 15. I plan to add more as I see the potential and growth in the newly introduced products. Disclaimer: This is not a financial advice, I'm merely a random person who loves BB and would like to see this company fly to new heigths. Cheers to everyone!! Edit1: thanks u/melbogia, added the date which I missed earlier for the calls.
As a semi-follow-up to this thread, what are your favorite games that, although not nearly as popular and influential as they should be, you think everyone should try? Here are 10 of my picks. I'll try to stay away from obvious choices like Pyschonauts or Beyond Good & Evil. Feel free to recommend them below, though! In order of release:
The Lords of Midnight | 1984 | ZX Spectrum, PC, Mobile
A work of technical wizardry. I have no idea how did they put such a complex game into the (even for its time) archaic ZX Spectrum. The story is nothing to write home about: defend the lands of Midnight and fight Doomdark's (really) legions. The gameplay, on the other hand, is a great mix of strategy and role-play. You can either recruit the titular Lords of Midnight and fight an epic war, eventually sieging Mordor Ushgarak, or send a small party to steal and destroy the One Ring Ice Crown. You can even do both at the same time, diverting Doomdark's attention with your armies while one of your heroes goes for the crown — in fact, that's the approach the game manual recommends. It's not just technically or mechanically impressive, but visually as well. It uses the limited pallet of the ZX Spectrum in a smart way, going for an ethereal look that I find aesthetically pleasing to this day. Thanks to modern ports to PC and iOS/Android, which add QOL improvements to the interface and eliminate the absurd load times, it's easy to enjoy this game nowadays.
Alter Ego | 1986 | DOS, PC, Mobile
Alter Ego is a life simulator, in the same vein of The Sims. Well, kinda, but not really. For one, it's much more down-to-earth and less comedic. You play as a single human being, from birth to death, reading little vignettes with life events (some important, some mundane) and making choices along the way. You get the whole package: you learn how to talk, embarrass your family at parties, discovers masturbation, get your first boyfriend/girlfriend, go to college, and so on. Now, what I find really interesting about this game is how some events and decisions are surprising even for today's standards. You can die at an early age by the hands of a child abuser. You can get pregnant as a teen and have an abortion. You can even commit suicide, if your character develops depression! I dare say that many of the events of this game would be at least controversial nowadays, given the current political climate and our modern sensibilities. But Alter Ego is not trying to be edgy or controversial. It's just trying to simulate a normal life, with boring bits and dramatic episodes getting the same space on the spotlight.
E.V.O.: Search for Eden | 1992 | SNES
A very unorthodox mix of platforming and jRPG, with unique story and gameplay. In EVO you're not a hero trying to beat a Big Bad or save the princess, but a simple life-form that has to survive and evolve. You start as a small fish in the Cambrian Period, eating jellyfish until you have enough evolution points to be able to evolve - which is done by spending said points "buying" new body parts, like better teeth or a fins. But survival is not its own end. The "survival of the fittest" is a race with a definite goalpost, with the best and brightest life-form being able to enter Eden and become the consort of Gaia (the personification of planet Earth). The thing is, like any competition, you have to look out for cheaters. Some beings are able to take huge leaps in evolution thanks to mysterious crystals, whose origin is unknown. As the game goes on, you travel to other time periods and see more evidence of interference on evolution and Gaia's plan. Can you reach Eden, or will you die along the way as just another failed evolution?
Sub-Terrania | 1994 | Mega Drive
Shoot 'em ups are not my jam, but Sub-Terrania is The Exception to the Rule. It's like someone took a look at Asteroids or Gravitar and said, "know what it needs? To be more like Metroid!". Crazy thing is, it works. Each stage is like a micro-metroidvania, where you have to explore, find keys and shoot a bunch of aliens to proceed. Traversing the levels is a challenge in itself, since you have be careful maneuvering your ship and always take your fuel reserve into account. It's a total of 9 levels with multiple objectives and the eventual boss along the way. Very challenging, but also very fun.
King of Dragon Pass | 1999 | PC
A mix of RPG, strategy, simulation and visual novel set in a non-tolkienesque iron age fantasy world. What's not to like? It's also a very, very hard game. As the leader of a orlanthi (human) clan in the titular Dragon Pass, you have to deal with internal, external and even supernatural problems all the time. To approach KoDP as a traditional strategy game is to doom yourself. The only way to succeed is by understand the culture of orlanthi society and act accordingly. Should we raid or neighbors or show mercy? Is banishment a just punishment for adultery? What about our ancestors, what's their view on slavery or friendly relations with dragons? These are just some of the decisions you have to make as a clan leader - and a single mistake can put all your people in jeopardy. But even if you do everything "right", the good ol' RNG can destroy your progress in a heartbeat. You're just one bad harvest away from famine - or, most likely, one bad sacrifice away from a curse or zombies. It's all very challenging, sometimes even downright stressful, but also very much worth it. Finally uniting the orlanthi tribes and becoming the King of Dragon Pass is a experience I'll never forget.
Vagrant Story | 2000 | PS1
Probably the most well known game in this list. I have to confess, it's not a game for everyone. It has a very unique combat that mixes real-time, turns, 3D maneuvering and elemental strengths/weaknesses, an absurdly complex crafting system, a plot centered on political intrigue and conspiracy and a visual style that deviates from your typical anime-esque jRPG. It's hard, complex, obtuse and old. But it's also one of the most creative and well-made jRPGs I've ever played.
Ninja Five-O | 2003 | GBA
An action-platformer that screams "Ninja Gaiden" or "Shinobi". It's just as hard as these classics, but I dare say it's also a much smarter game. If you don't think before you act, you're gonna have a bad time. Not that the game gives you much time to think, mind you. You're always at your edge, at the same time reacting and planning your next move. Just like a... Ninja.
Astro Boy: Omega Factor | 2003 | GBA
I love Astro Boy and at first was reluctant to play this adaptation. Well, it's not just an excellent tribute to Tezuka's work, but an awesome game on its own - although I recommend the game specially if you're a fan of Osamu Tezuka. The game has an excellent audio-visual aesthetic (almost bringing the GBA down on its knees) and a cool beat 'em up/shmup gameplay (it was developed by Treasure, after all). But the true high point is the plot. Goddamnit, what an incredible story. The first ending was a big mindfuck, and the true ending a genuine tearjerker. I wasn't expecting such a strong narrative from this game and was pleasantly surprised.
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia | 2008 | NDS
Castlevania is quite popular, but Order of Ecclesia is an often forgotten installment of the series, even among the fans of the GBA/NDS games. Which is a shame, since it does some unique things for the series and is, in my humble opinion, the best Castlevania since Symphony of the Night. OoE tries to mix the action-oriented style of oldschool Castlevanias with the exploration-focused experience of the post-SotN era. The world is divided in smaller stages, which one being a mini-metroidvania map on its own. Some stages are more direct and linear, while others are full of secrets and have to be revisited once you get new abilities. Some people complained that this approach simplified things too much, but I felt it was a nice change, with levels still requiring exploration and being well designed. Another notable change is in the challenge. The difficulty is substantially higher than the previous installments, more closely resembling the unforgiving experience from the NES and SNES (although not to the same infuriating degree). And to top it off, the art direction returned to the gothic style last seen in Aria of Sorrow, abandoning the generic anime-like aesthetic from the two previous games. Thank God.
Samorost 3 | 2016 | PC, Mobile
Originally this post would be about point-and-click adventures, but I decided to recommend just this one. I feel that if I don't, no one will. It's by fair the most recent game on this list, too, so maybe calling it a "cult-classic" is forcing it. Maybe we could consider it a "modern cult-classic", instead? I digress. Maybe you already played another point-and-click adventure made by Amanita Design, Machinarium. Well, Samorost is the prettier, crazier, more charming cousin. I wouldn't be surprised if the devs actually used amanita before making this game. It plays as your standard point-and-click: get things, combine things, use things. But the things you get, combine and use came from some psychedelic, drug-induced trip. Although crazy, I wouldn't say it's cryptic. The puzzles make sense in context and you can beat it in a couple of hours or a long afternoon at most. It's a short and sweet experience and a delight for eyes and ears. Tl;dr: Samorost is The Secret of Monkey Island for cool kids. N.b.: Samorost 1 and 2 are cool too, but not as cool as 3. N.b. 2: if you think Samorost 3 is too young to be on the list, you can replace it with I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. ------------------------------------------------------------------- What about you, fellow patient gamers? What are some cult-classics you recommend?
JP players can bind via binding code or Twitter account; EN players can bind via Twitter account, Facebook account or Yostar account. These options are in Settings.
Use at least one account bind option; use multiple if you want to be safe. If your device is lost, damaged, or a game update breaks the app and forces you to reinstall you could permanently lose your account. EN accounts are easiest to recover with an account bind; make sure to bind your account in the settings and only use the login screen binding buttons to reconnect your account. Using the login screen buttons without a bound account will create a new account for you and effectively erase your progress with no way of recovering it outside of contacting customer support. JUST DO IT. NOTE: It's also a good idea to remember your server and take a screenshot of your resume so that customer support has an easier time recovering your account. Frequently Asked Questions Should I reroll? How do I do it? No. There are a few reasons for this:
Names cannot be reused.
Ships are constructed with non-premium currency that you can easily get through gameplay.
SSR ships are NOT required for progression.
High value ships are often stage drops and cannot be built.
Is X ship good? Take a look at this gallery that shows good, permanently available ships or this tier list for a general indication of any ship's power. For research ships there's also a list showing off how useful they are depending on their development level. All ships are usable with proper development; just know that some ships/compositions are far less viable in later Worlds. Should I be spamming Construction or saving cubes? Saving cubes is crucial as you'll want a large stockpile of them to attempt limited constructions that appear during events. Outside of events, spend 1 cube per day (4 on Sunday) to satisfy the daily build mission; in doing so you'll complete the weekly mission which gives 6 cubes. However, players starting out should spam construction for the first 2 or 3 days in order to expand their options for fleet setups. Should I keep duplicate ships?
Duplicates of ships you use: Keep for limit breaking and retrofitting.
Duplicates of ships you don't use, Rare or higher: Retire for Medals of Honor (in Build menu).
Duplicates of ships you don't use, Normal rarity: Consume for enhancement of used ships.
I'm struggling on X stage, what should I do?
Level up and limit break your ships; Level advantage makes a difference.
Check your equipment; equip Purple/Gold/Rainbow rarity equipment and upgrade it.
Adjust your fleet setup; you may need a tanky frontliner to soak more damage or a battleship in the backline to deal more damage.
Enhance your ship's stats with common rarity ships.
How should I set up my fleet?
Main Fleet (Backline)
Aircraft Carriers (CV, CVL) - Clears the screen of enemy projectiles and weaker ships; Airspace Control Value (ACV) improves damage dealt by your carriers and reduces hostile encounters.
Destroyers (DD) - Cheap; low gun damage with high-damage torpedoes; high evasion with poor armor and HP; speeds up your fleet and helps avoid ambushes.
Light Cruisers (CL) - Balanced stats with high anti-air capability.
Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB) - Expensive; high damage and/or large HP pool; some utility.
For the frontline position put your tankiest ship on the left and second tankiest on the right; for the backline try to have your strongest ship in the middle (flagship) position; battleships with a barrage skill should be in the center because it greatly improves their aim. Make sure that your support (yellow) skills are useful to the rest of the fleet; most only affect certain class, nationality or weapon types and often don’t stack. While at the beginning it doesn't matter - in fact you'd be better off using both of your fleets equally to level them up - your two fleets should eventually be split up into a mob-killer fleet and boss-killer fleet; the mob-killer fleet sacrifices firepower for sustain so use (self-)healing ships to survive the 4-7 fights needed to summon the boss for the boss-killer fleet. When should I Limit Break? This depends on your playstyle; Limit Breaking increases a ship's stats and capabilities at the price of increased Oil costs. Therefore:
If you lean towards casual play and don't sortie much, Limit Break as soon as possible.
If you lean towards hardcore play and sortie frequently, Limit Break only if you are struggling to progress.
These guidelines only apply to your main use fleets; farming fleets will have a different approach as explained in the next question. NOTE: Regardless of your playstyle, Limit Break when your ships are approaching level cap (70/80/90) to avoid losing XP. What are good fleets to use for farming? Farming fleets are designed to clear stages with as little fuel use as possible. Therefore:
Use fewer ships. The minimum is one backline and one frontline ship (1:1). Over-level your ships as level difference matters.
Use ships with no/few limit breaks since LBs increase oil costs.
Use upgraded equipment and level up skills.
Complete the stage several times with stronger fleets to lower its threat level.
Use ships of lower rarity since they're cheaper: Common (gray) > Rare (blue) > Elite (purple) > Super Rare (gold)
Use cheaper ship types. For the frontline: Destroyers (DD) > Light Cruisers (CL) > Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB). For the backline: Monitors (BM) > Battlecruisers (BC) > Battleships (BB) and Light Carriers (CVL) > standard Carriers (CV)
Popular vanguard ships: Phoenix, Leander, Cassin, Downes, Fletcher DDs Popular main fleet ships: Erebus, Terror, Nelson, Rodney, Tirpitz, Duke of York, Yorktown For high-level farming add healers (Akashi, Vestal, Unicorn, Shouhou, Ryuuhou, Arizona) and a strong boss-killer fleet. When farming for gear blueprints/ships/event points, is it better to full clear a stage or just clear enough mobs until the boss spawns? Except when getting the third star on a map, you should always go for the boss as soon as it spawns. Only the boss fleet and event elites can drop SR gear blueprints, and the boss has a chance to drop two. Only boss fleets can drop SR ships/boss-only ships, and clearing the boss fleet with an S-rank guarantees a ship drop. Killing the boss fleet is what gives points (specialized cores, core data, event points, etc.); the amount of points is bound to the map, not to the amount of mobs killed. What should I be equipping? You can try following these guides. Otherwise, use what you have. How do I get more Oil? Oil in Azur Lane is equivalent to stamina in most mobile games; your Canteen generates Oil and you can get more from mission/commission rewards. If you run dry consider running less ships in your fleets, running ships with lower rarity/fewer limit breaks and taking a break. How do I get Coins? Aside from generation via the Merchant, large coin drops come from Daily Raids and the 8-10 hour commission (costs 800+ fuel). A popular method is farming map 7-2 until all the "?" nodes appear, collecting the nodes and retreating. What should I spend Gems on? Priority list:
Dorm slots (max 5)
Dock capacity
2nd Floor Upgrade for Dorm
Promise Rings
Skins
3rd Tactical Classroom slot (depends on your needs)
Spending Gems on anything not listed here isn't recommended (ESPECIALLY Oil/Gold). However, it's mostly personal preference. What should I spend Medals of Honor on? Buy the featured SSR if you want heneed a duplicate for limit breaking. Otherwise, solid purchases are gold and purple Bulins (if needed), T3 Skillbooks, T2 Retrofit Blueprints (T3 if needed), PR Blueprints and Dorm food; anything else isn't recommended though your needs may vary. What are Retrofit Blueprints? How do I use them? Retrofit Blueprints are used in retrofitting and consumed in the Retrofit tree found in ship details. Note that not all ships have a retrofit. It's recommended to save your blueprints and only retrofit ships you plan on using as higher tier blueprints can be hard to come by. What is the best use of Core Data? You'll want several Oxytorps and Black/White shells, the F4U Corsairs) are currently the best fighters in the game. Other useful items include Fairey Swordfish 818) which slow enemies on hit and the Homing Beacon for synchronizing airstrikes. The Seal of the Four Gods, improves Anshan class ships but otherwise is not worth buying. All of the ships currently in the core shop are obtainable through war archives and/or aren't useful to a new player. Why can't I rank up past Captain? For Rear Admiral Lower Half and higher in addition to meeting the rank score requirement you must be high enough on the player leaderboards to rank up. For Rear Admiral Lower Half that means you need to be in the top 1000; all ranks and thresholds can be found here. When is the daily/weekly reset? [EN] Daily reset is at midnight PDT; weekly reset is Sunday at midnight PDT. How to get Akashi? Tap on her 30 times in the shop menu to get started. And you might want to hold on to 10 purple and 5 gold Sakura tech packs. How do I unlock the last few memories in X event? After clearing B3/D3/the last of the non-EX stage of the event, try beating it a few more times. How do I earn Tech Points? Tech Points are gained by obtaining, max limit breaking and max levelling (level 120) ships. You can see how many points each ship will give you in the Lab > Fleet Tech tab. As a rule of thumb big ships such as CVs or BBs will give you more tech points than little ships regardless of rarity. MLBing a ship gives you the largest amount of points out of the 3 step process; PR1 ships requirements are generally easier to meet than PR2/PR3 ships' fleet tech thresholds. How do I earn experience for research ships? PR EXP is only earned through oil-consuming PvE content (& Operation Siren) with the ships specified under the EXP objectives in the Shipyard. PvP matches, Dorm EXP, Lecture EXP and commissions do not count. The EXP goals are rather large; be prepared for a long grind. Ships who are at an EXP/level cap (i.e. 70/80/90/100~120 depending on limit break, cognitive awakening or EXP hard cap) will still contribute EXP to PR EXP objectives, even if it displays +0 EXP in the combat results. What types of researches are best? Here is the list for the best researches for earning PR blueprints. There is also a list for those who are looking to grind gear blueprints specifically. Note that PR ships are an endgame goal; investing cubes and coins into research projects early on will greatly impede your progress with little benefit so free researches are a better option while starting out. What is the drop rate of X? The only known drop rate is for Akagi & Kaga; each have a 0.75% chance to drop after defeating the boss of 3-4. No other drop rates are currently known. Is X getting a rerun? Most major events get a single rerun per region. You can check the Azur Lane Wiki to see if an event has already reran on your server's region. Reruns generally occur at least a year after the event's first debut; after the rerun is concluded ships from that event will slowly come to permanent construction pools. The exception to this rule are collaboration events which - so far - haven't seen any reruns due to licensing deals. How do I get retrofit items for Sandy/Warspite/X? UR retrofit item are acquired through limited-time events. They will have reruns, if you missed them you will have a chance to obtain them in the future. After having a rerun these items are permanently added to the prototype shop. What is the next big event? Is there an event roadmap? There is no known roadmap for any of the regions; big events are usually announced a week or two at most before the event itself is released.
Losing touch extended version - now with ideas for changes
Hello all Some days ago I made a post that got a bit of attention (scopely_you_are_losing_touch_with_your_playerbase). But my post did not focus enough on what can be done to help alleviate some of the problems we are seeing in the game right now. So therefor I will try to do a better job of that in this post. It’s not going to be perfect, probably not even close, but I really hope it can spark a discussion that Scopely, Cerebro in particular, can take some points from and try to make this game that we like so much, and make it that much better. Before we go into the nitty gritty, I would like to say thank you for all the positive feedback I got on the last post. I had feared that it there would be a lot people throwing mud at each other or starting to bash Scopely. But most of you kept it sober and constructive, so I hope we can keep that tone. With that said, this post can be a bit more dividing of the community, cause we all have one thing that we think is the most important thing to fix. And some of the solutions I am going to propose might not hit the spot for you or at all, but I hope it sparks a discussion. This is going to be a long post, and I know that it will not go down as well as the first one, for one it is simply too long, but also because it gets too focused on what changes I would like to see. Cause we can all agree on that we want changes, but when we then have to discuss what those changes are, then we get more divided. I really want to point out that I don't expect everybody to agree on what I have written. And also that my native language isn't English, but I hope that my points still gets across. But lets get into it...
Red Stars
We are going to start out with what I personally find to be the biggest issue in the game right now. I know that RTA is a more hot topic right now, but I find red stars to be the biggest issue. Right now red stars are a double edged sword. Cause when you get the 5+ red drop on the new character you of course get happy. But with the droprates in mind, most of the time red stars leave you with a sour taste. Getting 3 red stars or lower on a new good character is so deflating that even id you got good pulls on your last 2 characters, that goodwill is out the window straight away. So what can we do to make red stars a bit better? I think the solution is in the silvegold promotion credits. If silver credits was added to red stars so that when you get a duplicate character, then you also get some promotion credits. Here is how one solution could be, the numbers might have to change a bit, but this is just the general idea. 1-2 star dupe: 1 silver promotion credit 3-4 star dupe: 2 silver promotion credit 5 star dupe: 3 silver promotion credit 6 star dupe: 1 gold promotion credit 7 star dupe: 2 gold promotion credit These are just numbers to showcase the idea. If we look at my pulls for Bishop then this is what it would have netted me (all my pulls where dupes apart from the 3 star Bishop): 20 1-2 star pulls = 20 silver credits 19 3-4 star pulls = 38 silver credits 6 5 star = 18 silver credits Total = 76 silver credits. Now that is not a lot, and I don’t think that would break the promotion system. But I do think that it would help with the bad feeling about red stars. With this system red star orbs are still the driving factor, and if you get lucky then you still get happy, but now when you get unlucky, then at least you progressed a bit still by having more promotions credit. I would also like to get rid of the promotion store. We have enough randomness in the game. If we could promote characters straight from the character screen, then the system would feel a lot better. I get that the store is probably there to make people burn some cores when they are chasing that on character they want to bring up. Also, let us update them way faster. Right now over a month passes on most new characters before they are even added to the store. I think the worries from Scopely is that we would start hoarding, and then only spend on the “best” new characters. But I really don’t see that as a problem in the long run. Cause with the added focus on wider rosters you will still have to bring up more characters instead of focusing on a few.
RTA and the Battlepass
So this is the hottest topic right now, at least with the people that I talk to. If we look to other games battlepasses are generally a positive thing, but in almost all of them they are also something that you can get done by playing the game as usual. I play PUBG and while the battlepass here is something that divides the community a bit, it is one that I like. Some days I just have to get some kills and I progress. Other days I have to get kills with a crossbow (I’m not good enough to get that done), but its all something I can do by playing the game as usual, I just have to pick up some other weapons than the “meta”. Battlepasses are created for two things: · Have people log in every day. But in MSF people already have to do that, so the battlepass doesn’t do anything at all for that. · Have people spend extra money, especially in FTP games. If spenders got the possibility to buy all the prizes we get from the battlepass for 20$ without having to grind it out, then I am 100% sure that way more people would buy it. But with the current way its tied to the RTA I actually think you are just losing money. The current form of battlepass that is implemented is really just an offer with extra steps. In MSF you have tied the battlepass to a single gamemode, and that takes all the possible fun out of that game mode. No people I have talked to likes RTA, not 1 person has something positive to say about it actually. But when you ask around, then a lot of people really started to like the balanced draft. So what can we do to make this a bit better? Solution 1: make us able to complete the objectives in other gamemodes. And if you really want us to grind the RTA also, then make it count double so that there is an incentive to play it if you want to get it over with as fast a possible. And that is where I think the biggest problem with RTA is right now. Its not fun, it is only a grind. The way I play it is to open RTA and press auto when I’m at work. I don’t even look at it, I just wait for the winneloser screen to pop up, and then go in and do it again. I get annoyed when people are slow, or if they don’t load in. As I see it there are 0 positive things about RTA right now. And the biggest problem I have is that no one I asked could actually find a way to make RTA fun with the current setup. Leagues and events could be a saving grace. But since we don’t even know what Scopley have in mind about these we can’t event try to make that better. I’m afraid that events is just like the battlepass, but I think that leagues could take RTA in the right direction. Cause if you make RTA about winning and trying your best, then its suddenly competitive instead of just a mindless grind. And I think it goes without saying, but I’m going to do it anyways, please revert the changes you made in 5.1 about quitters.
Doom raid
After my original post I was told that the Doom raid wouldn’t actually be for a limited time. And that changes my view a lot. Cause I do like that there are new and hard/almost impossible challenges. I was only worried if it was a limited that most people wouldn’t ever be able to get in there before it was taken down. But if its there to stay, then I don’t mind the current difficulty, even though I won’t step in there for at least another 6 months at best. But the point about the prizes still stand. They are simply not enough. Not even close actually. And right now only the top alliances are even able to get them, so you have created a “the rich getting richer” scenario, cause the prizes in there are what makes you able to compete in there.
Availability of new characters
I personally don’t mind the cadence of new releases of characters, new characters are what drives the game forward. But you have to make them available faster. The last couple of releases we have seen them added to orbs pretty fast (Longshot or Shatterstar was even added as their event was going on), and that is a small step in the right direction. But lets take a look at the most grievous current unfarmable character, Beast, he has been in the game for over 7 months (possible longer, I couldn’t find the exact date he was released.) without being farmable. That is simply not good enough. I know that he didn’t sell that well, and that Scopely has probably tried to wait with making him farmable to see if they could make more money of him, especially now that he actually seems to have a good place on the Axmen, I get it. I personally unlocked Beast at 3 stars, and I have not used him in anything than a throwaway blitz team. Is that fun? Is that something that makes me want to invest further into him? I think you know the answer. A possible solution to this problem is to add them to some of the stores faster. I understand why you are hesitant to add anything newish to the blitz, raid or arena store. Cause people now have so many credits stockpiled that any further income on them once they are added are out the window. But I think you can add them at a much higher price point in the stores. That does two things: You now give people something to use their credits on that they actually want, and at a higher price you are getting people to deplete their resources faster and taking both the blitz and arena store economy to a place where we once again have to make decisions on what to invest into. But at least you are giving us something to invest into. As of right now I have 150k blitz credits, so when you added Electro at 500, that wont even make a dent into that economy. But if you added new characters faster at a premium price, lets say 5-10,000 credits. Then you are giving us something to invest in, and you are bringing the economy to a better place. They of course shouldn’t stay at the premium price forever, at given intervals they should have their prices reduced until they hit the 500 credits that normal characters in the store has. I personally don’t mind that a few select characters are orbs only for a while. I get why they are that. But I also understand the frustration that a lot of players feel about orb only characters. I only mention this so that a discussion can spark from it. If we look at the prices on buying new characters I think we can all agree that they are too high. But I get why they are high and I don’t think that will change. I personally don’t find it to be that big of a problem, but I understand why a lot of people do. I also think the problem would be alleviated a bit, if we could start farming them in one way or the other sooner. Then players who really want the newest characters can pay and be ahead of the meta, and the people who can’t/won’t pay can still try to catch up without having to wait half a year, where the ones they can now farm are probably power crept anyway.
New player problems
This is only something that I have heard a bit about, and only mention it so that others can chime in. But right now there is a huge scarcity of blue ability mats. And there is no real good way of farming or even buying them. I think the problem stems from the powerlevel of characters, so now newer players don’t have to spend time on the lower raids that actually give these mats like we did when we started out. It doesn’t take a long time for a new player to be able to get into an alliance that does at least U6 or even U7, where these mats aren’t something they get. A simple solution that I could see working out is to simply remove green and blue ability mats from the game. I doubt that Scopley are making any money on these mats, and for people that have played a long time these mats are a non issue and never will be cause we have pretty much infinite of them. As I said, I don’t know too much about this problem as I only just heard about it on a stream not so long ago. But I wanted to add it to the list anyways. And there are probably more new player problems that I don’t even know of. So please add that to the discussion below, but also please try to be constructive about it, not just “We want more”.
Skillitary/new teams videos
We like that we can see new teams in action, but when you showcase them you have to be upfront about them. Skillitary has left a sour taste in the mouth of most people who bought into them. Yes, they can win against Marauders if brought up to the same level, but its still a gamble and more luckbased than playing with actual skill (on pun(isher) intended). But if you miss that first disrupt on Stryfe, then the whole team just crumbles. So if you showcase a new team as the new team to take out the “big bad”, then they have to at least be able to punch up a bit on them. I’m not saying that they should just win 100% of the time, but with Skillitary they even struggle on punch downs. If Shadowlands turn out to be as big of a letdown as Skillitary I think that will make you lose a lot of goodwill and at this point in the game, that will be very hard to gain back.
War
I am generally pretty fine with war and how it plays out. There are two pain points that keeps popping up tho. The most obvious one is the matchmaking sometimes makes you go up against unwinnable opponents. And that does make it feel very bad. But I also understand why you can’t always have it close to your own TCP. Cause who would the top alliances ever face if it was only trying to match on TCP? If it was changed to only factor in TCP, then we would suddenly have alliances in the top leagues, who where a 10th of the biggest alliances, but they would never have to face them because of the TCP difference. So the current matchmaking system is probably the lesser of the two evils. And yes, I know that it is very demoralizing to get 50m+ punch-ups week after week. But I think that stems from a problem that is unfixable, and that is the huge TCP difference between alliances. If we take a look at Legion_of_Cabal they currently have a combined TCP of 400 million. If we look at the 100th most powerful alliance they right now have a combined TCP of 251 million. That is such a huge difference that war matchmaking will just not ever be perfect. The second pain point of war is time spent. And in that also when you have to spend that time. Luckily my own alliance aren’t too focused on war, we are only G4. Most of the time we face alliances that wont clear us and we wont clear them. But higher up in the leagues, clearing as fast as possible is the only way to win. And that means getting on every time new energy is available, also if that means disrupting your sleep schedule to do that. I personally would never do that at where I am in life, but I understand why. I was fighting for world first in WoW back in the day, so I get why people do it. The problem is that they have to do it 3 times a week. Instead of just, in the case of WoW, when new content comes out. Its just not healthy. I don’t have any experience in high level war in MSF, so I hope that some of you that do can weigh in on this with ideas how to make it better.
Resource bottlenecks
This is a sore point for everybody in the game. I think we all understand why bottlenecks are a thing, and we all probably understand that it is also a necessary thing in a game to have something to grind for. But in the current state of the game, there are simply way too many bottlenecks. My proposed solution would be as follows: Get rid of green and blue ability mats. They serve no purpose anymore other than hindering new players from catching up. Then when the next level of ability levels are introduced, then you can add new currency for that and have us start out on the same level. Spenders will then be able to get a head start as always, and that is fine. Also take away the gold cost for leveling up abilities, or at least lower them. Get rid of training mats all together. Or change it so that they are the only currency needed to level up characters. It simply can’t be both gold and training mats unless they are giving them out a bit more freely. And I know it’s a balancing act, cause you don’t want people to have too many resources, and if we had infinite resources, that would also be bad for the game, as there is nothing fun in having everything given to you. If the above are implemented, then I don’t even think you have to make any changes to the gold we gain now. We of course don’t know how much money you make out of creating these scarcities, and I get it if the metrics show that you can’t just make them go away. But then at least acknowledge the problem that players are feeling about the bottlenecks. You don’t have to fix it in one big swoop. Gear is another bottleneck, but one that I personally find better balanced. Sure, right now getting G15 isn’t easy, but I also don’t think it should be easy. A change that I would love to see however is a better way to be able to focus on the gear that we need. Right now its all random, even the offers you made us are random. But again, I get if your metrics show something else and that you are doing this to make the most profit. But sometimes the most profit is not the way to go, if the cost is that you lose players by doing it.
Help us help you
In my first post I stayed away from mentioning bugs on purpose. Bugs will happen, and if you address them as fast as possible then that is probably ok. But you have a limitless amount of people who would gladly help you test upcoming patches for free. Right now you even have an envoy program that you clearly aren’t using to its full potential. Have them help you out with testing new features. Just look at ISO8, when you first announced it people where up in arms about it. But you decided to have the envoys weigh in, and it has been the best and most polished feature you have ever brought out.
Finishing remarks
Right now the game is in a rut, I don’t think that is up for discussion. It is natural for a 3 year old game, mobile at that, to lose players over time. But I still believe that you, Scopley, have the bones of a game that could live on for a long time. But you need to treat it a bit more as a game than as moneymaker. It can be both, and it can be successful at both. Make it fun again, that’s what games are about, entertainment. There has to be things that are hard or almost impossible to get, but it just can’t be every aspect of the game. You said you wanted to look at reducing the low quality screen time, and then added RTA. I hope you can see how that makes us have trust issues. I know this post isn’t perfect in any way, and I am very well aware that it might not change a thing. But I do hope that will, I really really do. If you made it all the way to the end, then thank you for reading it all, or at least skimming the points that you feel are the most important. And please, again, lets have a civil discussion about the issues we as players feel. And remember that even if we feel something is wrong, it might not actually be wrong for the game.
JP players can bind via binding code or Twitter account; EN players can bind via Twitter account, Facebook account or Yostar account. These options are in Settings.
Use at least one account bind option; use multiple if you want to be safe. If your device is lost, damaged, or a game update breaks the app and forces you to reinstall you could permanently lose your account. EN accounts are easiest to recover with an account bind; make sure to bind your account in the settings and only use the login screen binding buttons to reconnect your account. Using the login screen buttons without a bound account will create a new account for you and effectively erase your progress with no way of recovering it outside of contacting customer support. JUST DO IT. NOTE: It's also a good idea to remember your server and take a screenshot of your resume so that customer support has an easier time recovering your account. Frequently Asked Questions Should I reroll? How do I do it? No. There are a few reasons for this:
Names cannot be reused.
Ships are constructed with non-premium currency that you can easily get through gameplay.
SSR ships are NOT required for progression.
High value ships are often stage drops and cannot be built.
Is X ship good? Take a look at this gallery that shows good, permanently available ships or this tier list for a general indication of any ship's power. For research ships there's also a list showing off how useful they are depending on their development level. All ships are usable with proper development; just know that some ships/compositions are far less viable in later Worlds. Should I be spamming Construction or saving cubes? Saving cubes is crucial as you'll want a large stockpile of them to attempt limited constructions that appear during events. Outside of events, spend 1 cube per day (4 on Sunday) to satisfy the daily build mission; in doing so you'll complete the weekly mission which gives 6 cubes. However, players starting out should spam construction for the first 2 or 3 days in order to expand their options for fleet setups. Should I keep duplicate ships?
Duplicates of ships you use: Keep for limit breaking and retrofitting.
Duplicates of ships you don't use, Rare or higher: Retire for Medals of Honor (in Build menu).
Duplicates of ships you don't use, Normal rarity: Consume for enhancement of used ships.
I'm struggling on X stage, what should I do?
Level up and limit break your ships; Level advantage makes a difference.
Check your equipment; equip Purple/Gold/Rainbow rarity equipment and upgrade it.
Adjust your fleet setup; you may need a tanky frontliner to soak more damage or a battleship in the backline to deal more damage.
Enhance your ship's stats with common rarity ships.
How should I set up my fleet?
Main Fleet (Backline)
Aircraft Carriers (CV, CVL) - Clears the screen of enemy projectiles and weaker ships; Airspace Control Value (ACV) improves damage dealt by your carriers and reduces hostile encounters.
Destroyers (DD) - Cheap; low gun damage with high-damage torpedoes; high evasion with poor armor and HP; speeds up your fleet and helps avoid ambushes.
Light Cruisers (CL) - Balanced stats with high anti-air capability.
Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB) - Expensive; high damage and/or large HP pool; some utility.
For the frontline position put your tankiest ship on the left and second tankiest on the right; for the backline try to have your strongest ship in the middle (flagship) position; battleships with a barrage skill should be in the center because it greatly improves their aim. Make sure that your support (yellow) skills are useful to the rest of the fleet; most only affect certain class, nationality or weapon types and often don’t stack. While at the beginning it doesn't matter - in fact you'd be better off using both of your fleets equally to level them up - your two fleets should eventually be split up into a mob-killer fleet and boss-killer fleet; the mob-killer fleet sacrifices firepower for sustain so use (self-)healing ships to survive the 4-7 fights needed to summon the boss for the boss-killer fleet. When should I Limit Break? This depends on your playstyle; Limit Breaking increases a ship's stats and capabilities at the price of increased Oil costs. Therefore:
If you lean towards casual play and don't sortie much, Limit Break as soon as possible.
If you lean towards hardcore play and sortie frequently, Limit Break only if you are struggling to progress.
These guidelines only apply to your main use fleets; farming fleets will have a different approach as explained in the next question. NOTE: Regardless of your playstyle, Limit Break when your ships are approaching level cap (70/80/90) to avoid losing XP. What are good fleets to use for farming? Farming fleets are designed to clear stages with as little fuel use as possible. Therefore:
Use fewer ships. The minimum is one backline and one frontline ship (1:1). Over-level your ships as level difference matters.
Use ships with no/few limit breaks since LBs increase oil costs.
Use upgraded equipment and level up skills.
Complete the stage several times with stronger fleets to lower its threat level.
Use ships of lower rarity since they're cheaper: Common (gray) > Rare (blue) > Elite (purple) > Super Rare (gold)
Use cheaper ship types. For the frontline: Destroyers (DD) > Light Cruisers (CL) > Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB). For the backline: Monitors (BM) > Battlecruisers (BC) > Battleships (BB) and Light Carriers (CVL) > standard Carriers (CV)
Popular vanguard ships: Phoenix, Leander, Cassin, Downes, Fletcher DDs Popular main fleet ships: Erebus, Terror, Nelson, Rodney, Tirpitz, Duke of York, Yorktown For high-level farming add healers (Akashi, Vestal, Unicorn, Shouhou, Ryuuhou, Arizona) and a strong boss-killer fleet. When farming for gear blueprints/ships/event points, is it better to full clear a stage or just clear enough mobs until the boss spawns? Except when getting the third star on a map, you should always go for the boss as soon as it spawns. Only the boss fleet and event elites can drop SR gear blueprints, and the boss has a chance to drop two. Only boss fleets can drop SR ships/boss-only ships, and clearing the boss fleet with an S-rank guarantees a ship drop. Killing the boss fleet is what gives points (specialized cores, core data, event points, etc.); the amount of points is bound to the map, not to the amount of mobs killed. What should I be equipping? You can try following these guides. Otherwise, use what you have. How do I get more Oil? Oil in Azur Lane is equivalent to stamina in most mobile games; your Canteen generates Oil and you can get more from mission/commission rewards. If you run dry consider running less ships in your fleets, running ships with lower rarity/fewer limit breaks and taking a break. How do I get Coins? Aside from generation via the Merchant, large coin drops come from Daily Raids and the 8-10 hour commission (costs 800+ fuel). A popular method is farming map 7-2 until all the "?" nodes appear, collecting the nodes and retreating. What should I spend Gems on? Priority list:
Dorm slots (max 5)
Dock capacity
2nd Floor Upgrade for Dorm
Promise Rings
Skins
3rd Tactical Classroom slot (depends on your needs)
Spending Gems on anything not listed here isn't recommended (ESPECIALLY Oil/Gold). However, it's mostly personal preference. What should I spend Medals of Honor on? Buy the featured SSR if you want heneed a duplicate for limit breaking. Otherwise, solid purchases are gold and purple Bulins (if needed), T3 Skillbooks, T2 Retrofit Blueprints (T3 if needed), PR Blueprints and Dorm food; anything else isn't recommended though your needs may vary. What are Retrofit Blueprints? How do I use them? Retrofit Blueprints are used in retrofitting and consumed in the Retrofit tree found in ship details. Note that not all ships have a retrofit. It's recommended to save your blueprints and only retrofit ships you plan on using as higher tier blueprints can be hard to come by. What is the best use of Core Data? You'll want several Oxytorps and Black/White shells, the F4U Corsairs) are currently the best fighters in the game. Other useful items include Fairey Swordfish 818) which slow enemies on hit and the Homing Beacon for synchronizing airstrikes. The Seal of the Four Gods, improves Anshan class ships but otherwise is not worth buying. All of the ships currently in the core shop are obtainable through war archives and/or aren't useful to a new player. Why can't I rank up past Captain? For Rear Admiral Lower Half and higher in addition to meeting the rank score requirement you must be high enough on the player leaderboards to rank up. For Rear Admiral Lower Half that means you need to be in the top 1000; all ranks and thresholds can be found here. When is the daily/weekly reset? [EN] Daily reset is at midnight PDT; weekly reset is Sunday at midnight PDT. How to get Akashi? Tap on her 30 times in the shop menu to get started. And you might want to hold on to 10 purple and 5 gold Sakura tech packs. How do I unlock the last few memories in X event? After clearing B3/D3/the last of the non-EX stage of the event, try beating it a few more times. How do I earn Tech Points? Tech Points are gained by obtaining, max limit breaking and max levelling (level 120) ships. You can see how many points each ship will give you in the Lab > Fleet Tech tab. As a rule of thumb big ships such as CVs or BBs will give you more tech points than little ships regardless of rarity. MLBing a ship gives you the largest amount of points out of the 3 step process; PR1 ships requirements are generally easier to meet than PR2/PR3 ships' fleet tech thresholds. How do I earn experience for research ships? PR EXP is only earned through oil-consuming PvE content (& Operation Siren) with the ships specified under the EXP objectives in the Shipyard. PvP matches, Dorm EXP, Lecture EXP and commissions do not count. The EXP goals are rather large; be prepared for a long grind. Ships who are at an EXP/level cap (i.e. 70/80/90/100~120 depending on limit break, cognitive awakening or EXP hard cap) will still contribute EXP to PR EXP objectives, even if it displays +0 EXP in the combat results. What types of researches are best? Here is the list for the best researches for earning PR blueprints. There is also a list for those who are looking to grind gear blueprints specifically. Note that PR ships are an endgame goal; investing cubes and coins into research projects early on will greatly impede your progress with little benefit so free researches are a better option while starting out. What is the drop rate of X? The only known drop rate is for Akagi & Kaga; each have a 0.75% chance to drop after defeating the boss of 3-4. No other drop rates are currently known. Is X getting a rerun? Most major events get a single rerun per region. You can check the Azur Lane Wiki to see if an event has already reran on your server's region. Reruns generally occur at least a year after the event's first debut; after the rerun is concluded ships from that event will slowly come to permanent construction pools. The exception to this rule are collaboration events which - so far - haven't seen any reruns due to licensing deals. How do I get retrofit items for Sandy/Warspite/X? UR retrofit item are acquired through limited-time events. They will have reruns, if you missed them you will have a chance to obtain them in the future. After having a rerun these items are permanently added to the prototype shop. What is the next big event? Is there an event roadmap? There is no known roadmap for any of the regions; big events are usually announced a week or two at most before the event itself is released.
Top 10 Mobile Games of 2019. Although there were a ton of mobile games to release in 2019 thanks to new advancement, only a few can be the best of the best. Here are 20 of the best mobile games that you can download for iPhone or Android in 2020, from classic retro titles to artsy new releases and everything in between. Top 10 Best Games In The World For Android. 1 - Minecraft; 2 - Fortnite; 3 - Call of Duty Mobile; 4 - GTA San Andreas; 5 - Genshin Impact; 6 - Garena Free Fire; 7 - Stardew Valley; 8 - Arknights; 9 - Among Us; 10 - Knights of the Old Republic Not all of the games below are Apple Arcade exclusives, or even just mobile games—some are available for PC, consoles, and even non-Apple mobile devices. Most can be found only on Apple Arcade Ranking the 25 best mobile games of all time. Endless runners are endlessly popular on mobile, but it was Canabalt, initially an unassuming browser game, that really set the genre into motion. Mobile gaming in India is always growing so it is no surprise that it is one of the world’s top five countries when it comes to mobile games. One of the main reasons is because new smartphones are being developed all the time. Not only that but it is very easy to obtain mobile games. A gaming app can be downloaded at the touch of a screen. While games are more immersive on a console, it is 25 Best Mobile MMORPGs 2021: Top Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games on iPhone and Android. by Harry Slater on Jan 10, 2021 at 1:45pm. What are the Best Mobile MMORPGs? MMORPGs are one Simulation games are popular, fun, and can last for years. If you're looking for a new sim to get into, here are the best simulation games for Android! Pokemon GO exploded onto the mobile gaming scene in July 2016 and immediately became of the best Android games ever. It’s an augmented reality game similar to Ingress where you walk around the MOBA games or Multiplayer Online Battle Arena for starters, is a hugely popular genre. The origin of which hearkens back in the old Frozen Throne mode Defense of the Ancients way back in the early 2000’s. ever since then, the MOB A genre just snowballed into prominence and made it’s way into the mobile webspace.
Top 15 Best Strategy Games for iOS/Android in 2020 - YouTube
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