I guess it was about five or six weeks ago that I thought I'd give the Rising Star game a try. At first very gradually, but within the next two weeks it captured enough of my attention to get me to post a kinda tentative review, followed by an even more enthusiastic story. Since then, however, my passion has waned quite a bit, though I have kept playing it almost daily, pretty much every chance I got. It could be just me who was never meant to get into this game, but in case others may share this sentiment, let me see if I can point out a few opportunities for improvement.
Choosing Missions: What Do I Give, and What Do I Get in Return?
Once the Local Gig Circuit has been unlocked, there is a wider selection of the kinds of gigs to perform. Illegal Busking is still as much available as Licensed Busking, Supporting and Headline gigs on Weekdays and Saturdays, plus the Radio Interviews and Sessions in the Local Circuit. Nice. But what's the motivation behind them?
Honestly, once the Shopping Mall was unlocked, I saw no reason whatsoever to go back to playing shows in my home town any more. The Midweek Headline gig that costs about the same time and effort (80% energy at one hour) pays me less in Starbits and Xperience than the gig at the mall, even at 50% ego. The Saturday shows take more time and energy, yet still don't offer the same reward as playing at the mall. So why do them? (Though for gaining experience music classes are much better suited.)
On the other hand, I'm still busking illegally on street corners, not even to get drunk fans, but for the chance to find a slice of pizza. It's the five minute duration and the 15% energy that is great for this. Fortunately, the Radio Interview has these same parameters, so I can alternate between these two gigs, without getting my fans (and myself) bored.
Improving Rewards by Honing My Skills
Well, I have to tell you, I just bit the bullet and bought myself a sweet instrument. After all, I couldn't call myself a serous musician if most my artists are keyboardist, and all I had was a mid-range acoustic guitar. So I went for the nicest thing I could find: the Kinsey's Keystar 1A. Yeah! All of a sudden taking music classes started paying off. Every time I had 40% of energy left, I took a class, and improved my skills... and gradually reduced my ego to around 50%. As a result, my maximum Starbit rewards increased dramatically. Which is really nice, but doesn't do much for leveling up. So I keep going back to playing at the mall, again and again, so that one day I may start recording demos. The way things are going, this would take me another week...
Starpros and Fan Club Cards
With all of my cards combined, I already have more than a thousand loyal fans, so this is really not an issue at the moment. Still, to break up the monotony of the game (did I really just say that?) I decided to try out some special missions... or rather the only special mission available at the moment. But for that I needed to buy some pro-level coins. (Oh, you got me again, RisingStar, see what a loyal spender I've become!) At around 8 HIVE a pop, I though that this was kinda steep, but whatever! I got at least that much by playing with PolyCub these days... Fortunately, a fanclub mission only costs 0.025 StarPro. After two of those, I even got my first Fanclub Card: ten loyal fans! Whoo-hoo!!! But considering how I spent 60 minutes and 80% of energy on each show, hardly worth the bother.
Keeping My Hopes Up
As negative as this review may seem, I'm still far from abandoning this game. What makes me stay positive is the increase of Maximum Starbits for improving my skills. The 727 reward for a Saturday Headline does sound tempting, even for maxing out my energy entirely. Also, in the three hours it takes me to play the show I should get back about a third of it. Then I only have to wait like 20 more minutes before I can take another piano class. I should mention, though, that there is also a chance my performance is less well received, in which case the Shopping Mall Gig is a safer bet. But I guess that's how things work in the unpredictable music business.
For now, my next goals are getting myself another Keystar, possibly after selling some ... let's say less skilled musicians. I mean Tiana, Michelle, Firefly, and Bo are all cool, but what do they bring to the table? 40 fans and 15 skills? Not something I couldn't easily make up for with classes, and fanclub cards. Besides, now that I have bought that one Starpro I may as well use it up.
So yeah, maybe this game is not all that bad. Though this could be a stage where lots of players like me, who may be not all that serious, and who may not want to invest too heavily into it, could turn away from it. Though I'm still not at the point of giving up, I do have to admit that I've lost my full enthusiasm for it. So to keep those less tenacious players captivated, it may be in the interest of Rising Star to add something ... extra. Special missions maybe? Or perhaps play around with the parameters of the gigs, making old shows in the Home Town part more attractive. For now, this is my two cents. Next update will follow, and depending on my overall experience I may even stay around or longer.