Deadpool VS MPQ - Sep 16 - 18

Unknown

Rubberband is meaningless in an event where everyone can clear every mode, and you've access to your full rosters against guys who definitely start out below 166. It's not clear what scaling will do but it sure doesn't take much to clear out level 166 guys when you've your full roster, and this event has relatively few cheap tricks. Sentry in the second sub and maybe GSBW in the first sub is about it. As long as you don't miss the last refresh it's going to turn into an event where whoever cleared more base points will always win unless something dramatic happens to the scaling, like level 300+ enemies start showing up in the next 8 hours.

They just can't seem to figure out how to make an event that's not either:

1. Grinders always win.
2. All progress up until the final 2 cycles is irrelevent.

I'm beginning to think they need to take a totally different approach, something like say no rubberband, fixed points, and for a 1 day sub each node it'd go like this:

All wins are worth node's base points (say, 500) up to a predetermined number of wins (say, 10) and then it's worth 0.

Every win on that node increases the node's scaling by some predetermined magic. So maybe it starts at 150X3 and goes up by 15 levels each win. There might be issues with different roster strength, but it'd be no worse than all the craziness with uneven roster strength that already happens.

The first to achieve a certain score would have the tiebreaker as usual, so if some guy can beat every node 10 times and he did it an hour into the sub starting, that's just tough luck for everyone else in the sub. It's not like anyone was ever going to beat a crazy guy like that in the first place.

Unknown

great to see that rank #6 - 25 is for 2 covers, instead of top 10 or top 20 etc.... But alliance cover wise, still pegged to the last tier single cover reward instead of the top one. ZZZZzzzz

loroku

Phantron wrote:

Rubberband is meaningless in an event where everyone can clear every mode

This is completely wrong.

I was just about to ask: is it typical for events to boost / require new characters immediately after their release? Because the tiny handful of people who got Colossus are going to be dominating this event (boosted and required), whereas the vast, vast majority of players are left with fewer nodes and fewer boosted options. Yes, most of the nodes are low - but two or three 40s / 80s are a killer for newer players without the right boosted characters.

Add to that a rubberbanding bonus that didn't start for a while and now is something like 1/10th or 1/20th what it normally is, and you have just a few people on top with everyone else MILES behind. This is one of the worst "rich get richer" events I've seen since I started.

Unknown

loroku wrote:

I was just about to ask: is it typical for events to boost / require new characters immediately after their release? Because the tiny handful of people who got Colossus are going to be dominating this event (boosted and required), whereas the vast, vast majority of players are left with fewer nodes and fewer boosted options. Yes, most of the nodes are low - but two or three 40s / 80s are a killer for newer players without the right boosted characters.

Add to that a rubberbanding bonus that didn't start for a while and now is something like 1/10th or 1/20th what it normally is, and you have just a few people on top with everyone else MILES behind. This is one of the worst "rich get richer" events I've seen since I started.

It is nearly always the case the new character is required immediately after use. 15% of the people got a cover in Colossus in the last event, maybe factionally more if people were in a top 100 alliance while not making top 150. These 15% are the most likely to get top 75 this time too so in theory 1 cover should be possible. I do not have the exact figures but I think the require nodes make up about 30% of the point on offer each refresh. If that is true then your nearly need to do an extra refresh for every two that the people with colossus have to do. You will not be on a level playing field until you reach 20K progression reward and at that point you will be 10K down. If your really lucky you could be one of the 1.5% that pick to Colossus at 4K and that might just keep you in the game.

With the numbers for the rubber banding in this event unless you prepared to hit most of the refreshes and have Colossus your are out of luck for two covers. I am just going to do about 2.5 clears near the end of each sub which will just about be enough to get me 20K.

Sandmaker

loroku wrote:

Add to that a rubberbanding bonus that didn't start for a while and now is something like 1/10th or 1/20th what it normally is, and you have just a few people on top with everyone else MILES behind. This is one of the worst "rich get richer" events I've seen since I started.

Actually, this event is probably one of the more generous events we've had in a while.

-The progression reward is very achievable.
-The bracket size is 500 people, but the reward structure is about the same as for an 1k bracket. Which means almost a third (150/500) of players will be getting at least one 3* cover.
-The ratio of essential nodes vs non-essential nodes is 2 to 8, which is low compared to say The Hulk or Iso8-brotherhood, where it was more like 2 to 5.
-Point difference between essential vs non-essential is quite a bit lower in this event as well.
-It's two one-dayish sub vs the 3 day heroics, so it's less likely to scale low end players out.

Lastly, you seem to be under a misconception. A low rubberbanding benefits low-end players. It means that highend players can't just come sweeping in during the last two refreshes and start clearing out the nodes new players are scaled out of and pull ahead of them.

That is also what Phantron was referring to with his statement that it's meaningless if all nodes are clearable for everyone. Without being able to take advantage of scaling and pulling in extra points from the nodes other people can't clear out, rubberband won't help you pull ahead of people that are also grinding those last refreshes. It will only help you pull ahead of people who are not playing those refreshes.

loroku

Sandmaker wrote:

-The progression reward is very achievable.
-The bracket size is 500 people, but the reward structure is about the same as for an 1k bracket. Which means almost a third (150/500) of players will be getting at least one 3* cover.
-The ratio of essential nodes vs non-essential nodes is 2 to 8, which is low compared to say The Hulk or Iso8-brotherhood, where it was more like 2 to 5.
-Point difference between essential vs non-essential is quite a bit lower in this event as well.
-It's two one-dayish sub vs the 3 day heroics, so it's less likely to scale low end players out.

- Progression is not very achievable thanks to no rubberbanding. Unless you have some of the boosted characters, you're still generally out of luck. But maybe we have different ideas of what is achievable / a reasonable grind. For what it's worth, I have no boosted characters and there's no way I'm going to hit 20,000 points. Not a chance.
- Fair enough, but thanks to the "new character requirement" it is harder for low-end players to actually be in the top 150. Basically anyone who was already good will get better, and anyone who wasn't already good will not.
- Good point. I haven't even been able to unlock all the nodes so I didn't know this.
- True, except that due to the lack of normal rubberbanding a 400 point node is still WAY better than a 100 point node, so I don't think this really applies.
- The scaling is also messed up for this event. I've actually had nodes go DOWN in difficulty, even though I am beating them (maybe no one else is?). But faster events hurt progression, even if they help rank and scaling.

Rubberbanding absolutely helps low-end players and anyone who doesn't play as often. But nothing can beat people who play consistently. I laid all this out in another thread, but highend players sweeping in at the last minute still can't catch someone who has been downing nodes consistently. Also, rubberbanding helps because low-end player could actually get a bunch of points without scaling themselves so badly (although again: this event apparently has no scaling?). But most importantly, rubberbanding is essential for progression rewards for everyone. Consistent players will get progression rewards anyway, but rubberbanding is what enables lower-frequency players to actually achieve anything. See again: no way I'm going to hit 20,000 when I'm clearing nodes for 100-200 each full refresh.

loroku

Sumilea wrote:

It is nearly always the case the new character is required immediately after use.

Thanks, that's good to know.

Unknown

If you've reached the forums you're generally a more competitive player, but I think we take for granted the thousands of 'casuals' or starting players when discussing balance some times.

Was dealt an embarrassing loss in the last node after I forgot GSBW was paired with a Green generator. Had to beat a hasty retreat from her sniper rifle.

ZeiramMR

loroku: First, welcome to the forums. For what its worth, I have only done two clears of the nodes, one last night and one this morning. Currently, that puts me at 5783 on the Heroes sub-bracket and that is without the two essential nodes. It might be grindier, but the 20k mark should be reachable if your schedule allows. Not sure how your roster looks, but not having the boosted characters should be offset partially by lower enemy levels than the people who have been playing longer.

Unknown

I think I like the no RB effect. I have cleared the nodes twice so far and been able to farm here and there when I got the time because I am at work. I am still at 101 on the sub and ~60 on the main. Of course I have the Colossus so those essential nodes help a lot. But the fact that I do not go to 500+ for missing such a long time from the game makes me very happy. So when it comes down to it, the one that plays more gets the bigger cut. Not the guy that comes in last and wipes everything for 5-6 last hours. This actually makes me want to play more and more in this PVE because I know that my result will count for something and it will not be a joke in the last hours.

CrookedKnight

I have no boosted characters and there's no way I'm going to hit 20,000 points. Not a chance.

If you have no boosted characters - no Daken, no classic Storm, not even a Moonstone who's hanging around until you get something better - than you probably have some work to do deepening your roster base before you can start to make any noise in PvE. Focus on being successful where you can and grabbing as many 2* tokens as you can possibly get your hands on; I can say from experience that even if you don't have the essential character(s), having a boosted 2* team to fall back on will generally be enough to let you hang around in the top 150, and once you pull that off, boom, you've got the essential character for the next event, which means you're in line to get the one after that, etc, etc - as long as you keep up the chain you'll be getting a 3* cover every time.

Unknown

ZeiramMR wrote:

For what its worth, I have only done two clears of the nodes, one last night and one this morning. Currently, that puts me at 5783 on the Heroes sub-bracket and that is without the two essential nodes.

Thank you for putting my mind at ease. I was planning 4 or 5 non-Colossus clears of this sub starting in an hour, but all this talk of no rubberbanding had me concerned for making 20K that way. Good to know it should be enough. Thanks.

loroku

CrookedKnight wrote:

you probably have some work to do deepening your roster base before you can start to make any noise in PvE

This is a fair point! I'm probably spoiled because the second PvE event I ever did I had like 4 boosted characters and rocked it.

For what it's worth: rubberbanding seems to be slightly in effect now. However, instead of the ~8.5x I should be getting if this were like other events, I'm around 2x. Definitely helped with progression some! (Fortunately there are some 2* covers much lower down...)

Also, for what it's worth: in my shard for both the main event and the sub, only 2 people have topped 20k so far, and we're about 23 hrs in.

Unknown

I for one am glad rubberbanding is very weak in this event. I actually hope they completely get rid of rubberbanding in future PVE events.

This way the unfavorable end times should not negatively affect the European player anywhere near as much as high rubberbanding PVE events.

Unknown

perhaps this is how the dev balances out from event to event. Instead of using a fixed value for scaling/rubberband, they rotate between extremes. So whether you are a grinder or not, you will eventually find an event that works for you. Sadly, if the covers you wanted falls on the event you hate then that's where the stinker's going to be.

CrookedKnight

I am having some insane luck with tokens in this event. I've pulled 3* Daken Black and IM40 Yellow from standard tokens already, and on my one event token so far, I drew a 2*....but it was Daken's blue! I can't wait for the sub rewards now.

Unknown

papa07 wrote:

ZeiramMR wrote:

For what its worth, I have only done two clears of the nodes, one last night and one this morning. Currently, that puts me at 5783 on the Heroes sub-bracket and that is without the two essential nodes.

Thank you for putting my mind at ease. I was planning 4 or 5 non-Colossus clears of this sub starting in an hour, but all this talk of no rubberbanding had me concerned for making 20K that way. Good to know it should be enough. Thanks.

Rubberbanding is picking up. Just made my first pass of non-Colossus nodes for 5137 points. 2 clears on each sub should be enough for all progressions.

orionpeace

I think they are altering the base points for the nodes - irrespective of RB.

For example, the far right essential node (Storm/BP/Minion) was 400 points for several clears. This last time I cleared it, it was worth 442.

I am #12 in my sub and #6 in my bracket at over 17K.

So, something different appears to be happening with the points. Just not entirely sure what.

Unknown

Magneto (Classic) is STILL not an X-man or a Hero. You couldn't have just put Beast in his place and moved C.Mags to the villian event? He's like the X-men's oldest enemy, and you have him shoulder to shoulder with Wolverine as buddies.

Unknown

Lerysh wrote:

Magneto (Classic) is STILL not an X-man or a Hero. You couldn't have just put Beast in his place and moved C.Mags to the villian event? He's like the X-men's oldest enemy, and you have him shoulder to shoulder with Wolverine as buddies.

Classic refers to a period in x-men history where Magneto was an enemy.