Roster Slots and the future

Unknown

With the new characters coming in almost once it two weeks, I am more than worried about the prices of roster slots. Although I am OK with the fact that D3 has to make $$$ from the game to keep it running, I think roster slot costs should not exist. Let me elaborate a bit.

If you have already spent the time and money to obtain that new character (Which is not easy in all cases because the competition is crazy in such events) I think you should be granted the luxury to at least put him in your roster. I don't like the fact that a new character is coming out just because I don't want to spend HP on a new roster slot. Not to mention this new character will be useless for some time in my roster so that HP could be better spent.

I would really like an explanation or the thoughts that devs have about this issue. We are sitting currently at 49 characters (Soon to be 50). Do you know what the price of roster slots is after 40? Why do you punish me by increasing the price of every slot. I am more than excited of having a new character in my roster, but you "force" me to pay an incremental value for every character. At least make the price a flat 300-400 HP (I'd really like it to be removed but that will never happen).

Please David and IceIX, I seek an answer, or an explanation, or your thoughts.

Unknown

Okin107 wrote:

With the new characters coming in almost once it two weeks, I am more than worried about the prices of roster slots. Although I am OK with the fact that D3 has to make $$$ from the game to keep it running, I think roster slot costs should not exist. Let me elaborate a bit.

If you have already spent the time and money to obtain that new character (Which is not easy in all cases because the competition is crazy in such events) I think you should be granted the luxury to at least put him in your roster. I don't like the fact that a new character is coming out just because I don't want to spend HP on a new roster slot. Not to mention this new character will be useless for some time in my roster so that HP could be better spent.

I would really like an explanation or the thoughts that devs have about this issue. We are sitting currently at 49 characters (Soon to be 50). Do you know what the price of roster slots is after 40? Why do you punish me by increasing the price of every slot. I am more than excited of having a new character in my roster, but you "force" me to pay an incremental value for every character. At least make the price a flat 300-400 HP (I'd really like it to be removed but that will never happen).

Please David and IceIX, I seek an answer, or an explanation, or your thoughts.

Honestly, until the price for roster slots gets in the 750-800 HP range, the roster cost is quite sustainable even for a F2P player. You may have to juggle a little your 1* and 2* characters at first, but once you gather enough 3* covers and start placing in PvP the HP intake is always enough to get new roster slots and even have spare HP to buy shields. [source: my personal experience with MPQ]

wymtime

Kappei wrote:

Okin107 wrote:

With the new characters coming in almost once it two weeks, I am more than worried about the prices of roster slots. Although I am OK with the fact that D3 has to make $$$ from the game to keep it running, I think roster slot costs should not exist. Let me elaborate a bit.

If you have already spent the time and money to obtain that new character (Which is not easy in all cases because the competition is crazy in such events) I think you should be granted the luxury to at least put him in your roster. I don't like the fact that a new character is coming out just because I don't want to spend HP on a new roster slot. Not to mention this new character will be useless for some time in my roster so that HP could be better spent.

I would really like an explanation or the thoughts that devs have about this issue. We are sitting currently at 49 characters (Soon to be 50). Do you know what the price of roster slots is after 40? Why do you punish me by increasing the price of every slot. I am more than excited of having a new character in my roster, but you "force" me to pay an incremental value for every character. At least make the price a flat 300-400 HP (I'd really like it to be removed but that will never happen).

Please David and IceIX, I seek an answer, or an explanation, or your thoughts.

Honestly, until the price for roster slots gets in the 750-800 HP range, the roster cost is quite sustainable even for a F2P player. You may have to juggle a little your 1* and 2* characters at first, but once you gather enough 3* covers and start placing in PvP the HP intake is always enough to get new roster slots and even have spare HP to buy shields. [source: my personal experience with MPQ]

Think about what you are saying. If I work my butt off in PVE and win Doc Oc I have earned the right to pay 500 HP to add him to my roster. Or I can dump one of my existing characters to add him to my roster. We should be able to add as many characters to our rosters as we want with out paying for these slots. In PVP if you score 800 points rank top 25 personal, top 100 alliance and use a 3 hr shield you still don't make enough to add a new character to your roster. You would have to go through 3-4 PVP's like this to open 1 roster slot. Roster slots if there is a cost should be fixed at a low number 50-100 HP. This would promote roster diversity and people would be able to spend HP on ACTUAL COVERS instead of roster slots. People would still have 1 * covers and might actually put ISO into the covers as well if it did not cost so much for roster slots.

I apologise for any frustration that comes off in this post. Roster slots is really the only thing I don't like paying for in this game becasue it really makes you choose who you are going to keep and not keep when you get a cover you don't have.

Unknown

and sometimes, the one you sold is the one needed for a certain pve.

Trisul

wymtime wrote:

Think about what you are saying. If I work my butt off in PVE and win Doc Oc I have earned the right to pay 500 HP to add him to my roster.

This is a strange line of thinking. I could just as easily say that earning the cover means I earn the right to $1 million dollars. There is no real measure of what you "deserve" except for the actual rewards given out, and 500HP is a ridiculously high reward relative to that.

wymtime wrote:

Roster slots if there is a cost should be fixed at a low number 50-100 HP. This would promote roster diversity and people would be able to spend HP on ACTUAL COVERS instead of roster slots.

Roster slots would probably promote roster diversity, but I'm not convinced Demiurge will make more money by doing so. Roster slots are one of the most popular HP dumps in this game. It's primarily what I've spent money on, that's for sure.

wymtime wrote:

I apologise for any frustration that comes off in this post. Roster slots is really the only thing I don't like paying for in this game becasue it really makes you choose who you are going to keep and not keep when you get a cover you don't have.

That tension is a key part of MPQ's business model. None of us like it, but it's here to stay.

Unknown

Just yesterday I had to sell Beast in order to bring in Human Torch because he is buffed (And might be essential in one of the subs, who knows?) for the current PVE. I really like the game but I choose not to pay a penny for things like this. I will delete my whole roster before I pay money for a slot. At some point in the future there might be a light in the horizon and I will be able to afford roster slots. Until that day I choose to suffer with frustration!

EDIT:
And while I am on this topic, why on earth should I be punished by my roster space? I mean last PVE we needed BP to get BP. Well guess what, just few days before that PVE I pulled BP but had no roster space for him. I need to manage my HP between shields (Because of very bad EU times) if I want to make that top 100 for progress and roster slots. Most I can get is 1 roster each week or two.

Not to mention that weak players have to play in PVE in order to develop. How is that working for you new guy? Oh you don't have BP, PSY or Pun? It's OK, come back later while some players that by accident kept these covers are progressing. I am really frustrated. Dropping Beast (A character that I grinded for a whole PVE for days) in order to do good in another PVE is plain stupid. If it was not for my alliance I would just not go in this PVE at all.

I know money talks D3, but seriously, consider some tweaks at least. Just post something for crying out loud. I really hope David is transferring these conversations and is at least thinking of replying on such topics.

Unknown

When your roster is 60 characters, 750HP is what you pay for a new slot...

Unknown

arktos1971 wrote:

When your roster is 60 characters, 750HP is what you pay for a new slot...

Yay! Can't wait to feel that joy

wymtime

Trisul wrote:

wymtime wrote:

Think about what you are saying. If I work my butt off in PVE and win Doc Oc I have earned the right to pay 500 HP to add him to my roster.

This is a strange line of thinking. I could just as easily say that earning the cover means I earn the right to $1 million dollars. There is no real measure of what you "deserve" except for the actual rewards given out, and 500HP is a ridiculously high reward relative to that.

wymtime wrote:

Ros.

I am fine with your line of thinking on your reply but I think you are missing what I am saying. If you win the PVE cover you don't earn the right to the HP. What I am saying is you win the cover and then you have to buy the roster slot to use the cover. 500 HP is this situation is not a reward. It is like running a marathon and the top 10 people who finish get the opportunity to pay $50,000 for a new car. Anyone outside of the top 10 have to wait for the next race to win the opportunity to buy a new car.

From a finacial perspective roster slots are probably the most profitable item for D3 so I know it is not going to change soon. I do think as they get more and more characters they should really look at this model and make it more player friendly.

HailMary

wymtime wrote:

We should be able to add as many characters to our rosters as we want with out paying for these slots... Roster slots if there is a cost should be fixed at a low number 50-100 HP.

Why are these, specifically, the "should" standards?

wymtime wrote:

This would promote roster diversity and people would be able to spend HP on ACTUAL COVERS instead of roster slots. People would still have 1 * covers and might actually put ISO into the covers as well if it did not cost so much for roster slots.

Iso is a late-game bottleneck, not HP. Noting the fact that a significant chunk of MPQ revenue comes from roster slot sales, I doubt hypothetically increased cover sales would cover the complete elimination of that revenue stream.

Okin107 wrote:

Just yesterday I had to sell Beast in order to bring in Human Torch because he is buffed (And might be essential in one of the subs, who knows?) for the current PVE. I really like the game but I choose not to pay a penny for things like this. I will delete my whole roster before I pay money for a slot. At some point in the future there might be a light in the horizon and I will be able to afford roster slots. Until that day I choose to suffer with frustration!

Many people don't share your absolute aversion to buying a few roster slots with real money. On the flip side, I haven't paid for roster slots (or anything else), and I've had to sell a handful of early, lucky 3* cover pulls to make room. Once I got going, though, I've maintained a healthy HP surplus.

wymtime wrote:

500 HP is this situation is not a reward. It is like running a marathon and the top 10 people who finish get the opportunity to pay $50,000 for a
new car.

Even if we completely ignore the fact that freshly released covers are literally impossible to obtain without good event placement, you're paying 500 HP for a 500-HP slot + 1-4 1250-HP covers. It's more like winning a car, but needing to pay for a parking space for that car.

Unknown

You can earn 500 hp in these 6 day pve. So while you earning the character you can earn the slot. I have 50 slots right now. 3500 hp and have only speaking to money on two slots since I started 310 says ago.

IamTheDanger

Okin107 wrote:

arktos1971 wrote:

When your roster is 60 characters, 750HP is what you pay for a new slot...

Yay! Can't wait to feel that joy

Yeah? Wait until you get into the upper 90's or 100 slots.

Thems is expensive as heck, but I'd still buy more if there wasn't a limit on number of slots, (yes this a hint for D3 to raise the slot limit, c'mon and raise it already, you know you want to).

Pwuz_

I've taken F2P as a personal challenge to build an entire alliance to 20 & collect every character. 500 HP is is less than 1/3 of my next alliance slot. I've only got a small amount of sympathy for you considering.

Sell off your 1* & 2* characters. They are easy to replace. If possible, have enough HP saved up for the next slot BEFORE you need it.

And most importantly, WHY ARE YOU BUYING COVERS? Seriously, that's an option for players who have rosters with doubles of characters or P2W players. The slow burn that this game is designed around it intended to make it last longer. Otherwise, most of us wouldn't be playing anymore since a full roster pretty much means you have nothing left to strive for.

atomzed

Pwuz_ wrote:

I've taken F2P as a personal challenge to build an entire alliance to 20 & collect every character. 500 HP is is less than 1/3 of my next alliance slot. I've only got a small amount of sympathy for you considering.

Sell off your 1* & 2* characters. They are easy to replace. If possible, have enough HP saved up for the next slot BEFORE you need it.

And most importantly, WHY ARE YOU BUYING COVERS? Seriously, that's an option for players who have rosters with doubles of characters or P2W players. The slow burn that this game is designed around it intended to make it last longer. Otherwise, most of us wouldn't be playing anymore since a full roster pretty much means you have nothing left to strive for.

^ this. Especially the quote in bold.

Until they change the game totally (like having raids or equipment), rhe game will remain as it is.

Unknown

I bought a Lazy Thor green to go from 4 to 5 on the respec on the F2P model. He was already 166 and I didn't want to wait around for the next event. There are reasons to buy covers. There are no reasons to buy anything but FIFTH covers, but still.

Pwuz_

Lerysh wrote:

I bought a Lazy Thor green to go from 4 to 5 on the respec on the F2P model. He was already 166 and I didn't want to wait around for the next event. There are reasons to buy covers. There are no reasons to buy anything but FIFTH covers, but still.

If you can spare 1250 HP for a cover, you can spare HP for a roster spot.

marx2299

That is absurd. You can play this game, for free, literally every single day. You are going to complain about having to shell out a few bucks a month? Why do so many players of this game think they are entitled to free endless entertainment? I really don't get it. Enjoy the game, buy the extra **** slot or sell off your worthless 2* stars. I did. A few bucks a month for an extra roster slot is still pretty cheap entertainment. Have you been to the movies or a bar lately? Just saying man...

Unknown

marx2299 wrote:

That is absurd. You can play this game, for free, literally every single day. You are going to complain about having to shell out a few bucks a month? Why do so many players of this game think they are entitled to free endless entertainment? I really don't get it. Enjoy the game, buy the extra tinykitty slot or sell off your worthless 2* stars. I did. A few bucks a month for an extra roster slot is still pretty cheap entertainment. Have you been to the movies or a bar lately? Just saying man...

While I agree with you that the expense is not that big, I still think that the logic behind buying roster slots at an increasing value is just not that entertaining. It is actually discouraging to think that the more you expand your expenses increase exponentially (New chars, more roster slots, more iso etc.). They are all connected together in a way to "force" you into paying and you feel cornered when that moment comes that you don't have a slot and you don't know who to sacrifice for that new character coming up.

As for the movies or the bar, yes, I have been. However, it is not a good example as it is a matter of choice whether you want to go there or not. We are talking about a mandatory expense here where if you don't pay you are going to have a bad time.

HailMary

Okin107 wrote:

As for the movies or the bar, yes, I have been. However, it is not a good example as it is a matter of choice whether you want to go there or not. We are talking about a mandatory expense here where if you don't pay you are going to have a bad time.

Clearly, we're being forced to not only play MPQ, but play it in a way that makes us expand our roster faster than we earn HP. It's not a matter of choice. That must be what's happening here.

IamTheDanger

. Wrong button, sorry

Pwuz_

Let's also not forget that HP rains down on us so often that lack of HP is just a sign of poor spending.

Your average PvP gives out 25 HP at 400, 600, & 50 at 800 points. Granted 800 is pushing it without shield hopping, but it can be done.
Most PvE events include some HP rewards in the progression as well (why this Heroic doesn't is beyond me), but those are usually variable based on the length of the event and are sometimes rewards at regular nodes in the event.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Simulator includes 25 HP at 1000, 1500, and 1900 points.
Season Progression includes HP as well (again, this is still fluctuating.)
Shield Resupply offers 25 HP roughly every 10 days & 12.5% chance of 50 HP on the random days.
If you are placing well enough to earn covers for a new character, you are also earning 25-100 HP per event for the Rewards (and Sub-Events for PvE). If you have an active alliance of more than 10ish people, your Alliance should be pulling in an extra 25-50 HP per event, more if you are in an alliance that is earning covers too.
And finally, did you collect all the HP in the Prologue?

Don't waste money shielding if you are struggling with HP. Most times, IF your score would hold out for the level you are currently you've spent 75 HP to earn 25-50 HP more than you would have not shielding, that's a net loss of 25-50 HP. If it's an event that would give you your 13th cover for a character that is understandable, but even then is that shield guaranteed to keep you in that position? Then answer is typically "NO."

I've also mentioned that buying covers (EVEN YOUR 13th one), is a really bad deal. That HP could be used for multiple roster slots.

It's your choice how you spend your HP, but they give us a lot of free HP. If you are struggling to buy a roster slot, perhaps you could change where you spend your HP.