Shields Assessment Post Round 1 of Double Shot

MarvelMan

Kyosokun wrote:

It IS a HP drain, but doesn't need to cost any actual money.

Its only a drain in that you dont get a cover out of it. I had been pushing for 400 (occasionally up to 600-700) during the past month of tourneys which would have netted me about 75HP (the 50 HP plus selling a 3* if I didnt need it even though I need almost all) while this time I pulled in almost 400 then spent 50HP. Seems a net gain for me.

Yes, I realize my rise in placement results in someone else's demotion but most of the HP earned was due to progression that was unattainable before.

Unknown

GameloftNYC wrote:

They will raise shield prices dramatically soon, so use them now while you can.

From an economic standpoint this is a big fail. They're giving out more covers from progression rewards as well as more HP. Covers were already probably more plentiful than they wanted, although that's speculation. What is not speculation is that having a loop where you get more cash currency than you spend in a freemium game is like, the most broken thing ever and it will not continue.

While you may be right, there are a couple of factors to consider. They have said that they wanted to make the upper progression rewards reachable. Also, not everyone that uses these things are going to use them in an optimal way. Another possibility is that the prices will remain the same but the duration shortened.

Unknown

Misguided wrote:

GameloftNYC wrote:

They will raise shield prices dramatically soon, so use them now while you can.

From an economic standpoint this is a big fail. They're giving out more covers from progression rewards as well as more HP. Covers were already probably more plentiful than they wanted, although that's speculation. What is not speculation is that having a loop where you get more cash currency than you spend in a freemium game is like, the most broken thing ever and it will not continue.

While you may be right, there are a couple of factors to consider. They have said that they wanted to make the upper progression rewards reachable. Also, not everyone that uses these things are going to use them in an optimal way. Another possibility is that the prices will remain the same but the duration shortened.

Yeah they will tweak it for sure. It's not a bad feature and it does make money in a lot of other games. I think they might just add a cooldown or an increasing cost so you can't use them every tournament over and over.

Unknown

GameloftNYC wrote:

Yeah they will tweak it for sure. It's not a bad feature and it does make money in a lot of other games. I think they might just add a cooldown or an increasing cost so you can't use them every tournament over and over.

Also consider that before the scoring got changed, many/most people were able to reach 1000 points, and most of the HP gain is realized by then. If many people reaching that point are dropping 50 or 100 to shield, the net HP gain collectively may be less than it was before.

Unknown

I got 1000+ around the last 30 mins, which was #17, and shielded. Was tempted to try to push for at least lower top 15, but I was tired and I was sick of seeing all my other opponents having Lv85 or higher IM in addition to 85+ Wolv/Thor/Rag, so I thought I'd gamble on shielding to stay in the top 45. I kept the client on, so I saw myself being battered by a couple of 700-800 score players and I would probably have dropped down to 800 odd myself.

My bracket had very high numbers for the top 5, IIRC, in excess of the 1400 needed to get X-Force Wolv. IIRC, top was Knightrein or something like that at 2000+ at some point? Most of the other people in the lower half of #6-15 slots had scores in the 1000-1200 range. Most of the top 20 or so were shielded in the last 30 mins. A few that either had their shields expire or (more likely) broke them to try some last minute moving around.

It's definitely good for raising the overall score for everyone around to get more progression reward. Not sure with leaderboards though. It seems a lot harder to catch up to anyone shielded with a significant lead once they got going.

Unknown

Misguided wrote:

GameloftNYC wrote:

Yeah they will tweak it for sure. It's not a bad feature and it does make money in a lot of other games. I think they might just add a cooldown or an increasing cost so you can't use them every tournament over and over.

Also consider that before the scoring got changed, many/most people were able to reach 1000 points, and most of the HP gain is realized by then. If many people reaching that point are dropping 50 or 100 to shield, the net HP gain collectively may be less than it was before.

And consider that in order to get to top positions you have to climb much higher then before, meaning that some will have to heal more and therefore spend more $$ for heals. I hope they don't increase shield cost or significantly nerf it or hp rewards. Then you will really have people screaming "pay to win". I don't think that is what the devs want. If it costs 500 hp for a shield, and shields are really required to place well in tournaments, I'm out, as are a lot of other people

Spencer75

I actually used one in the Hood lightning round last night. I was in first place up about 50 points on number 2 (3 and 4 were further back). Got him as a match for an opponent. Saved him until there was about 10 minutes left, he had a high level rags and mags and a midlevel hood. Finished him off quickly and there 8 minutes left and now I had a close to 100 point lead but didn't want retaliated by my victim or anyone else who may have me queued up. So I slapped a 15 minute shield on for 50 coins.

I probably would have been fine without it but it was some fantastic piece of mind

Spoit

Misguided wrote:

GameloftNYC wrote:

Yeah they will tweak it for sure. It's not a bad feature and it does make money in a lot of other games. I think they might just add a cooldown or an increasing cost so you can't use them every tournament over and over.

Also consider that before the scoring got changed, many/most people were able to reach 1000 points, and most of the HP gain is realized by then. If many people reaching that point are dropping 50 or 100 to shield, the net HP gain collectively may be less than it was before.

RIP 500 HP progressions

Unknown

(Apologies if I'm echoing thoughts already posted earlier in the thread; I haven't had time to read all three pages.)

As a player newer to the game, I like this feature quite a bit. My best two characters are lvl 50ish 2-stars (Wolvie and OBW), and prior to the shield rollout, I was never able to reach any progression awards above 400 or to finish better than top 150/200.

In this round one, I used one 8-hour shield with 18 hours left to go. I was just over 400 pts, I think, and somewhere just above #50. I played for two hours after my first shield expired, got to 696 points and the top 20. I threw up another 8-hour shield to ride out the end of the tournament and went to bed. I finished top 45 to get my first 3-star placement award (I had two others, the hulk and one lucky token).

My net spend was 50 HP, as I was able to earn HP from a top 45 finish that I would not have earned from a top 150/200 finish. Had the tournament been at a better time for me (i.e., not ending at 6am), I feel fairly confident that I could have pushed to the 1000-point progression reward and achieved a net gain of 50 HP instead. Overall, this improves my enjoyment of the game by bringing progression and placement awards into my reach that were not before.

As for the pay aspect, do I wish I did not need to spend in-game currency to reach those awards? Sure. I only have 21 roster slots so far, and I'd rather be using the HP I earn on those. Still, I'm likely able to get an additional 200 HP from progression and placement awards in return for my 200 HP shield spend, so in the end, it's probably neutral.

Here's hoping everyone ELSE'S shield strategy doesn't improve, once again putting 1000-pt/top 45 (or better) out of reach for me. >.<

Unknown

I just at it this way. I KNOW i used the shielding wrong (shielded for 3 hrs to take a nap and then 24hrs at 621pts while first with 24hrs left)
I had no clue how much the shields were going to inflate the average score but i was pretty certain that i would pay 250hp for any of the spidey covers so even with spending well more then i earned.
I'm overall happy with the system as it allowed me to, what i thought at the time, was completely overreach and obtain 2 spidey covers.
(i ended up in the 85/85/x MMR for the first time ever and was nervous with my 85 wolvie/61OBW and 15IM40)