7 New Characters in 56 days, 1.6M Iso

Colognoisseur

hermanbloom wrote:

Don't take this the wrong way, but the OP has basically said "this is all too much, stop it, btw I am about to max Gamora", has he not?

I totally agree with the point, but are you not part of the problem? If people collectively went "that's it, we are f2p until you stop the madness" then D3 would do something. But if people are still "this is nuts, I'm off to spend cash on HP/Iso points, to help get the new characters" then why on earth would the developers stop?

Or am I missing something here?

It is a fair point to consider are the whales part of the problem? I and other acknowledged whales have said we play to get new characters and if the devs heard that and believe that means they needed to up the pace of release then the answer to your question is, Yes we are the problem.

If that is the case I would like the devs to know that I also want a healthy game which continues to thrive for all player levels and this pace, based on the previous responses, seems to be unhealthy. This comes from the people on the forum who are the most dedicated segment even if we are a very small percent.

It is that small percent that might be the crux of the matter here. In the forums there will be a high percentage of "gotta get 'em all" people. In the wider player base it might be more of an issue that I just want to play with my favorite Marvel character in a match-3 game. If that is the case the release pace is going to remain fierce I think. The business model being I want to play with some Guardians of the Galaxy look there is Groot & Rocket and Gamora. I'm going to get them and play with them. These players don't give a darn about placing in a pvp or pve they just want to play their favorite character. If this is true it is going to be a pretty challenging time for me to try and keep up....but I'm going to try.

Colognoisseur

dearbluey wrote:

Silly question: When does a person leave the definition of "transitioning 2 to 3 stars"? Is it when they have 3 166's? 4? Or more? Does a person with a bunch of cover maxed 3 stars that are chilling in the level 100-120 zone count as transitioned, or transitioning?
Just curious.

FWIW my definition is once you have enough playably leveled 3*'s that you are only considering using them in PvP or PvE.

SnowcaTT

Like every time I see something like this, I'll agree that expanded characters means longer/more difficult time getting any one (much less all of them) leveled up to a decent amount, and it could only scare away anyone starting more quickly.

HP/ISO/Token cover drop rates/Roster slot costs (down) should all be scaled each time a character is added (retroactively from when characters began being added) . This only makes sense - it takes that much longer to get any of those resources each time a character is added, so make the transition time similar to when the game launched.

Unknown

"David wrote:

Moore"]

Colognoisseur wrote:

The devs should think about returning to the one new character every two weeks model which seemed to be working before the Anniversary ignited this flood of new characters.

Definitely! We will be returning immediately to the usual pace of one new character approximately every two weeks. After Gamora we are now back to the "normal" schedule. The extra characters added in recent weeks was really a perfect storm of our Anniversary week and the debut of Thor (Goddess of Thunder) on top of our usual schedule.

You'll see one more new character arriving a few weeks from now and that character will be the last one of the year. We didn't anticipate that some players would feel overwhelmed or experience "burn out" with the extra characters and we're sorry for that. We'll be factoring this knowledge into our scheduling as we move forward.

Hey HiFi,

I'm no Colognoisseur, so every two weeks is tough for me. Twice a month would be better that way, we get four months with an extra week of no new character.

Also, the "damage" has been done. Between the new characters and the triple ISO requirements of 4*'s, a lot of us have been pushed even further back. In addition to the return to the old new character release schedule, many of us (hopefully all) would not be adverse to increased ISO distribution in the game.

Talahamut

stephen43084 wrote:

In addition to the return to the old new character release schedule, many of us (hopefully all) would not be adverse to increased ISO distribution in the game.

Yeah...the anniversary week ISO levels were so nice!

It felt like the game itself was transitioning to 4* as the new (useful) high-tier and that ISO rewards were getting bumped to match that. Especially when they hung around after then end of Anniversary Week.
(Then, like a hotel table cloth, on which the flowers were most definitely no longer standing...)

Unknown

Cynical mode on (but not far away from the truth I think) :

They gave out tons of Iso during the Anniversary week : they released Devil Dino sot hat whales spend the extra cash to get the extra covers.
They refunded the Alliance slots : they released more characters

It makes sense in a way. But behind the scenes, there are players who are close to burn out because of the "work" it leads to.

As many have said : as long as the ones who spend money will follow their pace, they will push them further.

The articles published some months ago just prove they are always pushing the limits to see how far they can go to get the most money (the adjustment of Boost/Shield prices is a great example).

One other significant sign "Why are you releasing so many characters ?" "Because the devs think it's fun".

The forumites are Guinea Pigs, they are giving precious feedback to the devs (that's why we are told to keep on doing so), and every now and then, we are thrown breadcrusts to make us happy.

Cynical mode off

If they really wanted roster's diversity, they should allow roster slots to be free (just like the Alliance slots) and refund the HP spent so far. They could decide that the refunded HP should be used within a month in the MPQ store (or specifically in buying covers or whatever), if they want a return on their investment. Players would have no choice but buying covers to improve their roster.

They started to understand that we can't pay for everything at the $99/20K HP rate... Let's see if they go further this way.

I paid my 81st slot this morning, the price was 1050 HP...

Unknown

Roster's diversity, where? All they actually did were vaulting older heroes and flooding us with new ones, if having many undercovered chars is their version of "roster's diversity" - then yes. Add to this many heroic events, so we could actually see how bad are some heroes...

Unknown

"David wrote:

Moore"]
You'll see one more new character arriving a few weeks from now and that character will be the last one of the year. We didn't anticipate that some players would feel overwhelmed or experience "burn out" with the extra characters and we're sorry for that. We'll be factoring this knowledge into our scheduling as we move forward.

Please do mind it's not that people hate new characters. I personally wouldn't mind if you fit entire universe here. It's more of combination of a) players getting blocked more and more from progressing on (transitioner problems) b) not enough iso earned to level them up (vet problem) c) HP cost of slost (all peoples problems) and d) balance of some new characters. It really seems like game model you made over year ago can't keep up with new schedules and will need 'true' healing rather than band fixes that hurts big part of playerbase (vaulting). But big thank you for acknowledging problem!

dr tinykittylove

This cover/iso issue is a big reason why I don't max out characters even though pvp would probably be much easier if I did. It gets hella expensive as levels go up, and I just want them with enough covers and levels to be playable and not sitting in my roster like a Beast. I got all the characters and it makes me sad to not be able to use them.

Tyronepowers

Mainly F2P player. As many others have pointed out, it is not necessarily the fact that new characters are released it is that it takes a long time to pull covers for the ones you need/want. With out spending 1250 per 3* cover (because it rains 1* and 2* in this game), you are looking at:

0% (for vaulted characters) or 0.7% draw rates on 3* and 0.8% draw rate on 4* on heroic tokens. 1 in 6 (roughly) that you pull a 3 or 4. Lower odds that it will be a cover you need (depending on where in the 3* transition you are.)

Characters come up about every 2+ months now in PVP rotation. So you wait 60-70 days for a shot to earn a cover thru play.

As other have mentioned elsewhere, I wouldn't mind a system where maybe instead of selling unneeded 3* covers for ISO, you could "tear up the cover" and bank it, at XX to 1 ratio, for a cover of your choice in the same star level. You recycle the cover you don't want / need, for one that you do. I'm sure that this can/would be exploited, but at it gives an option and a choice.

bloafx69

I have spent maybe $25 for HP and on day 230ish. Roster is all 3* (save Gamorra, Ragnarok, and Mystique) and 4* (Save pmsThor). These last few weeks have been almost unbearable. I like the concept of this game a lot. It is the reason I kept playing. What has held me back from spending money is poor customer service and I honestly feel like the AI has been getting awfully lucky recently. It might be different for you, but that "AW C'MON!" after a big AI cascade has pressed its way through my lips much more recently than ever.

I was about to cut back to just getting daily rewards after Rocket and Groot PVE replayed, but I might actually win a 10 pack for the season, ha! Probably won't happen now. Oh well. Just extended my cutback until Season 8 end.

All of these new characters have almost stunted the growth of all of my older 3-stars, yet I personally feel that 1250 HP for a single upgrade is ridiculous. I can get 4 games on a Steam sale for that price. 3*s?

Unknown

bloafx69 wrote:

It might be different for you, but that "AW C'MON!" after a big AI cascade has pressed its way through my lips much more recently than ever. ?

☑ “This guy's level is CRAZY!” ☑ “My Heroes can't win against powers like that” ☑ "He NEEDED precisely those two colors to win" ☑ “He pulled the only power that could beat me” ☑ "He had the perfect cascade" ☑ “There was nothing I could do” ☑ “I played that perfectly"

(like 1% of people or less here will understand joke but still...)

Unknown

Colognoisseur wrote:

That's for me an avowed whale although I earn my iso by playing and pay for my hp.

Im not saying this is impossible. But I seriously do not believe you havent bought iso with the pace at which your roster is capped as soon as new characters are out.

Anyway more to the point you made I think I've stopped caring about getting new characters. I cant earn the iso I need to spend on them so whats the point. I used to try and get more than one cover in a pve and I always finished top in my bracket or at least top 5 in every pvp to get all covers possible. But now I just dont care. I could have gotten a top 5 cover for Gamora but I looked at it and turned off my phone and was content with a top 10 finish. Because it will never be time to level her... ever for me. I have thought Id have L Cap leveled by now but then Blade came out and now S Thor. Its just never going to happen for most of my roster. I have a flushed out roster. Only "average"characters like L Cap or Colossus arent capped. Every good character is capped and I have enough iso to finish S Thor atm too but missing 2 covers. But I'd still like to play with Cap or Rocket. But I now realize I never will.

And thats a huge problem... because why am I playing this game if I can never use the rewards I collect?

Raise the ISO I can make in game. You cut iso earning down 8 months agoish and now youve added more characters to level. I'm starting to not care about new characters at all.

Unknown

If Colo started out with a maxed roster at some point for any reason (he could've bought iso to get to that point), it takes something like 150K to max a 3* if I recall. Pulling 100K iso/week is certainly quite doable, so as long as no character released more often than once every 1.5 week he'd be ahead on iso. Yes the 4* would set him back and sometimes they get released faster than that, but over time he should be coming out ahead with enough iso to cover for the emergencies.

Additionally one can consider using HP for shields for a top 5 finish as a way of spending HP for iso. It might not be an efficient usage of HP but if he's already buying HP in the bulk then you might as well use some of it to get the 5000 iso for top 5. While for most people it'd be a losing proposition (better off saving the HP than getting an extra 3000 iso), this is not a losing proposition if you were always going to buy that Stark Salary anyway.

Unknown

I have no problem putting money into this game as I play while at work and make enough to support my like for MPQ. However, it shouldn't take me 6+ months to max out a level 3 char when im playing hours each day and buying HP occasionally. Factor in vaulting some 3* and not even having the opportunity to catch up to vets...no thanks.

I've already found that 42 packs are worthless. Heroic token pulls are worthless. Need to seriously work on token draw rates imo. I'm not asking to be given anything, but by the 100000000000000 hawkeye/thor/capt marvel 2**...enough is enough.

Thanos

Personally, i don't mind if D3 releases a new character every week since three out of four are mediocre at best and not worth putting iso into. I've had no problems leveling up the characters that are actually worth using and staying ahead on iso and HP. So go ahead D3, keep releasing a character a week, i'd rather not have to wait two months to get to that one good character i could get in half the time.

Unknown

Phantron wrote:

If Colo started out with a maxed roster at some point for any reason (he could've bought iso to get to that point), it takes something like 150K to max a 3* if I recall. Pulling 100K iso/week is certainly quite doable, so as long as no character released more often than once every 1.5 week he'd be ahead on iso.

100k iso/week is doable? Is that playing EVERY lightning round?

Unknown

Phantron wrote:

Additionally one can consider using HP for shields for a top 5 finish as a way of spending HP for iso. It might not be an efficient usage of HP but if he's already buying HP in the bulk then you might as well use some of it to get the 5000 iso for top 5. While for most people it'd be a losing proposition (better off saving the HP than getting an extra 3000 iso), this is not a losing proposition if you were always going to buy that Stark Salary anyway.

I've finished top 5 or better in 99% of pvps for the last 9 months. A majory of thattime it was a first place finish and often selling the 1k iso 4star cover that came with it. The majority of that time I was in the alliance finishing 1st in almost every pvp and getting 5k bonus iso as that reward for a total of 10k per pvp between my own finish and my alliance one. I play many lighting rounds most of the time just to 100 rating for the 1k+ iso it comes with. I sometimes but rarely will go all in on a lighting round to finish in the top 2. I play every pve and get large node payouts. I have played the game for 340 days. Never bought ISO.

I have 15 characters capped including 3 4 stars. I have only 3 other characters above 100. I have only 2 2 stars capped. I dont generally partially level characters they are either base level or capped. The rest of my 37 characters on my roster are are base level 40, 15, 1.

With all the time I've played and with all the bonus ISO I have received for placement I'm at roughly 25% of the roster leveled.....

Shadow

Basically, what happened was that they followed the same schedule for 3* releases (1 new char every 2 weeks) without factoring in the fact that they were also adding 2 4* chars and 1 2* char into the mix. But really, Devil Dino isn't a key char to level even though the cheap red and green make him good at dealing with hood. And nobody in their rightful mind would fully level 2* cap marvel if they were iso starved. Thor does consume a significant amount of iso though and squeezing her pve in between 2 new 3* char releases was totally not cool. Simple way to fix this was that instead of following the normal 3* release schedule, they should have used one of those to release Thor instead.

Please D3, if you read this, do consider releasing 4* in pve as a replacement of one of the 3* instead of squeezing it in between. It really helps resolve multiple issues with just this being done.

GrumpySmurf1002

RefinedBean wrote:

Phantron wrote:

If Colo started out with a maxed roster at some point for any reason (he could've bought iso to get to that point), it takes something like 150K to max a 3* if I recall. Pulling 100K iso/week is certainly quite doable, so as long as no character released more often than once every 1.5 week he'd be ahead on iso.

100k iso/week is doable? Is that playing EVERY lightning round?

Not sure you even need the LR's for 100k. I've played pretty casually (for me) in the last week, and am at almost 75k for the week, and that's without touching the LRs, and missing chunks of the PvE.

The iso8 event helps, as does the season coming to a close in that span, but with more free time I'm sure I could push that number closer. That is only a one week data set though, so maybe it's just a lucrative week.