Concept for Improving Transitions

rixmith

It sounds like 2015 will be the year when we start talking a lot about the 3* -> 4* transitions and I was thinking about how that might happen. I'd like to see whatever changes come have several effects:

1. Improve the 2* -> 3* transition.
2. Encourage an orderly 2* -> 3* -> 4* progression, rather than skipping the 3* realm entirely
3. Reward roster diversity
4. Not make players who have invested heavily feel like their time/money has been wasted

What if things stayed fairly similar to how they are now, except that in event rewards whenever the reward was a 2* cover today it would instead be a 2*/3* (i.e. Moonstone Purple/Mystique Purple). If your Moonstone was less than level 94 you got the Moonstone cover, if she was level 94 you got the Mystique cover. 3* cover rewards would become 3*/4* with the same restriction that the 3* needed to be level 166 for you to get the 4*.

With this, players who have already invested heavily in building out 3* roster would be rewarded. It gives motivation to own and max out as many characters as possible to get the better rewards. And it is conceptually simple without a big need to rework reward levels or how tokens work.

Roswulf

I like the concept, but I would note that this would only make the already brutal and deeply unfun roster crunch for 2/3 star transitioners worse. As is, I can save a few thousand HP on roster slots by dumping the more useless 2*. Under the proposed new rewards policy, I would need to hold on to the Moonstones and Bullseyes.

But if coupled with a revamp to the roster slot system, I think that's an elegant solution. As is, I think the single biggest problem with the game is that a very large percentage of players (almost surely a majority of players with more than a month of playtime) receive rewards that they have no use for or interest in. That's not fun for the player, and that doesn't encourage them to keep playing.

CNash

Roswulf wrote:

I like the concept, but I would note that this would only make the already brutal and deeply unfun roster crunch for 2/3 star transitioners worse. As is, I can save a few thousand HP on roster slots by dumping the more useless 2*. Under the proposed new rewards policy, I would need to hold on to the Moonstones and Bullseyes.

Thing is, although you're right that it would make the roster space issue much worse, this kind of "balance" is just the kind of thing that Demiurge like to implement - give with one hand and take with the other, there's no free lunch, and so on - if you want to make things easier for transitioning players, who after all are their bread and butter when it comes to monetisation, you have to expect them to make it harder in different ways in order to offset the potential loss of revenue. Their steadfast refusal to even address the issue of roster slot prices is very indicative of their opinion on the matter.

wymtime

Here is my proposal: Once D3 gets 10 4* released they can adjust the reward system in PVP to this:
Place 1-10 a 4* cover and 3 3* covers
11-25 3 3* covers 26-50 2 3* covers
51-150 1 3* cover

For alliances
1-50 1 4* cover
51-150 1 3* cover

This will make the transition easier for 3-4* by getting a top 10 placement. This will still be difficult to do and require some shields to do it. Top 150 will not speed up the 2-3* transition, but the top 50 will help people who have a couple 3* finish the transition nicely.

It might be a little too gererous by D3 standards but I think it would make the 3-4* transition more achieveable.