Season X - My Crossroads

rednailz

This post could have easily been a rage quit post 3 – 4 times in the last couple months, but I’ve taken a deep breath and soldiered on, but it’s come to a crossroads for me, and here’s why.

I started off MPQ 324 days ago. When I started it was just for a fun occasional time killer game, and it was certainly nothing I intended on putting any real monery towards. I quickly became addicted for a heap of reasons, being a bit of a Marvel nerd surely didn’t help, I had no chance of stayong away. Still determined to not spend any real money, I started off with a selective roster of players I liked, or that would get me through. To this day I’m still getting burnt on occasion by all the covers I sold in my first 200 days or so, which brings me to last night and the most likley the last $20 I will drop on MPQ.

I bought my last 2 blue hood covers, I’ve never pulled a single hood blue, and I neglected to keep his yellows and blacks or play for his covers in the old days. I’ve known forever he’s an essentail guy to have, but I’ haven’t been naturally accumulating them for some time. It was my last ditch effort to stay “competitive” in this game. Last week, before the shield change I dropped $10 - $15 for shield hopping. It was the Blade PvP and having a 166 Blade, I tossed him in the ring with my 166 daken and 166 patch. The stars had finally aligned for me to have a shot at hitting the ellusive 1300 pts, and I was going to do it. It was my final “wahoo” in PvP. I’ve never been able to get too far past the thoress/xforce wall, and in the old days the sentry/hood wall, and I was never interested in dropping more than $5 on a pvp for an extra cover. See, for middle of the road guys like me, there’s no real chance of being top 5 (with 1300 – 2000 pts), or even hitting that 1300 mark. But this time, it was different. I had the stars, and my wallet.

Prior to that I dropped $20 on my final xforce green, which I don’t regret, and $20 for 2 Sentry covers to stay relevant durring the Sentry days, and my first covers bought with money were 2 Cmags purples before the nerf, in an attempt to keep up with the curve, and it helped, sorta – briefly. I’ve dropped a bit more here and there to top off to get a cover, or some iso to round off, and of course shield money when needed.

With the new PvP MMR and now shields, guys like me who are overjoyed to hit 800 pts, and maybe knock off a thoress/xforce team before shielding have a limited reach on what we can acocmplish, and it’s getting old.
I’m done with 7 day grinds for new releases that I pay 500 HP for a roster slot to park in my ever grown unused character graveyard. I don’t even try for top 50 anymore in those new release PvEs since I like to sleep without setting an alarm in the middle of the night to hit a refresh, and I like to go out and do things, and have a job (where I sneak in games still) I’m unable to keep up with the refreshes, and I’m tired of trying to.

Back in the day I used to get excited to take a Friday night to myself and spend it grinding away at MPQ and collecting loot, covers and challenges. Now it seems like it’s more a thing of MPQ getting in the way of things I’d rather do. I’ve obstained from making plans with friends to grind away for a release or a couple covers more then once. Even now I’m forced to spend 15 – 40 minutes on a PvE clear, and 15 minutes on a quick PvP hop before I can get started on what I really wanted to do that Friday night, oh, and oops, sorry guys, just give me another 20 to do a clear a couple hours later. Meanwhile my Friday night is slipping away as I spend it on MPQ errands. Just errands, nothing more.

It seems like now the game frustrates me or gets in the way of things I’d rather be doing more than it seems enjoyable.

The survival mode idea, my alliance making PvE non-essential unless a new cover release, and D3’s comitment to fixing lame charecters and adding new types of events are some of the things that give me hope for Season X. 7 day grinds, 2 hour refreshes, terrible MMR, are some things that I will no longer tolerate or endure. All the changes to PvP have in my experience made it tougher on the middle and lower tiers. Now I hit a wall of 166s, or xforce/thorress at about 550, instead of 650 – 700. And with shield changes? The little guys get poached off more and more to try and hover around 500 and not dump too much HP into shields too early.

This last season I’ve seen a lot of long-timers drop off or quit. In our aliance a few staples have stepped aside, burnt-out, and I don’t blame them. Burn-out seems to be pretty common. So I’m asking myself, why bother being burnt-out and frustrated? Why continue to sacrifice real life for an extra 2% chance of a cover, or whatever?
So Season X I’m going to kick back, try and remember the love I had and enjoy putting my favorite 3 Marvel heroes against whatever 3 opponents fate has thrown at me. I won’t be spending HP I don’t have on roster slots I don’t need. Unless there’s fan favorie release or a favorite of mine, like Nightcrawler (pls Dr Strange), instead of some marketing timing to coinside with another Marvel T.V. / movie happening. I won’t be grinding for 7 days, and I won’t be hitting all my refreshes against the tired and played out dark avenger crew because they just aren’t fun anymore. I will keep up with or exceed alliance goals, and continue to contribute, and I will be trying to reconnect with the fun as I do it.

So after Season X there will be a couple uncertainties of where MPQ and I will be. I will either go casual, quit altogether, or continue with my current pace and allaince while enjoying the game. The one certainty of my future with MPQ is that I’m not spending any more money, aside from the occasional $3 - $5 for sheild money top up if I’m short, but since I won’t be shield hopping, that may not need to happen again. I fully support paying for a game you like, and don’t think MPQ is pay to play, but it’s most assuredly pay to compete. Well, I think I’ve paid enough, and given enough of my time. I will keep it fun, and if the fun doesn’t stick, I’m out.

Anyway, that’s my tale. I know I enjoy reading soties of others and their take on their experiances with the game, it helps add perspective, and hopefully as the same old issues come up again and again D3 may be encouraged to re-evalute.

skippytx

I see so many of these posts, and I'm constantly astonished at how many people sacrifice their lives over a match 3 smartphone game. It's a game people, a game.

If you're scheduling your life around a match 3 cellphone game I think you should take a break and think about that for a while. I really like MPQ, I've spent real world dollars on it, and I enjoy playing it, but never would I not do something else to sit at home and match colors to make sure I get a fake comic book cover. "Hold on kids, Daddy can't play with you tonight because he has to match these colored shapes together to win a virtual prize"

I don't know if some of you guys need help or whatever, but people spending thousands of dollars, wrecking their car and putting other peoples lives at risk, waking up every 3 hours in the middle of the night... I think that's when you know you've taken it to far and should take a few steps back. Stop playing for a week, if you can't do that, you should realize you have a problem. Uninstall the game and take a walk outside.

GothicKratos

I'd give it a week or two break to break the habit, but if you find yourself still wanting to indulge, I'd definitely say you can play casually. If you want some pointers, let me know (you can PM me then or ask me in this thread too). Some of it is still ironing out, with all the changes recently, but it works decently well.

Mostly, you jusy have to adjust your prospective. A lot of people are just used to everything being available to you if you play "hard enough", like a traditional game, and this just isn't really that. It's a time sink.

rednailz

skippytx wrote:

I see so many of these posts, and I'm constantly astonished at how many people sacrifice their lives over a match 3 smartphone game. It's a game people, a game.

If you're scheduling your life around a match 3 cellphone game I think you should take a break and think about that for a while. I really like MPQ, I've spent real world dollars on it, and I enjoy playing it, but never would I not do something else to sit at home and match colors to make sure I get a fake comic book cover. "Hold on kids, Daddy can't play with you tonight because he has to match these colored shapes together to win a virtual prize"

I don't know if some of you guys need help or whatever, but people spending thousands of dollars, wrecking their car and putting other peoples lives at risk, waking up every 3 hours in the middle of the night... I think that's when you know you've taken it to far and should take a few steps back. Stop playing for a week, if you can't do that, you should realize you have a problem. Uninstall the game and take a walk outside.

I think you read a little deeper into it then intended. My point was I'm not letting it cut into real life enough to be able to keep up. Putting off plans with friends was from months ago where a buddy and I were pretty heavy into the game so we'd just chill hang out and play on our respective devices, and choose not to go chill with other friends. We are game playing hermits as it is from time to time. Since he doesn't play anymore I will duck out for 10 minutes while we are hanging out to do a clear, but to do a proper clear I should be ducking out for at least twice as long.

I spend heaps of time with my GF, am in the gym 4 days a week, and am pretty actively social for personal and occasionally for work. I have other hobbies I spend time doing.. I don't need to be told to "go outside" and put it down. My point was I've had the timing of a pvp or pve encroach on real life, and I will no longer let that happen, where as before the fun of it was balancing out other things I'd choose to miss out over playing something I enjoyed.

Unknown

skippytx wrote:

I see so many of these posts, and I'm constantly astonished at how many people sacrifice their lives over a match 3 smartphone game. It's a game people, a game.

If you're scheduling your life around a match 3 cellphone game I think you should take a break and think about that for a while. I really like MPQ, I've spent real world dollars on it, and I enjoy playing it, but never would I not do something else to sit at home and match colors to make sure I get a fake comic book cover. "Hold on kids, Daddy can't play with you tonight because he has to match these colored shapes together to win a virtual prize"

I don't know if some of you guys need help or whatever, but people spending thousands of dollars, wrecking their car and putting other peoples lives at risk, waking up every 3 hours in the middle of the night... I think that's when you know you've taken it to far and should take a few steps back. Stop playing for a week, if you can't do that, you should realize you have a problem. Uninstall the game and take a walk outside.

If it's a game, shouldn't it be structured as such? The current structure demands to much life be sacrificed to play it successfully. It's easy to blame the players. However, the truth is, they are simply playing the game the way it is designed.

Unknown

I remember some of my Playstation games (maybe imports?) that pops up a message like "Don't spend all your time playing this game, be sure to see the sun once in a while" when you load it up. But just saying that doesn't mean it's totally okay to make your game that encourages people to not see the sun. There are regulations because people aren't always able to control everything, which is why you can't gamble anywhere you want or buy illegal drugs from any store, even though for both you can just say 'well just don't gamble/do illegal drugs'.

I don't think the devs are necessarily trying to destroy people's live. Rather they're probably saying, 'how many guys would be crazy enough to do this???' and it turns out it's a lot.

rednailz

Phantron wrote:

I remember some of my Playstation games (maybe imports?) that pops up a message like "Don't spend all your time playing this game, be sure to see the sun once in a while" when you load it up. But just saying that doesn't mean it's totally okay to make your game that encourages people to not see the sun. There are regulations because people aren't always able to control everything, which is why you can't gamble anywhere you want or buy illegal drugs from any store, even though for both you can just say 'well just don't gamble/do illegal drugs'.

I don't think the devs are necessarily trying to destroy people's live. Rather they're probably saying, 'how many guys would be crazy enough to do this???' and it turns out it's a lot.

As a long-time avid gamer I was actually suprised the amount of time, money and effort that gets put into this game by some people. It's comparable to some MMORGS I've played (for some people), or back in the old days of COD when it was still fresh. It's pretty intense. At least with most RPGs, MMOs, ect people aren't dumping real money into the game every time they do a raid or craft some gear (for the most part)

rednailz

stephen43084 wrote:

skippytx wrote:

I see so many of these posts, and I'm constantly astonished at how many people sacrifice their lives over a match 3 smartphone game. It's a game people, a game.

If you're scheduling your life around a match 3 cellphone game I think you should take a break and think about that for a while. I really like MPQ, I've spent real world dollars on it, and I enjoy playing it, but never would I not do something else to sit at home and match colors to make sure I get a fake comic book cover. "Hold on kids, Daddy can't play with you tonight because he has to match these colored shapes together to win a virtual prize"

I don't know if some of you guys need help or whatever, but people spending thousands of dollars, wrecking their car and putting other peoples lives at risk, waking up every 3 hours in the middle of the night... I think that's when you know you've taken it to far and should take a few steps back. Stop playing for a week, if you can't do that, you should realize you have a problem. Uninstall the game and take a walk outside.

If it's a game, shouldn't it be structured as such? The current structure demands to much life be sacrificed to play it successfully. It's easy to blame the players. However, the truth is, they are simply playing the game the way it is designed.

That's the angle I was getting at more than "i have no life becuase of a phone game" as it seemed to have been taken.

Unknown

rednailz wrote:

Phantron wrote:

I remember some of my Playstation games (maybe imports?) that pops up a message like "Don't spend all your time playing this game, be sure to see the sun once in a while" when you load it up. But just saying that doesn't mean it's totally okay to make your game that encourages people to not see the sun. There are regulations because people aren't always able to control everything, which is why you can't gamble anywhere you want or buy illegal drugs from any store, even though for both you can just say 'well just don't gamble/do illegal drugs'.

I don't think the devs are necessarily trying to destroy people's live. Rather they're probably saying, 'how many guys would be crazy enough to do this???' and it turns out it's a lot.

As a long-time avid gamer I was actually suprised the amount of time, money and effort that gets put into this game by some people. It's comparable to some MMORGS I've played (for some people), or back in the old days of COD when it was still fresh. It's pretty intense. At least with most RPGs, MMOs, ect people aren't dumping real money into the game every time they do a raid or craft some gear (for the most part)

This game is way more hardcore than it appears unless you spend enough money to beat the game with boosts/shields but that's just a different kind of hardcore. There's a heavy time commitment and a requirement of prolonged excellence in both PvP and PvE. Outside of smashing hopelessly outclassed PvP teams, there is never a time you can take it easy unless you don't care about your final ranking, because the game does try to match you up against enemies that can give you a good fight in PvP or PvE. In general you can never do any node considered 'hard' by the game (generally anything with a 500 iso reward) and take it easy, and same applies to any teams you face after a certain point in PvP.

Unknown

Phantron wrote:

I remember some of my Playstation games (maybe imports?) that pops up a message like "Don't spend all your time playing this game, be sure to see the sun once in a while" when you load it up. But just saying that doesn't mean it's totally okay to make your game that encourages people to not see the sun. There are regulations because people aren't always able to control everything, which is why you can't gamble anywhere you want or buy illegal drugs from any store, even though for both you can just say 'well just don't gamble/do illegal drugs'.

I don't think the devs are necessarily trying to destroy people's live. Rather they're probably saying, 'how many guys would be crazy enough to do this???' and it turns out it's a lot.

You can't compare your AAA PS games with a mobile F2P. Once you have purchased the PS game, that's all the money they will be making off you for that game. Whereas this and many other freemium games using the same model rely on continued purchases and therefore need to promote, however subtly, an addictive and possibly unhealthy playstyle.

Unknown

gobstopper wrote:

Phantron wrote:

I remember some of my Playstation games (maybe imports?) that pops up a message like "Don't spend all your time playing this game, be sure to see the sun once in a while" when you load it up. But just saying that doesn't mean it's totally okay to make your game that encourages people to not see the sun. There are regulations because people aren't always able to control everything, which is why you can't gamble anywhere you want or buy illegal drugs from any store, even though for both you can just say 'well just don't gamble/do illegal drugs'.

I don't think the devs are necessarily trying to destroy people's live. Rather they're probably saying, 'how many guys would be crazy enough to do this???' and it turns out it's a lot.

You can't compare your AAA PS games with a mobile F2P. Once you have purchased the PS game, that's all the money they will be making off you for that game. Whereas this and many other freemium games using the same model rely on continued purchases and therefore need to promote, however subtly, an addictive and possibly unhealthy playstyle.

People were getting addicted to games long before there were microtransactions, because if people are addicted to your games it usually means you can make easy sales on sequels or related spinoffs. Now that I thought about it more I'm pretty sure they were imports because in Japan they must have passed some law that said all games have to tell people don't get too addicted. My point is that just saying 'don't get addicted!' doesn't mean it's no longer your problem that people are getting addicted to the game.

And while maybe there's an incentive to get people to addicted to your game for monetary reason, there are cases in MPQ where it's just lose-lose, most notably PvE. Playing the game every 2H 24M is very unlikely to make you spend more money because playing on that cycle confers such a huge advantage that those who can't do it cannot make that up no matter how much money they spend, and those who can have no reason to spend additional money. It's simply a poorly thought out process as nobody wins. It's not even P2W because the guy who gave up sleep to do well in PvE isn't paying anything in terms of money.

Afrocigar

I hear you OP. But the your post is easily fixed by adjusting your play style. Join a PVP only Alliance, be comfortable finishing t50 if t100.

I posted a rant or point of view as I call it a month or so ago, about facing lvl270 Xforces. I got an earful from a majority of players I see their side and kinda agree to an extent. D3 isn't going to change the framework of the game, accept that and adjust. That has worked for me. My Alliance is PVP only min 600, that is a very relaxed pace. I do max progression for PVE, good place to farm ISO and HP.

I love enjoy match 3 and I'm a Marvel guy. I have no problem grinding away for my 2-3 covers per PVP.

Unknown

Afrocigar wrote:

I hear you OP. But the your post is easily fixed by adjusting your play style. Join a PVP only Alliance, be comfortable finishing t50 if t100.

I posted a rant or point of view as I call it a month or so ago, about facing lvl270 Xforces. I got an earful from a majority of players I see their side and kinda agree to an extent. D3 isn't going to change the framework of the game, accept that and adjust. That has worked for me. My Alliance is PVP only min 600, that is a very relaxed pace. I do max progression for PVE, good place to farm ISO and HP.

I love enjoy match 3 and I'm a Marvel guy. I have no problem grinding away for my 2-3 covers per PVP.

i think OPs point was that the 2-3 covers per PVP become meaningless, because none of them are 4*. And once 3* is "complete" there is no longer a path to 1300, as shield hopping was the old mechanism which is now denied.
I have the same issue, feels like no feasible way to progress really.

rednailz

AJRooke wrote:

Afrocigar wrote:

I hear you OP. But the your post is easily fixed by adjusting your play style. Join a PVP only Alliance, be comfortable finishing t50 if t100.

I posted a rant or point of view as I call it a month or so ago, about facing lvl270 Xforces. I got an earful from a majority of players I see their side and kinda agree to an extent. D3 isn't going to change the framework of the game, accept that and adjust. That has worked for me. My Alliance is PVP only min 600, that is a very relaxed pace. I do max progression for PVE, good place to farm ISO and HP.

I love enjoy match 3 and I'm a Marvel guy. I have no problem grinding away for my 2-3 covers per PVP.

i think OPs point was that the 2-3 covers per PVP become meaningless, because none of them are 4*. And once 3* is "complete" there is no longer a path to 1300, as shield hopping was the old mechanism which is now denied.
I have the same issue, feels like no feasible way to progress really.

Yeah, that was part of my point. Although there's been a couple good additions recently fun to add to my roster, I haven't seen any real "growth" in some time, and 4* land is virtually as far away as it's ever been (expect with xforce, which is pretty common to have after almost a year of playing)

Unknown

And if you had Thor maxed out, the game is more meaningful because...?

I'm actually kind of dreading maxing out Thor because I'm not sure what I'd be playing for after that.

rednailz

Phantron wrote:

And if you had Thor maxed out, the game is more meaningful because...?

I'm actually kind of dreading maxing out Thor because I'm not sure what I'd be playing for after that.

Wouldn't be more meaningful, but it would be acheiving progression, which is nice to have if you are playing a game. Although I agree, if and when Thoress gets maxed there won't be much for me to shoot for, which will lead down the same road of eventually going very casual or just moving on.

I_am_Zero

There will always be a new hotness that they will dangle in front of you. Power creep will always be an issue. They will eventually create a counter to xforce and thoress once the money flow starts slowing down. Then, when enough whales have the new hotness maxed out, another 4 star will come that is even better and has more synergy with other characters and the cycle starts over.

rednailz

I am Zero wrote:

There will always be a new hotness that they will dangle in front of you. Power creep will always be an issue. They will eventually create a counter to xforce and thoress once the money flow starts slowing down. Then, when enough whales have the new hotness maxed out, another 4 star will come that is even better and has more synergy with other characters and the cycle starts over.

It's true, but I'm thinking at that point the novelty will wear off. It's already starting to wear off as my roster is getting more maxed covers that I'm not even leveling. I think I would push to finish a meanignful PvE and a Pvp in 1st once, and then pack it up and call it quits. Maybe not a PvE unless it was a short one.

For me, I'm trying more to reconnect with the fun going forward, as the addition and lust for new covers is wearing off. Of course winning meaningful covers helps and is fun, but the balance of how much effort it takes is off.

Unknown

I hit a similar wall a couple months ago. I didn't want to quit, but I realized, I just can't take this game as seriously as I was taking it. the time you need to devote to be 'top tier' is just ridiculous. Being honest the game is less and less about skill, and more and more about grind. I am around the same levels as you - which means you can do what I do/did...

My alliance has relaxed our interest in in rewards, especially PvE - we ask people play once a day and goal for 100 pts per event, but its rare that we hit an event hard now...

Not 'worry' about every event. We all know that only so many characters are worth dumping ISO into. That means if they are maxed - like say Hood, why should I care about an event where he is the reward? I DON'T. So I'll play up to the 'wall', dust my shoulders off, and 'fahgitaboutit'...

PvE? We talkin about PvE? [/Iverson] Man for PvE I just do each node 'once', and never come back unless I'm 'bored'. the progression rewards in PvE are honestly ****, and when you aren't trying to steam roll all the PvP events, you'll find that you don't need boost and the such from PvE ANYWAYS.

It really is an adjustment you have to make - it is stil la fun game, don't "walk away" because you aren't in the top 3%, just enjoy what you can do, and eventually a character might pop up that you like and its worth trying for - ironically, for me that is Blade, so I made a push for 1st place when he was the reward, and I'll keep doing so until I cna get him fully covered. My LThor is at 5/4/4 also, and my Daken needs two more covers I think, let alone the right color, so I'll focus on those. Luke Cage? PUH LEASE, I like his moves, but his colors make him compete with X-Force (NOPE) or Black Panther (NOPE) or LThor (NOPE), so I didn't even bother TRYING to get him. Despite having the slots, I refuse to own certain characters because I'll never level them, and they will never be of use (looking at you Doc Ock/Ragnarok/Bag-Man/etc).

Pick and choose the battles.
- Unreall

Unknown

This game act like a drugs and can become very dangerous for health and your money. I can't understand how people can spend hundreds of dollars in this game.

I'm playing since enough time to notice devs do not deserve our money at all.