The 4 Star Gravy Train

Eminently Bored

I logged in today to experience the ludicrousness of what D3 is doing. Yet another 4 star character, who lore wise does not deserve to be 4 stars, has been released. I base this on the original 4 start characters being very powerful lore wise. 4 star characters actually used to be rare. We only had IW and X-force for how long? Now we get 4 stars based on cross marketing that in my opinion are ruining the game. I have to say I am not willing to spend hundreds of dollars to level up covers on a 4 star to be competitive. Because at the release rate that is clearly what D3 intends for players to do. And yes this is free to play, so a cash shop is to be expected, but when the cash shop is a necessity to stay on top every week? Come on people. The only people winning multiple covers of these new releases fast enough to not need the cash shop are people who are very well established in game. And I say that having a good 55 slot roster myself. Yet my friends who are behind me cannot stomach the game because for them events just mean hitting ceilings, like 500 pts in pvp events, that they cannot pass. Stop squeezing your player base.

thanos8587

making it a 4* increases the odds that players will add to their roster slots to keep for the long haul, even though it will take years for the average player to get him to a playable 10 cover or so level. im convinced that the rate of new character releases is about roster slot sales. you might (and i will) scrap squirrel girl now that her essential pve is over, but if i were to get a starlord (i wont), the fact that he is a 4* would make it difficult to scrap.

most people arent making the connection that they have to pay not only in pve grind time, but when they finally get that shiny new 4* glorious star lord, theres another 700+ hp to get him on the roster. if youre swimming in hp, no big deal, but when youre not, there you are off to the store to shell out another $20 or so for roster slots.

i personally am off that hamster wheel. progression awards and top 150 for mostorm is my goal. no more new roster slots for me until the roster slot scam is dealt with.

Unknown

I'm sure the Devs will address this in their Q&A.




...

orbitalint

Switchman wrote:

I'm sure the Devs will address this in their Q&A....

Sure they will ...they dodge this question with double talk and "new characters are awesome" speak almost every time it is asked over the last 6 months.

Lidolas

You don't have to be on the top. Play the game for fun, not to win. There will always be people who spend and/or play more than you.

There are ways to win 1st places with limited rosters. The brackets can still be gamed.

rednailz

Star Lord is a 4* becuase everyone loves Star Lord and he's recently featured in a hit movie, and has brought in a total new fan base, who will compete like mad and spend cash to get him.

* rating being a base of the power of a charecter went out the window long ago, but was solidified as b.s. when Electra got in.

So cutting it down to only top 50 for player and alliance coupled with Star Lord mania will be a frantic manic event for the record books. 7 day grinds and credit card purchases galore. Can't blame them for doing what their objective is, which is make money.

This just dillutes my chances even further of getting a 4* cover I actually want to be able to one day use a 4* other than xforce, and ergo murderers my already slim chance at a 3* - 4 * transition.

D3 keeps alliantating it's player base. A lot of people dropped out over the last couple months over burn out. I will be grinding for my alliance - and happy to do so, it's a great group that have helped me a lot...but I will not be giving two hoots about getting star lord. What'a another 4 * cover for an ok support charecter that will sit in my roster parking lot for a year or more before I could even play him? My fury and Thoress aren't playable, and those ones I'm interested in.

Unknown

Lidolas wrote:

You don't have to be on the top. Play the game for fun, not to win. There will always be people who spend and/or play more than you.

There are ways to win 1st places with limited rosters. The brackets can still be gamed.

What if you are bored with the toys you have been playing with forever and just want to be able to play with something new and shiny, but you can't get the new and shiny to play with. How do you play for fun then?

Unknown

Cryptobrancus wrote:

Lidolas wrote:

You don't have to be on the top. Play the game for fun, not to win. There will always be people who spend and/or play more than you.

There are ways to win 1st places with limited rosters. The brackets can still be gamed.

What if you are bored with the toys you have been playing with forever and just want to be able to play with something new and shiny, but you can't get the new and shiny to play with. How do you play for fun then?

Put up a maybe 70th place score and merc for a top 50 alliance? Or play the essential node for him that is inevitably coming in the next PvE over and over again to experience the Star Lord phenomena. Or win him in PvP instead? Or be one of the .5% of players that gets him in a token.

Unknown

Lerysh wrote:

Cryptobrancus wrote:

Lidolas wrote:

You don't have to be on the top. Play the game for fun, not to win. There will always be people who spend and/or play more than you.

There are ways to win 1st places with limited rosters. The brackets can still be gamed.

What if you are bored with the toys you have been playing with forever and just want to be able to play with something new and shiny, but you can't get the new and shiny to play with. How do you play for fun then?

Put up a maybe 70th place score and merc for a top 50 alliance? Or play the essential node for him that is inevitably coming in the next PvE over and over again to experience the Star Lord phenomena. Or win him in PvP instead? Or be one of the .5% of players that gets him in a token.

None of that sounds fun

Unknown

Lerysh wrote:

Cryptobrancus wrote:

Lidolas wrote:

You don't have to be on the top. Play the game for fun, not to win. There will always be people who spend and/or play more than you.

There are ways to win 1st places with limited rosters. The brackets can still be gamed.

What if you are bored with the toys you have been playing with forever and just want to be able to play with something new and shiny, but you can't get the new and shiny to play with. How do you play for fun then?

Put up a maybe 70th place score and merc for a top 50 alliance? Or play the essential node for him that is inevitably coming in the next PvE over and over again to experience the Star Lord phenomena. Or win him in PvP instead? Or be one of the .5% of players that gets him in a token.

The majority of a character's power comes from covers and not levels, and this is especially true with 4*s, so the only real "fun" option you listed is the essential node with a loaner Star Lord. With all the other ones he'll just be taking up space on your roster as decoration for the better part of a year. Not saying that players are entitled to 8+ covers of every new character, just that most characters aren't really fun to play with until you have a lot of covers.

Dauthi

Eminently Bored wrote:

I logged in today to experience the ludicrousness of what D3 is doing. Yet another 4 star character, who lore wise does not deserve to be 4 stars, has been released. I base this on the original 4 start characters being very powerful lore wise. 4 star characters actually used to be rare. We only had IW and X-force for how long?

Curious, there is no distinction of power lore wise from 1* to 2*, no distinction from 2* to 3*, so why do you expect it from 3* to 4*?

Now we get 4 stars based on cross marketing that in my opinion are ruining the game. I have to say I am not willing to spend hundreds of dollars to level up covers on a 4 star to be competitive. Because at the release rate that is clearly what D3 intends for players to do. And yes this is free to play, so a cash shop is to be expected, but when the cash shop is a necessity to stay on top every week? Come on people. The only people winning multiple covers of these new releases fast enough to not need the cash shop are people who are very well established in game. And I say that having a good 55 slot roster myself. Yet my friends who are behind me cannot stomach the game because for them events just mean hitting ceilings, like 500 pts in pvp events, that they cannot pass. Stop squeezing your player base.

D3 said the 4* transistion will be much different than the 3*. You won't be able to level up all your 4*s, instead they intend to force you to choose characters that suit your play style and focus your iso on them. Pesronally I think this is a good change. It ensures that I will always have something to do in the game. I don't want the game to end.

Unknown

Cryptobrancus wrote:

Lerysh wrote:

Cryptobrancus wrote:

Lidolas wrote:

You don't have to be on the top. Play the game for fun, not to win. There will always be people who spend and/or play more than you.

There are ways to win 1st places with limited rosters. The brackets can still be gamed.

What if you are bored with the toys you have been playing with forever and just want to be able to play with something new and shiny, but you can't get the new and shiny to play with. How do you play for fun then?

Put up a maybe 70th place score and merc for a top 50 alliance? Or play the essential node for him that is inevitably coming in the next PvE over and over again to experience the Star Lord phenomena. Or win him in PvP instead? Or be one of the .5% of players that gets him in a token.

None of that sounds fun

Neither Elektra nor Thoress or even nick fury were released as rewards in pvp (besides getting 1st if i remember correctly) and they weren't progression rewards either. The only way to get covers is to compete in this pve or take your chances with a token that will give you a 2* (most often)