Progressing characters by using them

cletus1985

So one of the big debate topics is keeping up with all the covers while introducing so many new characters, which is a legitimate concern.

There's been many suggestions on how to fix this problem, some are realistic and fairly simple (add more non-competitive content i.e. ddq, gauntlet, etc.) and others would require a total rework of the system (in other words "not really practical"). I won't even get into cover trading and the problems that could bring.

I had a thought that would be a fairly simple implementation that would encourage roster diversity, add a little more strategy, and help to progress your characters simply by playing with them.

TLDR; HERE"S THE IDEA:

Every time a character kills an opponent (either by matching their tile or their ability) they are rewarded one KILL COUNTER and when they reach "X" number of counters you can cash them in for a cover of your choice. "X" would be a high number, perhaps 2x the number of HP it takes to buy a cover?, and it would have to exclude the prologue (as anyone can wipe out lvl. 2 goons infinite times).

I think this would bring a nice feeling of progression as you play and it would bring some "much needed" love to those undercovered heroes collecting dust. Also it would change your strategy in certain situations as you try to off an opponent with "character x" to earn that counter for them. It would be a nice progression award to those of us who spend too much time MPQ'ing, and it couldn't be exploited too horribly as some matches simply require your A-Team to pull out the win.

Thoughts and feedback? Would this help in the transition without D3 giving up too much?

over_clocked

I like this idea! But remember, no one 'kills' anyone in MPQ. That will have to be a 'downed' (KO?) counter

firethorne

I think it would work if you gave everyone on the team credit. Some characters are useful, but not as damage dealers. I use OBW all the time for AP steal and heal. You need to have some way to reward support characters, not just nukes.

cletus1985

firethorne wrote:

I think it would work if you gave everyone on the team credit. Some characters are useful, but not as damage dealers. I use OBW all the time for AP steal and heal. You need to have some way to reward support characters, not just nukes.

That's where the strategy would come in, getting an enemy down low enough to off them with tile matching. Most of your undercovered, lower level characters don't have enough to really nuke anyone anyway. They have to be brought down to a level that the character can either match them away or hit them with a small ability to take them out.

firethorne

I much prefer the current Iso system to one where I'd be afraid of accidentally winning a match with the wrong guy or purposely not taking out opponents I could easily beat with a damage dealer so a healer can get experience.

Unknown

firethorne wrote:

I much prefer the current Iso system to one where I'd be afraid of accidentally winning a match with the wrong guy or purposely not taking out opponents I could easily beat with a damage dealer so a healer can get experience.

Just turn it into XP instead of KOs, you get XP for using abilities, healing, etc. as well as the damage you inflict. This isn't a new idea, it has been suggested before, I don't think this is something the devs have as an item to develop.

cletus1985

I'm pretty sure my meaning got lost in translation somewhere. I'm not suggesting replacing anything in the game right now, just a supplement to it. A little reward system that would allow you to earn a cover by using characters that otherwise get left on the bench because they aren't good enough to warrant a roster spot. Once again it's simply a supplement and you're not going to be gaining it in tough matchups where you have to use your A-Team (Most likely already fully covered) to pull off the win.

A very slow process that simply allows you to gain a cover every couple of months for a character that the RNG gods have denied you. OBW isn't much of a concern as she's a 2 and that transition shouldn't take long anyways at the rate their covers are given out. The only really tough ones could be Spidey and IW, but it's not that uncommon to tile match an opponent away at the end, so it's not anywhere close to impossible.

DaveR4470

Just want to note that there's already a mechanic a lot like this in the game -- Deadpool points -- so it's obviously not something that's 100% impossible to do from a technical standpoint.

So you could have something like Deapool points that you earn via winning matchups, and that you can spend to buy covers or such instead of buying super-large whales.*

*Although super-large whales are still pretty cool.

Unknown

DaveR4470 wrote:

Just want to note that there's already a mechanic a lot like this in the game -- Deadpool points -- so it's obviously not something that's 100% impossible to do from a technical standpoint.

So you could have something like Deapool points that you earn via winning matchups, and that you can spend to buy covers or such instead of buying super-large whales.*

*Although super-large whales are still pretty cool.

Actually these Deadpool points make me play a fight with Deadpool once a day even though he's not leveled at all so far. And I'd like to see more features like that that would encourage me to use more benched characters. And make it the same as DP points to be awarded only once a day. That would make it getting covers this way a long haul like a cover in a couple months. But anyway it would motivate to use benched characters and have a hope to make them playable at some point.

Edit: you can even make progressively harder to get every next cover. For example have about 100 points awarded daily. Make second cover (you have to have at least 1 cover already) cost 2000 that would make it about 20 days to earn and increase by 1000 for each next one. That would make 13th cover to cost 13000 or about 4 and a half month wait. Making a fully covered character this way from scratch would take about 1.5 years. So it wouldn't make it trivial to progress. But as a way to complement it to other means of getting covers it is at least a decent motivation.