Pattern in D3 Business Model

peanut_gallery

So the last time we saw an HP & ISO sale of this magnitude was when they were just about to release an overpowered 4* (4hor) and had just nerfed a previously overpowered character (Sentry) that would completely change the way PvP (and perhaps PvE) was to be played. Looking at how many maxed 4hor's I saw right out of the gate, I'm guessing D3 sold a ton of HP to fund covers (and possibly even ISO).

We've had two more 4* released since then (Elektra and Starlord), both of whom are interesting, but nearly as powerful as 4hor (or xf).

Now we have the super sale again, coming right at the same time that a new overpowered 4* (Prof X) is being introduced with the simultaneous nerf of the current overpowered PvP character. I would expect a spike in cover sales this time as well for Prof X as everyone scrambles to max the new overpowered character that will dominate PvP along side xf.

Is this the new strategy to boost quarterly income for D3? 3-4 months from now, are we going to see a nerf of Prof X (or xf) with the introduction to a new overpowered character and another HP super sale?

_RiO_

I'd say this is extremely likely.

dkffiv

peanut_gallery wrote:

So the last time we saw an HP & ISO sale of this magnitude was when they were just about to release an overpowered 4* (4hor) and had just nerfed a previously overpowered character (Sentry) that would completely change the way PvP (and perhaps PvE) was to be played. Looking at how many maxed 4hor's I saw right out of the gate, I'm guessing D3 sold a ton of HP to fund covers (and possibly even ISO).

We've had two more 4* released since then (Elektra and Starlord), both of whom are interesting, but nearly as powerful as 4hor (or xf).

Now we have the super sale again, coming right at the same time that a new overpowered 4* (Prof X) is being introduced with the simultaneous nerf of the current overpowered PvP character. I would expect a spike in cover sales this time as well for Prof X as everyone scrambles to max the new overpowered character that will dominate PvP along side xf.

Is this the new strategy to boost quarterly income for D3? 3-4 months from now, are we going to see a nerf of Prof X (or xf) with the introduction to a new overpowered character and another HP super sale?

Professor X best supports low AP-cost characters (there are currently no 4* that fit that bill) and will not be fast enough to compete in PvP. Thematically he should be legendary but realistically he should be 2* or 3* to make him more accessible to the people who need him.

rednailz

dkffiv wrote:

peanut_gallery wrote:

So the last time we saw an HP & ISO sale of this magnitude was when they were just about to release an overpowered 4* (4hor) and had just nerfed a previously overpowered character (Sentry) that would completely change the way PvP (and perhaps PvE) was to be played. Looking at how many maxed 4hor's I saw right out of the gate, I'm guessing D3 sold a ton of HP to fund covers (and possibly even ISO).

We've had two more 4* released since then (Elektra and Starlord), both of whom are interesting, but nearly as powerful as 4hor (or xf).

Now we have the super sale again, coming right at the same time that a new overpowered 4* (Prof X) is being introduced with the simultaneous nerf of the current overpowered PvP character. I would expect a spike in cover sales this time as well for Prof X as everyone scrambles to max the new overpowered character that will dominate PvP along side xf.

Is this the new strategy to boost quarterly income for D3? 3-4 months from now, are we going to see a nerf of Prof X (or xf) with the introduction to a new overpowered character and another HP super sale?

Professor X best supports low AP-cost characters (there are currently no 4* that fit that bill) and will not be fast enough to compete in PvP. Thematically he should be legendary but realistically he should be 2* or 3* to make him more accessible to the people who need him.

By that logic everyone should be a 2* or 3* to make them more accessible to everyone, and every token should be a gold reward.

NorthernPolarity

This feels like one of those off base conspiracy theories to me for one simple reason: Professor X is terrible in PvP. You can figure this out by looking at the character: blue is his only ability that would be great for high level PvP, but there aren't any top tier enablers for it, so he's not going to see play except in maybe GSBW's PvP. I mean I wouldn't fault you for describing Demiurge as incompetent, but one thing I do take issue with is spinning everything into them trying to cash grab. If this was really true, then the recently strings of 4*s would actually be PvP playable, as opposed to what the reality actually is. The sale is probably a cash grab in the sense that they want a revenue boost, but the releases of the new 4*s are completely unrelated.

peanut_gallery

I suppose I could have potentially jumped the gun in calling Prof X as overpowered in PvP. He certainly appeared that way to me on paper (or on the screen, rather), but I guess the proof will be in playing against those teams with a maxed Prox X post 4hor nerf.

rednailz

NorthernPolarity wrote:

This feels like one of those off base conspiracy theories to me for one simple reason: Professor X is terrible in PvP. You can figure this out by looking at the character: blue is his only ability that would be great for high level PvP, but there aren't any top tier enablers for it, so he's not going to see play except in maybe GSBW's PvP. I mean I wouldn't fault you for describing Demiurge as incompetent, but one thing I do take issue with is spinning everything into them trying to cash grab. If this was really true, then the recently strings of 4*s would actually be PvP playable, as opposed to what the reality actually is. The sale is probably a cash grab in the sense that they want a revenue boost, but the releases of the new 4*s are completely unrelated.

I may have Monday brain and feel foolish for asking, but why do you say that his blue is only good for GSBW? You can average 1 - 3 match 5 plus per game, and with say SS going off it could cause some match 5's no? I get that it's a gamble unless you have GSBW to garuntee a match 5. I wouldn't say he'd be very strong on D at all, but I could see myself using him in PvP/

NorthernPolarity

rednailz wrote:

NorthernPolarity wrote:

This feels like one of those off base conspiracy theories to me for one simple reason: Professor X is terrible in PvP. You can figure this out by looking at the character: blue is his only ability that would be great for high level PvP, but there aren't any top tier enablers for it, so he's not going to see play except in maybe GSBW's PvP. I mean I wouldn't fault you for describing Demiurge as incompetent, but one thing I do take issue with is spinning everything into them trying to cash grab. If this was really true, then the recently strings of 4*s would actually be PvP playable, as opposed to what the reality actually is. The sale is probably a cash grab in the sense that they want a revenue boost, but the releases of the new 4*s are completely unrelated.

I may have Monday brain and feel foolish for asking, but why do you say that his blue is only good for GSBW? You can average 1 - 3 match 5 plus per game, and with say SS going off it could cause some match 5's no? I get that it's a gamble unless you have GSBW to garuntee a match 5. I wouldn't say he'd be very strong on D at all, but I could see myself using him in PvP/

There's a couple of things that make me think he's a dud.
1. Once 4or is nerfed X-Force is king of the meta. X-Force just by nature doesn't play well with special tile based characters, meaning that Prof's purple is not going to get much value. His yellow always is a nice bonus, but its not going to be game changing.
2. Opportunity cost of bringing Prof onto the team. Since we know that Prof's purple is going to not do much with X-Force around, the entirely of your teams active skills is X-Force + Featured. If the featured is slow or has passive abilities too (such as Daken), then you just aren't going to be using a lot of abilities.

Prof might be good if X-Force and featured covers the majority of the colors so you can get the most of his colors or if you can consistently get his blue off, but I think he won't be good in a majority of PvPs.

And yeah, you CAN bank on getting natural match-5s or match-5 cascades, but would you rather have an inconsistent ability that relies on a non-trivial amount of luck (with this ability being the best prof has to offer), or would you rather have, say, IF who does a guaranteed 5k damage off his passive and has a broken purple, which largely does not rely on luck? 4or seems a lot better in most PvPs just because at least I know she'll impact the game meaningfully and consistently.

Unknown

NorthernPolarity wrote:

get his blue off

Huh huh. Dirty.

rednailz

NorthernPolarity wrote:

rednailz wrote:

NorthernPolarity wrote:

This feels like one of those off base conspiracy theories to me for one simple reason: Professor X is terrible in PvP. You can figure this out by looking at the character: blue is his only ability that would be great for high level PvP, but there aren't any top tier enablers for it, so he's not going to see play except in maybe GSBW's PvP. I mean I wouldn't fault you for describing Demiurge as incompetent, but one thing I do take issue with is spinning everything into them trying to cash grab. If this was really true, then the recently strings of 4*s would actually be PvP playable, as opposed to what the reality actually is. The sale is probably a cash grab in the sense that they want a revenue boost, but the releases of the new 4*s are completely unrelated.

I may have Monday brain and feel foolish for asking, but why do you say that his blue is only good for GSBW? You can average 1 - 3 match 5 plus per game, and with say SS going off it could cause some match 5's no? I get that it's a gamble unless you have GSBW to garuntee a match 5. I wouldn't say he'd be very strong on D at all, but I could see myself using him in PvP/

There's a couple of things that make me think he's a dud.
1. Once 4or is nerfed X-Force is king of the meta. X-Force just by nature doesn't play well with special tile based characters, meaning that Prof's purple is not going to get much value. His yellow always is a nice bonus, but its not going to be game changing.
2. Opportunity cost of bringing Prof onto the team. Since we know that Prof's purple is going to not do much with X-Force around, the entirely of your teams active skills is X-Force + Featured. If the featured is slow or has passive abilities too (such as Daken), then you just aren't going to be using a lot of abilities.

Prof might be good if X-Force and featured covers the majority of the colors so you can get the most of his colors or if you can consistently get his blue off, but I think he won't be good in a majority of PvPs.

And yeah, you CAN bank on getting natural match-5s or match-5 cascades, but would you rather have an inconsistent ability that relies on a non-trivial amount of luck (with this ability being the best prof has to offer), or would you rather have, say, IF who does a guaranteed 5k damage off his passive and has a broken purple, which largely does not rely on luck? 4or seems a lot better in most PvPs just because at least I know she'll impact the game meaningfully and consistently.

yeah....all very valid points when put out there in the open. hey, he'll be a beast for climbing in pvp....I guess...sorta.

well, my shard just ended for pve so I wil now anticlimaticly open my first Meh charles cover to nestle in tehre with SL and Electra....at least charles will have some use, and is still cool. Electra on the other hand...