Time to See how it Plays

Colognoisseur

It has been a helluva month for MPQ. There have been so many changes it is hard to keep up. I think I realized I don't really know whether all of this change is good or bad.
What I have definitely realized is it doesn't matter what I think. The developers have set the short-term game plan into motion. It is time to play with all of the changes in place and see what i think.
At this point I am going to enjoy the rest of this week and on Friday when all of the character changes hit I will spend the rest of this season seeing whether I still enjoy the game.
There is no alternative the development team has made a decision and you live with it or you leave.
The changes to PvP and the back-to-back-to-back PvE has seen me playing less.
Once the changes hit I'll either continue to disengage or I'll get my second wind.
I think the community has discussed all of this from every perspective and now we just need to let it happen and hopefully be pleasantly surprised.
I am hopeful that all of this doesn't seem as bad for me as it seems and the development team is right that it will result in a bunch of satisfied new players.
By the end of May it will be pretty clear how this all played out.
Now I'm just gonna go match some gems and try and enjoy the game as it evolves.

Vladdy

I hope too...

I enjoyed reading this after all the negative criticism. Thank you, Colog

babinro

It's an exciting and frustrating/scary time to be an MPQ player.

Character balance changes, health changes and MMR changes are essentially turning this game into MPQ 1.5. Things will play very differently and if any of our prior shifts were any indication (Environmental tiles to TU's for example) there will be a long phase where implementation needs to be further tweaked and improved upon before the experience feels solid. Heck, we've already experienced this with the MMR change which has probably not seen it's final iteration.

Maybe I'm being overly pessimistic/assumptive, but I have almost no hope that you'll enjoy the game during this already shaky transition period. You'd be FAR better off doing a game play 'test' 2 months from now when the dust has settled and there's some polish.

Just my two cents on the matter.

GrumpySmurf1002

Character changes are what they are, like all before it, players will adapt and evolve who their A-teams are. Remember the 4Thor nerf that doomed her to Sentry-tier for all eternity? The constant stream of players still using her in PvP sure don't.

That said, I can't see how players adjust to this MMR change. Seems like everyone is reporting it's miserable, scores are way down outside of the handful that can outspend any change, and PvP morale seems to be at an all-time low.

Current top 10 in Blind Justice has 14149 - in the Kamala event (with old MMR), my alliance placed 78th with 15319.

Worst of the experience for me isn't even the opponents, I'll fight the 270 twins all day, don't care about that. It's knowing that the second I cross 500/550 points that there's an army of attacks coming in, and there's nothing I can do about it.

If they come in with another round of progression changes, then it might be manageable, but I'm not optimistic.

SnowcaTT

Colognoisseur wrote:

It has been a helluva month for MPQ.

Season 13. Coincidence?

I agree, I'm waiting to see how it looks and feels before I decide what to do next.

My concern is always if many of the vets (and/or whales) leave suddenly, there really isn't anything D3 can do to call them back. Big changes back-to-back (to-back....) Say D3 decides "whoops, to many stopped paying/playing, time to revert those changes" - it's to late! Folks are gone, you can't tell them anymore that you "fixed" it!

Square

GrumpySmurf1002 wrote:

Character changes are what they are, like all before it, players will adapt and evolve who their A-teams are. Remember the 4Thor nerf that doomed her to Sentry-tier for all eternity? The constant stream of players still using her in PvP sure don't.

So true! I thought it was a big nerf, but always thought she was playable. I only got her final blue cover a PVP or two back. But, I actually got down voted for saying she would still be playable a few months back. Someone's torch and pitchfork was just too at the ready. Anyway, the top tier in Blind Justice (over 1000 points) was pretty much just XF/4hor, and a Prof X or two.

She'll be even more important with all the health buffs. She is great for long fights. Stoke things up and keep getting an advantage in her colours, especially on offence.

That said, I do expect the XF sightings to be drastically reduced. He still deals lots of damage on black, and heals, but he'll no longer be a must-have.

tanis3303

What worries me is this: xforce is going to drop off the radar, that's not really a question. But in his place, you're gonna see a whole gaggle of fury and/or prof x, so how long do we have before they get the axe too? With the seemingly never ending string if nerfs to what is the current "best" character, it just doesn't feel safe to level anyone up these days, especially 4*s. I agree with y'all, the best thing to do is wait and see where we're headed, but I see my competitive play dropping off steeply after this season ends...when all modes are a health pack draining slog and anyone that gives you an edge gets pummeled with the nerf bat, it makes running in the ole hamster wheel seem kinda pointless...

limonade

SnowcaTT wrote:

Colognoisseur wrote:

It has been a helluva month for MPQ.

Season 13. Coincidence?

I agree, I'm waiting to see how it looks and feels before I decide what to do next.

My concern is always if many of the vets (and/or whales) leave suddenly, there really isn't anything D3 can do to call them back. Big changes back-to-back (to-back....) Say D3 decides "whoops, to many stopped paying/playing, time to revert those changes" - it's to late! Folks are gone, you can't tell them anymore that you "fixed" it!

True.

Yet, the core of the game, for me, is collecting all the characters.

I'm a collector, what can I say? I'm not really in it for the competition or the fame (if there's any)... because, quite frankly, this kind of competition sucks! With constantly changing stats of certain characters all for the sake of "balance" (if there is such a thing in an imaginary world all full of superheroes) there's no solid footing for this game to be taken seriously. It's all being made up as it goes along really.

To me this game, now in days, is more like Magic: The Gathering mixed with Puzzle Quest with healthy serving of Marvel's IP. And while some can get into it, I on the other hand, have always collected comic books (My favorites are Daredevil, Wolverine, and Spider-man) and to a certain extent comic cards (I have nearly all of the Spider-man trading cards from the early 90s*) And I remember kids in the hey-day of Magic: The Gathering would spend money simply because they wanted their own complete collection. So I play it accordingly here, on MPQ, as well.

So I play the PvPs and PvEs just for the characters, the spaces to put them in, and nothing else. Trying hard to be #1 on MPQ is pretty much a waste of Time, Sweat, and Tears. Yet, I'm here... aware that stats'll change... that $99 for a single bulk item is bull (seriously, learn to market to your strength!^)... and that the game play mechanics are still being made up as they go...

And yet... I'm here collecting these damn characters. Just because I have nothing better to do with my time. Hahahaha.

*My collection is not complete as of yet, so I'm still searching for the hologram cards and others to complete my set.
^ISO's of less than 100,000 ARE NOT worth $99. It can be done within a 2 week period and spent in less than a day. Add more incentives! Maybe combine both the same amount of ISOs and Hero Points for $99. Or put Gold Card Packs directly up for Sale! Don't be LAZY!

SnowcaTT

tanis3303 wrote:

What worries me is this: xforce is going to drop off the radar, that's not really a question. But in his place, you're gonna see a whole gaggle of fury and/or prof x, so how long do we have before they get the axe too? With the seemingly never ending string if nerfs to what is the current "best" character, it just doesn't feel safe to level anyone up these days, especially 4*s. I agree with y'all, the best thing to do is wait and see where we're headed, but I see my competitive play dropping off steeply after this season ends...when all modes are a health pack draining slog and anyone that gives you an edge gets pummeled with the nerf bat, it makes running in the ole hamster wheel seem kinda pointless...

We were joking in-game chat today that folks should be in forums already clamoring for PX/KP nerfs.

I really don't see how anyone can justify spending on 4*'s anymore. I held off getting anyone to see what they would do with GT, they showed with GT you shouldn't trust them to get XF, and now they've shown any good 4* won't be great that long. It should be really hard for anyone to be surprised - or demand refunds - for any character that "shockingly" gets nerfed in the future.