What if players get free PvP points in proportion to MMR?

Unknown

I have a maxed 2 star roster and the MMR changes have made PvP more fun for me. The game now presents me with matches that are much closer to what my roster can realistically handle, point value of matches are higher on average, and there is far less skipping necessary to find a winnable battle. I can still hit the 300 and 400 points progression rewards I was aiming for before, and I still have no hope of placing high enough to earn a 3 star cover in a normal bracket, but I can live with that because tokens can still help me jump start any 3 star character once they enter the DDQ rotation, and iso-8 rewards in PvP are better than before.

Clearly my experience will not be representative of someone with a 3 or 4 star roster. If the new system is always matching up 3 and 4 star players with teams around their level, then the climb to a point total of say, 800 points, would be substantially longer and more challenging than my climb to 400 points. The old system alleviated this problem, perhaps by accident, by continuously feeding 2 star teams to players with well developed 3 and 4 star rosters until they were half way to the top, which quickened the journey and made things more bearable.

Without low level teams to feed upon, the PvP experience for veteran players will suffer because the costs and rewards for their participation will be out of balance, and that is not the proper way to run a good Skinner box. To help make up for the removal of easy feeder teams, why not give players some free points in PvP in proportion to their MMR? For example:

• Maxed 4 star roster starts with 300 points and skip seed teams.
• Maxed 3 star roster starts with 200 points and skip seed teams.
• Maxed 2 star roster starts with 100 points and skip seed teams.
• 1 star and mid level 2 star teams start with 0 points and face seed teams.

The actual point values rewarded can be adjusted of course, and there should ideally be a continuous spread of point rewards rather than some arbitrary break points. If there is concern that high level players will be able to earn progression and placement rewards without any effort, then these free points could go into a bonus pool instead, and then be doled out to players as they win matches normally (e.g. max 4 star roster receives 300 bonus points, which increase PvP point earnings by 100% until they are consumed).

Retaining the interest of veteran players is good for the health of the game. There is no reason to tire them out during the PvP climb since you need enough people at the top to drive up competition and the demand for shields. Sending lower level players to the top is unlikely to generate as much revenue anyway since they will likely be saving up their HP for those expensive roster slots. More good will among the player base will also help the game survive long term. Personally, I think MPQ is by far the best match-3 game on the market right now, but you wouldn't be able to tell that looking at reviews on the internet thanks to all the vitriol left by players that rage quit for one reason or another.

So free PvP points based on MMR. Yay or nay?

slidecage

nice idea but wont work, people will say it gives people an unfair point lead in season totals

if you have one max 4 star that means you would be given 3000 pts free for season (almost a free 10 pack) for doing nothing

Unknown

slidecage wrote:

nice idea but wont work, people will say it gives people an unfair point lead in season totals

if you have one max 4 star that means you would be given 3000 pts free for season (almost a free 10 pack) for doing nothing

I thought I preempted this already, but let me repeat it again: values can be adjusted, and the points can go into a bonus pool so people still have to play to earn them. In any case, giving someone with a maxed 4 star roster a free 10 pack each season is not such a bad thing, considering that the odds of them receiving anything useful from that are quite low.

Bowgentle

slidecage wrote:

nice idea but wont work, people will say it gives people an unfair point lead in season totals

if you have one max 4 star that means you would be given 3000 pts free for season (almost a free 10 pack) for doing nothing

You really think someone with maxed 4*s has trouble hitting 3000 points for the season?

Flare808

Don't mean to go off track, but I had a similar idea that was based off the previous pvp score instead of MMR. It's not perfect, but an alternative plan.

What if vets just started at a higher point total based on previous performance? If you scored 1,200 points in the last PvP, your points would decay 75% to 300. That is the total you would start with for the next PvP. You skip demolishing some easy rosters and get to save some time. Win-win for the newbies and vets. You could adjust the decay rate if 75% is too much or too little. The glass ceiling for PvP now rests around 2,000 points as shown by the Crew/X-Men. That would make the maximum starting point total around 500. Anyone who can get to 2,000 has no problems getting to 500. Some might complain that it's unfair to start at 500, but those points would have been earned anyway- at least we save a few lower end players lost points by starting vets higher.

As with OPs suggestion, the numbers could be tweaked and capped to prevent abuse (30%, 40%, 50% carryover with 300/ 400/500 cap) etc.) Some benefits of this are that it's linked directly to performance and it will increase the amount of points in the system, something that would help people earn progressions with how tough attaining a high score is now.

Unknown

I wanted to this to happen a while back.

For the longest time, the grind to 600 was just a time consuming romping of level 94 rosters.

I always thought "Why do I have to do this ridiculous climb every single PVP, when 600 is a base line that I'll never fall below?"

Then they went and ruined the match making system, so the grind to 600 isn't so automatic anymore.

D3 wants no one to ever feel like they are not grinding this game.

esoxnepa

Vynyv wrote:

So free PvP points based on MMR. Yay or nay?

I do think there should be extra points injected early for advanced rosters. I had suggested doing it for harder, but increased value seed teams.

Where everyone starts from 0 points, all players get 3 seed teams, and seed teams offered are based on your MMR.

So a seed team of 3x270 might start you off with 200 points if you beat it. So there is some, minor, risk reward balance to the start.

MMR should be performance based, and there should be a reward for working to keep your MMR as high as you can.

By offering these carrots, it keep the serious hardcore players wanting to seek out other serious players, and lets the casuals and new players avoid being chum.

Edit: Here was my rage post with a few other carrots to encourage advanced rosters and players to not want to hit weak players: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=27002

Cymmina

I think everyone agrees that *something* should be done, I don't think that "free" is the way to go.

I made a suggestion to increase the value of seed teams depending on your performance against them. Apparently, I posted it in the "wrong" forum (suggestions) where no one reads anything.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=27278

slidecage

Bowgentle wrote:

slidecage wrote:

nice idea but wont work, people will say it gives people an unfair point lead in season totals

if you have one max 4 star that means you would be given 3000 pts free for season (almost a free 10 pack) for doing nothing

You really think someone with maxed 4*s has trouble hitting 3000 points for the season?

never said they had a problem getting it, saying people would **** saying they have to play all of these hours whle they are mostly just given it

TxMoose

I actually like the seed teams, especially if you start early where you get a whole string of them. the reason I like them is for the iso - after you start your transition to where you're placing t100, iso is gold and I would choose to not start at 150 or 200 because I would prefer the ~10 matches and the ~1000 iso that comes with it. if the pts came with some iso, I'm all in but that would never happen. I also like to experiment with my C, D, and E teams against them just to see how characters work together.

simonsez

That'd be awesome, and it would also be completely inconsistent with EVERYTHING the devs have done lately to grease the wheels for new players.

We have to realize that any new gameplay idea we have must first pass through the filter of "Does this change help vets more than new players?" If the answer is "yes", scrap it, because it ain't happening.

PeterGibbons316

I like the concept, but I think it would be better if it were based on your performance in the previous PvP. Maybe you start with half or a third or fourth the points you had the previous event? But you have to actually enter the event and fight one battle (so you have a defense set up and can be attacked). I consistently hit 600 and the first 300 are usually pretty tedious and boring. I usually try to find some 40 pt teams that are mildly challenging to speed up the process, but for the most part there is no risk of me losing (even on defense usually) until I hit 3-400 pts.

The biggest complaint I see would be against people that join a fresh bracket with less than 1-2 hours before an event ends and get a 300 pt head start.