3* to 4* Transition is the end of me

ShanePHallam

I really love MPQ. I think it is engaging and fun with different powers and strategies. I think the developers have done a better job than credit given sometimes in creating the characters & abilities while coming up with new and creative ways to do it. There really has been a lot of fun creativity with possibilities that were created and a lot of various synergy.

I've played every day for almost a year. I've been in a dedicated top 50-100 alliance (Earth 270, they have been great tome,) for months now where I generally lag behind in PVP and have had some good PVE moments to help them. I've put about $50 into the game (well worth it,) for HP to roster slots. I have a number of maxed 3*s and I'm pretty close on most others. I have a solid X-Force. With a little effort, I can get top 100 in any event.

Basically, I'm about to move into a 4* transition and it is too daunting. The odds of being high enough in PVE to get a 4* cover is slim and when I've been close, I've been overtaken by people willing to spend more on HP for health packs, etc, than me. In PVP, I'm just too frugal and don't have the big chunks of time to coordinate and hop, etc. With matches taking longer, retaliations and attacks in PVP being constant, making it to 1000 is a pipe dream without a big time investment that wears me down mentally just thinking about it. And with PVP matches especially taking longer and more time, I can't even get to a suitable spot without more time investment then is worth it to get a repeat cover I already have.

Without a viable way to get 4*s, I just don't have that dopamine rush of achievement that is worth the effort. I've pulled back and I'm done. Even for the new 3* cover in Vision, I am meh. It won't help me any in the long run to get him and max him. I'm at a blockade where 1 4* cover a season from the alliance and the occasional new 4* cover event won't help get me closer until years later.

Maybe I'm stupid or people will criticize me, but I'm going to head to a casual alliance, play sparingly when I feel like it or when there is a new, fun, event unless something changes and I wanted to share my opinion.

The game is great, even with its issues. But I'm worn out and the mountain ahead is too big to feel like I'll ever have any success at achieving it.

GrumpySmurf1002

I don't really have an argument, but as others have said already, the weekly rotation of buffed 3* characters makes the 4* transition wholly unnecessary.

I forget the exact number this second, but between season/progression/daily rewards/tokens, I think I've added ~50 4* covers, or about 10 a month. So about 6 per character, on average. I'm ok with that rate (again, because 3* are more usable overall). Compared to that blog article that circulated about how fast the 4* transition should be, however, it seems like a laughably few amount.

Malcrof

ShanePHallam wrote:

The game is great, even with its issues. But I'm worn out and the mountain ahead is too big to feel like I'll ever have any success at achieving it.

There is no penalty for taking a break.. in fact, i think there is an incentive when you come back.. keep your eyes on the forum from time to time.. i have a feeling they will be paying more attention to 4*'s soon.. hence all the balancing, re-balancing, fun-balancing, oops i fell over because i was off balancing, etc...

SnowcaTT

About the time they released their 5th 4* and didn't raise token drop rates or any other way to get them (outside of being the elite of the elite in either PVP or PVE), I simply shrugged and figured 3* land was my end-game.

Since then the drop rate and availability hasn't grown, while the number of 4*'s has grown a ton. I suggested months ago running two-week seasons so at least folks could get one every other week rather than one every four weeks; at their current rate people can't even get all the different covers to buy more if they wanted to. I've also posted the pointless daily rewards: they keep inserting 3* in 400+ day rotations, when it should be nothing but 4*'s after that (how many people do you think are going to play this game for one and a half years to get these rewards?!?). And everyone has pointed out that if any 4* gets to be great, it is immediately nerfed.

As GrumpySmurf mentions - now that so many 3*'s are boosted, I don't even mind being in 3* land, it isn't that much of a detriment.

With no way to get 4*'s (drop/reward rate), no way to keep them/level them if you get them (sparse resources), and no reason to level the good ones (nerfs): the way I've kept my sanity in this game is giving up on 4*'s, recognizing them as trophy rewards.

Unknown

Don't sweat the 4 stars. By the time the dev's sort them out and they are actually a proper step above 3*'s, you'll either have moved to another game or have iso to spare to level them/buy boosts and go after the covers.

ShanePHallam

Thank you for the comments. I think you are all are correct, though accepting 3*s as my end game doesn't give me that dopamine rush these F2P games are based on since I feel like I've "gotten" there. Maybe I'm just greedy, but it has been fun to have a clear goal and go after it.

Thanks Malcrof. I'll keep an eye out and play casually, but figured it couldn't hurt to share my situation. Thanks for taking the time and reading everyone.

GrumpySmurf1002

ShanePHallam wrote:

Thank you for the comments. I think you are all are correct, though accepting 3*s as my end game doesn't give me that dopamine rush these F2P games are based on since I feel like I've "gotten" there. Maybe I'm just greedy, but it has been fun to have a clear goal and go after it.

I guess to piggyback my first comment, while I'm fine competing without them, I still find a lot of entertainment from the quest to hit 1k in PvP. Before the MMR change, I was able to do it semi-consistently, and that helped. Now I've only hit it a couple times, but that challenge is still a motivator. Even if the reward may not get used any time soon.

I missed 4Thor in her glory, but there's still something gratifying about being close to finishing her now.

Lidolas

About 6 months ago I decided to go casual. It's been great. I've always liked PvE more than PvP, so I can play that whenever I want. I have a few alliances that I can join if I want to get the season reward. I was able to get HB and PX covers that way. I play when I want, for how long I want and for what rewards I want. Another benefit to being casual is your PvP brackets get a lot softer. I am able to get 1st place every 2-4 events if I want with fairly low scores because MMR still exists in bracket selection.

There are others ways to enjoy this game other than the competition. It's a fun match-3 with Marvel heroes. That'll keep me playing for quite some time.

Unknown

Don't bother. The difference between 3 & 4s isn't so great that its necessary. I have 4* on my roster, but with the XF nerf, and the ... underwhelming... strength of the other 4s (PX will get castrated - I think Kingpin will be end game for a bit), I think of them as 'badges' for playing the game a long time - something 'cute' I can pull out for laughs, like taking Devil Dinosaur and reskinning him 5 more times.
- Unreall