Thirteen suggestions for adding fun to the game
Nonce Equitaur 2
Posts: 2,269 Chairperson of the Boards
The Developers seem to be missing a crucial point in their Recent Changes post -- when all opponents are level 230 all the time, the game is no fun.
On the flip side, when all opponents are level 230, rote gameplay is the only way to win the battle. There are no longer fun mixtures of strategies and experimentation. Instead, there are set strategies for pulling off 12K + damage to the entire enemy team. Deviating from the rote play will get the party instantly killed by the overpowered opponents.
If the developers want to discourage rote play, there are many ways to do so.
1. Rare Team bonus. There are 4439 possible teams. Track their usage. If someone brings in a team that hasn't been used in 10 minutes or so, give them an automatic boost as an award. Currently, there is no incentive for trying something new.
2. Faster healing. It shouldn't take Hulk 8+ hours to recover from a single fight. Slow healing forces rote play.
3. Trophy hunt. There are 90 powers. Use a power, get a trophy, that's 90 trophies there. Survive a power, including Maggia/Hammer, there's a lot more. Get 15+ countdown tiles on board. Win a game without powers. Get 20+ strike tiles on the board. Win with one of 3500 rare teams.
4. Retreat options. Some teams have good board control. For example, those with Spiderman/Magneto, both about to be nerfed. When the Maggia are putting up 4 instant kill countdown tiles every round, board control is mandatory, and many characters can't help. That countdown tile in the corner might be impossible to match. Not puzzle skill, it's just bad luck. As an option to Retreat, offer an Inspiration option. 10% current party health give +1 to all countdown tiles. Offer a Suddenly... option. 20% current party health for a reshuffle. Offer a Logistics Failure option. 50% current party health, and enemy AP levels all get capped at 5 AP.
5. More frequent reshuffles. Often, the board becomes a Zugzwang trap. There is only one match. There will only be one match for the next 5 turns. If there are countdown timers, and a board controller isn't on the team, the game is lost. Trigger a reshuffle when the number of match choices drops under four.
6. Minor buffs to underused characters. It's been suggested that Captain America's Yellow is priced too high at 19AP. Try dropping it to 17, and see if that makes him more popular. With every major update, give out 3 minor buffs. Lower an AP cost by a point, add more hit points, increase the level of their criticals.
7. When a player uses a certain team and power combo a lot, have a "Counter-ops" icon come up for the subsequent enemy teams. (50% damage Green, 200% damage Black).
8. Buffs for teams much higher in the ranking ladder. If I'm at 100 points, there is no disincentive to attacking someone with 800 points. If their characters had a 200% buff against teams 400 points under them, then maybe I'd stay closer to my ranking. But if I did beat them, those points would be truly earned.
9. Make countdown tiles placeable. Modern Hawkeye relies on countdown tiles. Instead of placing them randomly, let the player pick a basic red or blue tile. Too often, the random choice appears within an easy match area, and they get wiped out.
10. More board control. Too many characters have powers that are completely random, and they are less popular because they have no useful role in a puzzle strategy game. For example, Punisher's Judgement skill. He can wipe out his own strike tiles. He's the only character whose animation uses an aiming scope, but his aim is terrible. Let the players pick that 3x3 block. When more characters can aid in controlling the board, the number of playable teams will greatly increase.
11. Don't buff overpowered characters. C. Storm and Ragnarok were known to be overpowered. They were put into events in a highly buffed state that made them even worse, even in the day before they got nerfed. Same with Thor and Wolverine. If there is a character that is overpowered, then stop buffing them, for any event. Do that for at least a month before considering a major nerf. Very likely, with that character staying normal while others are buffed, the overuse of that character will diminish.
12. When restricting characters, have clear goals. For Oscorp Heroic, meant to highlight Daredevil, characters like Spiderman were picked that do not work well with DD's trap-laying powers. Also, he's going to be a low-level character for most people. Forcing level 230 opponents, and including a lot maggia and hammer opponents that his traps cannot affect rather ruined any chance of Daredevil having a moment to shine.
13. More environments. The City environment is truly unloved in the current mode. How about replaying "Hot Dog Stand" with "Lane Change" -- does a reshuffle.
All of the above suggestions would add fun to the game. Currently, the plans seem to be:
1. Nerf Spiderman and Magneto.
2. Maybe raise opponents to level 230 permanently.
3. Charge more for any benefit.
The above changes won't add fun to the game. Instead, they will encourage the rotest of rote play. Forcing level 230 opponents at someone is like breaking a person's leg and forcing them to run a race with crutches. And then, mid-race, when it's noticed that the crutches are being used, taking them away. For fun! Now that he's crawling, throw more obstacles at them. For fun!
The Hulk and Ares events, with occasional high-level teams, those were fun. I could vary my team a lot more. Ares and Juggernaut were fearsome opponents, just like Ragnarok used to be at one time. But when everyone is high level, that forces the usage of a few select teams -- which forces rote play.
In other words, the Developers intended Recent Changes to lessen rote play. But the changes have instead caused the opposite effect. If they want more play diversity, I've suggested 13 possibilities.
D3PCS wrote:Being able to first turn bust out a few thousand damage, some Strike tiles, and 2-3 stuns for anyone surviving depending on team comp made anything but the most difficult battles simple and matters of rote gameplay, not something that takes advantage of the mutable strategy of the puzzle board.
On the flip side, when all opponents are level 230, rote gameplay is the only way to win the battle. There are no longer fun mixtures of strategies and experimentation. Instead, there are set strategies for pulling off 12K + damage to the entire enemy team. Deviating from the rote play will get the party instantly killed by the overpowered opponents.
If the developers want to discourage rote play, there are many ways to do so.
1. Rare Team bonus. There are 4439 possible teams. Track their usage. If someone brings in a team that hasn't been used in 10 minutes or so, give them an automatic boost as an award. Currently, there is no incentive for trying something new.
2. Faster healing. It shouldn't take Hulk 8+ hours to recover from a single fight. Slow healing forces rote play.
3. Trophy hunt. There are 90 powers. Use a power, get a trophy, that's 90 trophies there. Survive a power, including Maggia/Hammer, there's a lot more. Get 15+ countdown tiles on board. Win a game without powers. Get 20+ strike tiles on the board. Win with one of 3500 rare teams.
4. Retreat options. Some teams have good board control. For example, those with Spiderman/Magneto, both about to be nerfed. When the Maggia are putting up 4 instant kill countdown tiles every round, board control is mandatory, and many characters can't help. That countdown tile in the corner might be impossible to match. Not puzzle skill, it's just bad luck. As an option to Retreat, offer an Inspiration option. 10% current party health give +1 to all countdown tiles. Offer a Suddenly... option. 20% current party health for a reshuffle. Offer a Logistics Failure option. 50% current party health, and enemy AP levels all get capped at 5 AP.
5. More frequent reshuffles. Often, the board becomes a Zugzwang trap. There is only one match. There will only be one match for the next 5 turns. If there are countdown timers, and a board controller isn't on the team, the game is lost. Trigger a reshuffle when the number of match choices drops under four.
6. Minor buffs to underused characters. It's been suggested that Captain America's Yellow is priced too high at 19AP. Try dropping it to 17, and see if that makes him more popular. With every major update, give out 3 minor buffs. Lower an AP cost by a point, add more hit points, increase the level of their criticals.
7. When a player uses a certain team and power combo a lot, have a "Counter-ops" icon come up for the subsequent enemy teams. (50% damage Green, 200% damage Black).
8. Buffs for teams much higher in the ranking ladder. If I'm at 100 points, there is no disincentive to attacking someone with 800 points. If their characters had a 200% buff against teams 400 points under them, then maybe I'd stay closer to my ranking. But if I did beat them, those points would be truly earned.
9. Make countdown tiles placeable. Modern Hawkeye relies on countdown tiles. Instead of placing them randomly, let the player pick a basic red or blue tile. Too often, the random choice appears within an easy match area, and they get wiped out.
10. More board control. Too many characters have powers that are completely random, and they are less popular because they have no useful role in a puzzle strategy game. For example, Punisher's Judgement skill. He can wipe out his own strike tiles. He's the only character whose animation uses an aiming scope, but his aim is terrible. Let the players pick that 3x3 block. When more characters can aid in controlling the board, the number of playable teams will greatly increase.
11. Don't buff overpowered characters. C. Storm and Ragnarok were known to be overpowered. They were put into events in a highly buffed state that made them even worse, even in the day before they got nerfed. Same with Thor and Wolverine. If there is a character that is overpowered, then stop buffing them, for any event. Do that for at least a month before considering a major nerf. Very likely, with that character staying normal while others are buffed, the overuse of that character will diminish.
12. When restricting characters, have clear goals. For Oscorp Heroic, meant to highlight Daredevil, characters like Spiderman were picked that do not work well with DD's trap-laying powers. Also, he's going to be a low-level character for most people. Forcing level 230 opponents, and including a lot maggia and hammer opponents that his traps cannot affect rather ruined any chance of Daredevil having a moment to shine.
13. More environments. The City environment is truly unloved in the current mode. How about replaying "Hot Dog Stand" with "Lane Change" -- does a reshuffle.
All of the above suggestions would add fun to the game. Currently, the plans seem to be:
1. Nerf Spiderman and Magneto.
2. Maybe raise opponents to level 230 permanently.
3. Charge more for any benefit.
The above changes won't add fun to the game. Instead, they will encourage the rotest of rote play. Forcing level 230 opponents at someone is like breaking a person's leg and forcing them to run a race with crutches. And then, mid-race, when it's noticed that the crutches are being used, taking them away. For fun! Now that he's crawling, throw more obstacles at them. For fun!
The Hulk and Ares events, with occasional high-level teams, those were fun. I could vary my team a lot more. Ares and Juggernaut were fearsome opponents, just like Ragnarok used to be at one time. But when everyone is high level, that forces the usage of a few select teams -- which forces rote play.
In other words, the Developers intended Recent Changes to lessen rote play. But the changes have instead caused the opposite effect. If they want more play diversity, I've suggested 13 possibilities.
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Comments
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Good god I'm tired of hearing completely valid, organized arguments with valid and intelligent solutions, only to realize that the devs will never listen. Good job buddy, just wish your arguments weren't falling on deaf ears.0
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Typhon13 wrote:Good god I'm tired of hearing completely valid, organized arguments with valid and intelligent solutions, only to realize that the devs will never listen. Good job buddy, just wish your arguments weren't falling on deaf ears.
Not deaf. I posted this in the "Response to Recent Changes" thread.IceIX wrote:
Interesting suggestions....Nonce Equitaur 2 wrote:Snip above suggestions
I thought I should repost them in the suggestion area.0 -
Not deaf, just ignorant stubborn childish... Anyway thanks for trying.Nonce Equitaur 2 wrote:Typhon13 wrote:Good god I'm tired of hearing completely valid, organized arguments with valid and intelligent solutions, only to realize that the devs will never listen. Good job buddy, just wish your arguments weren't falling on deaf ears.
Not deaf. I posted this in the "Response to Recent Changes" thread.IceIX wrote:
Interesting suggestions....Nonce Equitaur 2 wrote:Snip above suggestions
I thought I should repost them in the suggestion area.0 -
What's rote playing?
Jeez, stop using terms no one knows.0 -
0
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Bugpop wrote:
+1
Even without google it's incredibly obvious what it means from the context he used it in.
At least to those of us that know how to read.0
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