Thugpatrol wrote: Demiurge_Will wrote: Control Shift can lead to some great stories (like that time Miles stole a Recovery Countdown from Wolverine (X-Force)), but it has a lot of drawbacks: It’s situational and complicated for a 2-star [...] And it adds development and testing effort to every power that uses a Countdown tile in a new way, creating bugs and taking time away from other features we could be developing. We fought to make it work for a long time because it can lead to cool moments, but ultimately a simpler, less expensive ability makes more sense for this character. I'm going to start by mirroring other people's sentiments regarding communication and transparency. As such I will take you at your word on your reasoning for these changes, and thank you for taking the time to express them here for us to digest and attempt to understand. Yes, Control Shift was an overcosted power that along with several others (Ballistic Salvo and Sentinel of Liberty say "Hi!") has long needed adjustment. As a 2* villain the implications of this power change are much more relevant in how it will be used against us (at ridiculously overscaled levels in PvE), and it is slightly disturbing that it is now arguably better than a 3* power (Settlement) and a 4* power (Double-Double Cross) that do similar things with far greater complications. Even so, taken at face value the changes are not unreasonable in and of themselves. That said, I find your comments that I've quoted above very concerning. The notion that a troublesome power, that while cool and different causes significant development issues, needs to be changed is not shocking. What is disturbing, however, is the trend of taking all the different and interesting powers out of the game for one reason or another. CMags' blue was deemed overpowered (rightfully so), but instead of tweaking it and keeping a similar feel to the character we got copy/paste Falcon/Storm replacements, killing what is fondly remembered by many (myself included) as one of the most fun characters to use. The X-Force rework was long in coming, and Surgical Strike was a really interesting power with a lot of moving parts that required some thought and preparation in how to use it optimally. When he was deemed too powerful, instead of a workaround that kept the interesting bits intact it was simplified and sent off to the land of the bland. Too many times powers and characters have been altered for what may (or may not) be sensible reasons in ways that oversimplify and detract from the enjoyment of what is supposed to be at least in part a puzzle game that rewards creativity and intelligent play. Okay, let's face it. Very few people really care about Moonstone or Control Shift. Everyone will adjust to facing her in PvE and the world will continue to spin on its axis. But you have sacrificed another power that was interesting and different. We can't have AP gathering from tile destruction now because of charged tiles. We can't have reasonably costed color swapping and tile manipulation because of Professor X. Now apparently we can't have countdown tile manipulation either because it causes too many back-end problems. Where does it end? If the only tools we're allowed to have moving forward with which to slog through thousands upon thousands of hit points per battle are direct damage abilities and throwing special tiles back and forth, it's not going to make for a very interesting game to play. Challenge yourself to find solutions that don't suck all the color and flavor out of the game for the sake of simplicity. Fight harder for those "cool moments". They're more important than you think.
Demiurge_Will wrote: Control Shift can lead to some great stories (like that time Miles stole a Recovery Countdown from Wolverine (X-Force)), but it has a lot of drawbacks: It’s situational and complicated for a 2-star [...] And it adds development and testing effort to every power that uses a Countdown tile in a new way, creating bugs and taking time away from other features we could be developing. We fought to make it work for a long time because it can lead to cool moments, but ultimately a simpler, less expensive ability makes more sense for this character.
Wobby wrote: Let's be fair. You have to bring a tile generator against high level Moonstone or Gravity Warp is a huge chunk of life taken off.
Buret0 wrote: wymtime wrote: On a side not anyone notice that Moonstone a 2* character at level 5 black is better than She-Hulks blue at level 5? She hulk buffs the 2 that she steals, but stealing 3 special tiles is actually more useful. I guess that depends on the quality of the tiles available. If you are talking about the third tile being a Sentry Sacrifice tile or a Hitman yellow tile, then you are right. If you are talking about one more Magneto protect tile from his, then the buff is going to certainly give you the edge.
wymtime wrote: On a side not anyone notice that Moonstone a 2* character at level 5 black is better than She-Hulks blue at level 5? She hulk buffs the 2 that she steals, but stealing 3 special tiles is actually more useful.
GunnerMcGrath wrote: TheOncomingStorm wrote: No comment. I just wanted to say thank you. You have no idea how much the communication is appreciated. Y'all don't be strangers. Feel free just to pop in the forum and just say hi sometime. After reading these forums for a few days I'm not surprised if the devs ignore them. There is a 50:1 Negative:Positive post ratio around here. Basically EVERY post and every reply is **** about what they don't like. Reading them makes me wonder why I even play the game if I'm going to get as jaded (and completely entitled) as those who have been playing for a year or more. I can't begin to imagine the damage to morale that would happen if the devs were more actively reading all the vitriol that's directed at them, especially since most of it presumes that every change someone dislikes was specifically designed to completely screw them over.
TheOncomingStorm wrote: No comment. I just wanted to say thank you. You have no idea how much the communication is appreciated. Y'all don't be strangers. Feel free just to pop in the forum and just say hi sometime.
Lidolas wrote: TLCstormz wrote: 2. If you all could STOP releasing new characters so often and work on our existing ones that will help us and NOT harm us (Moonstone and Bullseye do not fall into that category, nor does nerfing 1*s or 2*s, buffing Spidey, Mohawk, GSBW, and Punisher does (but more effectively than Ock and Beast, pls)), that would also be greatly appreciated. We are in our 2nd PvE in a row without a new character release, and this one, Hulk, is a 7 day event. I like the break and I hope they are using the time wisely.
TLCstormz wrote: 2. If you all could STOP releasing new characters so often and work on our existing ones that will help us and NOT harm us (Moonstone and Bullseye do not fall into that category, nor does nerfing 1*s or 2*s, buffing Spidey, Mohawk, GSBW, and Punisher does (but more effectively than Ock and Beast, pls)), that would also be greatly appreciated.
Demiurge_Will wrote: virtually no one has invested Hero Points to upgrade Moonstone's powers.
Demiurge_Will wrote: To refresh your memory, Control Shift steals an enemy Countdown tile and stuns the enemy if there are none. Upgrades increase the stun and can shorten the Countdown.
Demiurge_Will wrote: ...it [Moonstone's CD manipulation] adds development and testing effort to every power that uses a Countdown tile in a new way, creating bugs and taking time away from other features we could be developing.
Thugpatrol wrote: Where does it end? If the only tools we're allowed to have moving forward with which to slog through thousands upon thousands of hit points per battle are direct damage abilities and throwing special tiles back and forth, it's not going to make for a very interesting game to play. Challenge yourself to find solutions that don't suck all the color and flavor out of the game for the sake of simplicity. Fight harder for those "cool moments". They're more important than you think.
MarvelDestiny (posted in 'Re: The Truth about PVE scaling and Roster Levels') wrote: ...In the last update video Will, Miles, and Kabir talk about molding characters to within acceptable limits of a statistical 'power band'; they want them to 'match the curve'. By doing so they should theoretically be able to better manage PVE and PVP scaling regardless of character powers and this should result in a more balanced gaming experience (assuming the math is solid). Look for this trend to continue. Unfortunately, this is flawed logic and creates a lackluster game. If every character has to be equal with every other character within their class the game flattens out and becomes colorless. The outliers are what creates the sense of excitement and fun. I'd be jazzed to earn PX covers (he's a little above my pay grade at the moment, but give me time). Now imagine if PX was 'power banded' to be equal to, say, Electra or Fury. It's just not the same. He'd still be powerful, but the excitement would drain away. This concept is vaster in scope on the 3* frontier and if implemented universally would break the game. All interest in MPQ would evaporate.