Demiurge: How about an update on this. . .

Vhailorx

On September 16, IceIX created a new thread to discus DDQ and the 4* transition.

In that post, Ice stated that the DDQ 4* node was never intended to help 3* players transition to 4* play, just as 3* ddq was never intended to help 2* players transition to 3* play. (a point with which I strongly disagree).

Recognizing that players were relatively upset with the difficulty of the XFW v. Cyclops node, Ice also posted a list of "recent changes to boost 4* output to players." I have copied the list below:

To summarize recent changes to boost 4-Star output to players:
- (Season 16) Increased odds of 4-Stars by about 50% in Heroic and Event packs.
- (Season 18) Added Legendary Tokens as progression rewards at the top end of each Story Event.
- (Season 18) Switched in Legendary Tokens as progression rewards at 1300 Progression in each Versus Event.
- (Season 18) Added Legendary Tokens as part of the Deadpool’s Daily Quest.
- (Season 18) Switched in 1 Legendary Token for a 4-Star cover in the Taco Vault.
- (Season 18) Added a Legendary Token for each 40-pack purchased.
- (Season 19) To switch in Legendary Tokens as the top Alliance rewards (replacing the static cover).
- (Season 19) Increasing odds of 4-Stars in Heroic and Event packs.
- (Season 19) Adding a Legendary Token as a progression reward for the Versus season.
- (Upcoming) Introducing a brand new gameplay feature that will assist all players with the 3, 4, and 5-Star transitions.

Setting aside the fact that swapping a fixed cover reward for a legendary token does not actually increase 4* output to players, I am most concerned with the last item on that list. It has now been more than 2 months since this post was made. In that time, Demiurge has released 2 more 5* characters, and something like 4 new 4* characters (iceman, 4*clops, red hulk, x-23), exacerbating the already substantial bottleneck of transitioning from a 3* roster to a 4* roster.

Demiurge has said nothing about this upcoming gameplay feature. Demiurge has made one significant alterations to the 4* and 5* transition in the form on command points. But command points are relatively hard to get overall (especially without a 4* roster to use in PVP), and basically impossible to get in significant enough numbers to affect transition rate without spending real cash (something that was already possible).

Are command points the "upcoming feature" from that september post? If so then I have to say that they do very little to help 3* players transition to 4* play.

If command points aren't the upcoming feature, then can we please get some information about that feature? (is it related to the new story event teaser?). The 3*-->4* bottleneck is only getting worse. I am fortunate enough to already have about 30% of a full 4* roster (about 7 usable 4*s with 10+ covers) and I feel completely overwhelmed by the volume of new 4*s relative to the speed with which I can collect 4* covers. I can't imagine was newer players with 2* and 3* rosters face when trying to transition.

udonomefoo

From the Ghostrider thread if this helps:

IceIX wrote:

slidecage wrote:

IceIX wrote:

TazFTW wrote:

Oh, goody. A story involving Wolverine.

Our next story after this will *not* involve Wolverine. Not sure it even involves any X-Men, come to think of it...

any new info on when the new gameplay will come

As in the next new feature past Command Points? Possibly December, more likely January due to that whole Thanksgiving/holiday break thing really messing with dev timings. It's a biggie, so we want to make sure we have adequate test time on it before release.

Next new story past Hearts of Darkness? We'll be announcing that soon. Not too long after this one.

mindsuckr

David [Hi-Fi] Moore

Yes, this is the feature we were referring to. Right now, Command Points assist with 4 and 5-Star transitions. Help with the 3-Star transition is still planned, but due to some scheduling and related features being worked on, the 3-Star portion of CPs has been delayed. There are also additional features and plans underway and not yet ready to be announced.

In the beginning of November (3rd I believe, but forget which thread) we asked if CPs was the new feature and this was the response.

IceIX

What udonomefoo said, pretty much. CP was part of it,which we'll be expanding on as time goes on as well, along with a feature upcoming within the next month or so.

slidecage

IceIX wrote:

What udonomefoo said, pretty much. CP was part of it,which we'll be expanding on as time goes on as well, along with a feature upcoming within the next month or so.

any other pve before the ghost or just gaunlet all week

IceIX

slidecage wrote:

any other pve before the ghost or just gaunlet all week

Yep, we've got a run of Oscorp: Heroic before Hearts of Darkness begins.

DaveR4470

Ice -- any guidance as to when details on the next release (r89) will be posted?

Specifically, will the next update....

(1) fix the damage display bug (mismatch of graphics and damage display), and/or
(2) have the fix(es) that will reduce the scaling impact of rostering undeveloped 5*s?

Danke as always.

slidecage

IceIX wrote:

slidecage wrote:

any other pve before the ghost or just gaunlet all week

Yep, we've got a run of Oscorp: Heroic before Hearts of Darkness begins.

nevermind

IceIX

DaveR4470 wrote:

Ice -- any guidance as to when details on the next release (r89) will be posted?

Specifically, will the next update....

(1) fix the damage display bug (mismatch of graphics and damage display), and/or
(2) have the fix(es) that will reduce the scaling impact of rostering undeveloped 5*s?

Danke as always.

The fixes to Attack tiles and the like will be coming with R89, along with a fix to the tech that caused those display bugs to start with. At that point, it's a matter of tracking down each one and squishing it. Luckily, most, if not all, of that can be done server side.

R89 will have no changes to scaling or matchmaking.

slidecage

IceIX wrote:

DaveR4470 wrote:

Ice -- any guidance as to when details on the next release (r89) will be posted?

Specifically, will the next update....

(1) fix the damage display bug (mismatch of graphics and damage display), and/or
(2) have the fix(es) that will reduce the scaling impact of rostering undeveloped 5*s?

Danke as always.

The fixes to Attack tiles and the like will be coming with R89, along with a fix to the tech that caused those display bugs to start with. At that point, it's a matter of tracking down each one and squishing it. Luckily, most, if not all, of that can be done server side.

R89 will have no changes to scaling or matchmaking.

any clue when the scaling problem will be addressed

Vhailorx

IceIX wrote:

. . .CP was part of it,which we'll be expanding on as time goes on as well, along with a feature upcoming within the next month or so.

Ice,

As always, thanks for the communication; it is appreciated.

However, I think that retroactively revealing CP as the upcoming gameplay feature undercuts the message of that September list. CP do very little to speed up the 3* to 4* transition.

It's true that CP can buy legendary tokens, and it's true that legendaries are most useful for early 3* to 4* transitioners, since they are very likely to have a use for whatever cover happens to drop. But CP are very hard to get without spending cash. It's possible to get 1-3 CP from PVE and PVP event rewards, though doing that regularly would require very top tier grinding, and 3 or 4 hours of play ever day minimum. It's also possible to get CP with HP purchases (both your own and your alliance's). But unless you are in a whale-liance, the CP flow from teammates isn't very significant. And it was already possible to purchase legendary tokens directly via 40-packs. vets will likely be getting enough CP for one legendary token every month or two from daily rewards too. And unless I forgot something, that is basically it for ways in which CP help 3* players get 4* covers.

I get that the CP flow rate will be tweaked, but I still don't see how CP will translate to anything more than 1 or 2 legendary tokens every month for the vast majority of players. So it seems to me that CP are just another 4* ddq: a net benefit for whales and top tier vets, and very little help at all to players with robust 3* rosters looking to jump up to 4* play. I still think more work needs to be done improving the 3*-->4* transition process.

Pylgrim

Usefulness of CPs are undermined by the inherent awfulness of Legendary Tokens, their main reason to exist. CPs are yet another premium commodity that can only be gathered reliably by the top players, starting at the very lowest, by the top 50 players of ever 1000 in PVP. The problem? The brackets of 4* transitioners are, unfailingly, dominated by players with maxed 4*s, i.e., the players for whom Legendary Tokens will fizzle most often.

OneLastGambit

Pylgrim wrote:

Usefulness of CPs are undermined by the inherent awfulness of Legendary Tokens, their main reason to exist. CPs are yet another premium commodity that can only be gathered reliably by the top players, starting at the very lowest, by the top 50 players of ever 1000 in PVP. The problem? The brackets of 4* transitioners are, unfailingly, dominated by players with maxed 4*s, i.e., the players for whom Legendary Tokens will fizzle most often.

I think the response you may be met with here from the devs is that CP is not just a method for buying LT's you can save them up (for about 10,000 years) to buy specific covers, thereby enhacing their usefulness

ammenell

wouldnt the expected devs response be like

?

OneLastGambit

ammenell wrote:

wouldnt the expected devs response be like

?

Hands up if you clicked the hidden message and were then initially confused when there was nothing there

Bravo, made me laugh

firethorne

OneLastGambit wrote:

ammenell wrote:

wouldnt the expected devs response be like

?

Hands up if you clicked the hidden message and were then initially confused when there was nothing there

Bravo, made me laugh

Yep, got me. Well played sir. Excellent joke. It is interesting to see how the player/dev relationship is starting to be viewed as adversarial in nature, and silence is the expected response. They've got a long way to go to right that ship.