Please fix this game; an open letter to Demiurge
Sandwichboy
Posts: 193 Tile Toppler
Hi. I think I should preface this (as it's going to be...rather long, I apologise in advance) by saying that I'm a paying player of two years and I very much enjoyed this game. For a long time really. But in the past six months or so that enjoyment has slowly eroded and turned into a combination of exhaustion, frustration, and resentment. I used to love playing this game, now it feels like work. Like a second job. Like I'm being ignored because I can't afford to dump more cash into the game than I already have, or spend time playing throughout the day, every day. Like the only people who seem to be getting catered to are the ones with very deep pockets and/or a surplus of free time every day. Every time I have to schedule my whole day around just a push to get 1000 in a pvp event, I resent it for that being the only way to keep up without putting myself in debt. I have put a lot of time and money into this game and every day it feels like I'm being told that that's just not good enough. I want to like this game again. So with that in mind, first I want to explain what I think is wrong with the current state of MPQ, and then I have some suggestions.
1) 4*s, 5* and legendary tokens. Others have detailed the problems with these tokens being used as a form of transition from 3* to 4* as the primary characters of ones roster, but there are a few issues I don't think have been brought up enough. While lots of people argue that 4* characters now being the focus of character content, they're being treated the same way that 3*s were back when they were less numerous and harder to acquire, this ignores the fact that a 4* character costs three times the ISO to level compared to a 3*, and the covers are directly rewarded only via the number one spot in either pvp or pve, or breaking 1000 in pvp. Even factoring in the occasional legendary token, this does not in any way compare to the 3* transition, particularly since the overall ISO and HP rewards have not changed while the cost of the focal point of the game radically has.
2) Which leads into my second point, the inadequate ISO numbers. Right now, even if I somehow managed to acquire all remaining 4 and 5* tokens I'm missing, it would still take me another two years worth of grinding to get the ISO needed to fully level HALF of them. Purchasing ISO is nearly pointless as the rate of return, especially for the astronomically expensive 4* & 5* characters, barely makes a dent in a single character even with the biggest available purchase. And every time a new character is released, the difficulty in completing one you already have started increases.
3) Too many tinykitty 4*s. Stop releasing 4* characters. Please. Just stop. Just like, skip a month or something. I guarantee you will get a lot of gratitude from the player base. Even if the flow of legendary tokens radically increased all of a sudden, there's just too damned many characters to keep up with, especially with how expensive roster slots are. Skip a month or two, and then only release ONE a month, if that. Spend the rest of that time fixing the characters already in the game, or making new content.
4) Power creep. This is probably the worst case of power creep I've seen in a very long time. The fact that it appears to be intentional is even more distressing. Will it be a year and a half before you start releasing 6* characters, and silver surfer has become a punchline because some new thing can one shot him? Or will that just be when 5* characters start getting released twice a month, and 4* characters become relics. 3* characters are hardly easier to acquire and level than they were nearly a year ago, and now they're marching toward obsolescence with increasing speed. I cannot see how this is a sustainable design plan, as each new big thing is exponentially more expensive in every way than the last.
5) Serious disconnect between developer and consumer. The anniversary event this year would be a perfect example of this, as would the Crash of the Titans mission design. Server issues aside, I think all can agree that the first half of the galactus event was an absolute debacle, and the response given when everyone complained about how little agency most people had in succeeding was "it's supposed to be hard." When people bash their heads against the wall, eating through health packs like candy to try to get the DDQ legendary token, they're told "it's supposed to be hard." To be clear, creating a scenario where success or failure is overwhelmingly decided by blind luck, with next to no agency for the participant, is not making something challenging or rewarding. It is an exercise in frustration. The only ones with any semblance of agency in reliably overcoming these "challenges" were those that had the least to gain from doing so. And yet this is apparently how you seem to want the game to function, despite page after page after page of long time players begging for changes that would make their decisions have at least some positive impact on their experience beyond an ever increasing investment of time or money. I have no idea if you are intentionally exploiting the Skinner box psychological trap as your primary design philosophy, or if that was simply the outgrowth of unimaginative and "safe" game design, but it is maddening and demoralising to feel like the proverbial pigeon pecking at a button in the hopes that THIS time it will get food, and be told "it's okay, it's supposed to work that way." Completing these challenges does not feel rewarding, because I know ultimately my choices had very little to do with it.
Now that I've detailed the things that are driving me away from this game here are my thoughts on how to improve it.
1) Scaling rewards. We already have the ever popular scaling system in place that modifies pve opponent levels and pvp visibility, why not implement something similar for those who have played longer and have larger rosters. 100 ISO for a mission is moderately useful when you're working with a 2 star roster, but barely a fraction of a drop in the bucket for someone with twenty 4*s to level. For instance, past a certain number of days played, standard tokens are no longer given as mission rewards, replaced with heroic tokens. ISO and HP mission rewards begin to increase on a percentage scale that doubles annually. Or simply take whatever scaling mechanics are already modifying parts of the game and tie them also to the rewards for those same instances. If someone is being scaled up to fight nothing but missions of 270+ enemies, they likely have a strong roster so make that sharply increased challenge actually enticing instead of "oh yay, another standard token." Something like this would go a long way toward making those of us who have been around since the first months feel valued even if we can't play for hours every day.
2) Slow down character release schedule. This game needs more characters about as badly as Bill Gates needs to win the powerball. Instead of releasing two characters a month, one a month. Or even one every 6 weeks. Spend that extra time fine tuning the characters and content already in the game and on building new, more interesting and different content beyond the introduction of yet another version of Wolverine.
3) Decrease leveling costs. Especially if you balk at increasing the flow of ISO and HP, dropping the costs of leveling further would make a huge difference for many of us staring at rosters full of fully covered characters that we simply cannot afford to level enough to compete. Oh, and roster slots. Paying more than $10 just for the privilege of adding a character I won't be able to use for months is not fun.
4) Improve the reward structure for LT and 4* covers. You want 4* characters to be the backbone of the game now. Cool. Then make them as attainable as 3* were when THEY were the backbone of the game. take the event reward structure, drop the 3* rewards down to where the 2* ones are and replace them with corresponding 4* covers of one, two and three colours with the final reward being an extra legendary token (or two.) For DDQ, give everyone a loaner character that's fully covered, but level 176 like in PVE feature missions, or even level 70. You'd still have a serious challenge thanks to the massive disparity in health pools and damage scaling, but at least those of us who don't have that character fully leveled (or at all) have a fighting chance of winning. And lower the threshold for the LT season reward back to something like 7500.
5) Remove random element to set mission rewards. I cannot think of any reason to have a system in place that allows for a mission reward to be the default 20 ISO before the listed rewards have been achieved. Well, aside from the exploitative one, and I'd love to hear how that is in any way fun for anyone other than your accountants. Coupled with how harsh scaling can be in PVE, forcing people to play the same mission a dozen times just to get that 1000 ISO or command point reward is insulting. Whatever tiny monetary gain it's giving you likely pales in comparison to the goodwill and renewed interest in PVE that would be generated by dumping this. Which in turn would give more people impetus to continue throwing money at you.
6) Update obsolete 3* characters. There is no reason why so many 3* characters should be as useless as they are outside of being the pvp featured character (and even that doesn't help all of them) Fixing characters like IM-40 and Spiderman would suddenly give a lot of players a reason to dump ISO and HP into completing them (even if they're not the new Iron Fist), which I have to assume is something you want.
7) Team bonuses. At this point there are a pretty large number of different teams of villains and heroes, adding passive bonuses for fielding them together would make quite a few otherwise b-list characters much more likely to be used, and invested in. Each character could have a specific scaling bonus to certain abilities, health or match damage dependent on how many other members of their corresponding team are present. The bonuses wouldn't have to be all that big individually, and could cover a wide variety of types, but put together they could add an interesting dynamic to pvp in particular.
8) More Balance of Power. This last one is more of a personal preference, but I honestly have more fun in BoP than in any other event. Matches feel actually strategic, and my whole roster is suddenly a lot more fun to play around with. Hell, maybe just replace the season simulator with Balance of Power. I don't know about anyone else but I would play the tinykitty out of that.
A few hours ago, I finally managed to beat the DDQ 4* mission for Jean Grey, after hammering at it for over two hours and dumping a fairly significant amount of HP into her. When I finally succeeded (through blind luck), I didn't feel excited, only relieved that it was finally done. And then very foolish for having just spent time and money on something that I wasn't even enjoying anymore. I want to like this game. I want to have a reason to continue playing, and I know I'm not alone. Meeting us halfway will not drive away the whales or make them any more powerful than they already are as they'll spend whatever it takes to be at the top anyway. Please give your players better reasons to spend money and time on your game without feeling exploited. Because right now, this isn't fun.
1) 4*s, 5* and legendary tokens. Others have detailed the problems with these tokens being used as a form of transition from 3* to 4* as the primary characters of ones roster, but there are a few issues I don't think have been brought up enough. While lots of people argue that 4* characters now being the focus of character content, they're being treated the same way that 3*s were back when they were less numerous and harder to acquire, this ignores the fact that a 4* character costs three times the ISO to level compared to a 3*, and the covers are directly rewarded only via the number one spot in either pvp or pve, or breaking 1000 in pvp. Even factoring in the occasional legendary token, this does not in any way compare to the 3* transition, particularly since the overall ISO and HP rewards have not changed while the cost of the focal point of the game radically has.
2) Which leads into my second point, the inadequate ISO numbers. Right now, even if I somehow managed to acquire all remaining 4 and 5* tokens I'm missing, it would still take me another two years worth of grinding to get the ISO needed to fully level HALF of them. Purchasing ISO is nearly pointless as the rate of return, especially for the astronomically expensive 4* & 5* characters, barely makes a dent in a single character even with the biggest available purchase. And every time a new character is released, the difficulty in completing one you already have started increases.
3) Too many tinykitty 4*s. Stop releasing 4* characters. Please. Just stop. Just like, skip a month or something. I guarantee you will get a lot of gratitude from the player base. Even if the flow of legendary tokens radically increased all of a sudden, there's just too damned many characters to keep up with, especially with how expensive roster slots are. Skip a month or two, and then only release ONE a month, if that. Spend the rest of that time fixing the characters already in the game, or making new content.
4) Power creep. This is probably the worst case of power creep I've seen in a very long time. The fact that it appears to be intentional is even more distressing. Will it be a year and a half before you start releasing 6* characters, and silver surfer has become a punchline because some new thing can one shot him? Or will that just be when 5* characters start getting released twice a month, and 4* characters become relics. 3* characters are hardly easier to acquire and level than they were nearly a year ago, and now they're marching toward obsolescence with increasing speed. I cannot see how this is a sustainable design plan, as each new big thing is exponentially more expensive in every way than the last.
5) Serious disconnect between developer and consumer. The anniversary event this year would be a perfect example of this, as would the Crash of the Titans mission design. Server issues aside, I think all can agree that the first half of the galactus event was an absolute debacle, and the response given when everyone complained about how little agency most people had in succeeding was "it's supposed to be hard." When people bash their heads against the wall, eating through health packs like candy to try to get the DDQ legendary token, they're told "it's supposed to be hard." To be clear, creating a scenario where success or failure is overwhelmingly decided by blind luck, with next to no agency for the participant, is not making something challenging or rewarding. It is an exercise in frustration. The only ones with any semblance of agency in reliably overcoming these "challenges" were those that had the least to gain from doing so. And yet this is apparently how you seem to want the game to function, despite page after page after page of long time players begging for changes that would make their decisions have at least some positive impact on their experience beyond an ever increasing investment of time or money. I have no idea if you are intentionally exploiting the Skinner box psychological trap as your primary design philosophy, or if that was simply the outgrowth of unimaginative and "safe" game design, but it is maddening and demoralising to feel like the proverbial pigeon pecking at a button in the hopes that THIS time it will get food, and be told "it's okay, it's supposed to work that way." Completing these challenges does not feel rewarding, because I know ultimately my choices had very little to do with it.
Now that I've detailed the things that are driving me away from this game here are my thoughts on how to improve it.
1) Scaling rewards. We already have the ever popular scaling system in place that modifies pve opponent levels and pvp visibility, why not implement something similar for those who have played longer and have larger rosters. 100 ISO for a mission is moderately useful when you're working with a 2 star roster, but barely a fraction of a drop in the bucket for someone with twenty 4*s to level. For instance, past a certain number of days played, standard tokens are no longer given as mission rewards, replaced with heroic tokens. ISO and HP mission rewards begin to increase on a percentage scale that doubles annually. Or simply take whatever scaling mechanics are already modifying parts of the game and tie them also to the rewards for those same instances. If someone is being scaled up to fight nothing but missions of 270+ enemies, they likely have a strong roster so make that sharply increased challenge actually enticing instead of "oh yay, another standard token." Something like this would go a long way toward making those of us who have been around since the first months feel valued even if we can't play for hours every day.
2) Slow down character release schedule. This game needs more characters about as badly as Bill Gates needs to win the powerball. Instead of releasing two characters a month, one a month. Or even one every 6 weeks. Spend that extra time fine tuning the characters and content already in the game and on building new, more interesting and different content beyond the introduction of yet another version of Wolverine.
3) Decrease leveling costs. Especially if you balk at increasing the flow of ISO and HP, dropping the costs of leveling further would make a huge difference for many of us staring at rosters full of fully covered characters that we simply cannot afford to level enough to compete. Oh, and roster slots. Paying more than $10 just for the privilege of adding a character I won't be able to use for months is not fun.
4) Improve the reward structure for LT and 4* covers. You want 4* characters to be the backbone of the game now. Cool. Then make them as attainable as 3* were when THEY were the backbone of the game. take the event reward structure, drop the 3* rewards down to where the 2* ones are and replace them with corresponding 4* covers of one, two and three colours with the final reward being an extra legendary token (or two.) For DDQ, give everyone a loaner character that's fully covered, but level 176 like in PVE feature missions, or even level 70. You'd still have a serious challenge thanks to the massive disparity in health pools and damage scaling, but at least those of us who don't have that character fully leveled (or at all) have a fighting chance of winning. And lower the threshold for the LT season reward back to something like 7500.
5) Remove random element to set mission rewards. I cannot think of any reason to have a system in place that allows for a mission reward to be the default 20 ISO before the listed rewards have been achieved. Well, aside from the exploitative one, and I'd love to hear how that is in any way fun for anyone other than your accountants. Coupled with how harsh scaling can be in PVE, forcing people to play the same mission a dozen times just to get that 1000 ISO or command point reward is insulting. Whatever tiny monetary gain it's giving you likely pales in comparison to the goodwill and renewed interest in PVE that would be generated by dumping this. Which in turn would give more people impetus to continue throwing money at you.
6) Update obsolete 3* characters. There is no reason why so many 3* characters should be as useless as they are outside of being the pvp featured character (and even that doesn't help all of them) Fixing characters like IM-40 and Spiderman would suddenly give a lot of players a reason to dump ISO and HP into completing them (even if they're not the new Iron Fist), which I have to assume is something you want.
7) Team bonuses. At this point there are a pretty large number of different teams of villains and heroes, adding passive bonuses for fielding them together would make quite a few otherwise b-list characters much more likely to be used, and invested in. Each character could have a specific scaling bonus to certain abilities, health or match damage dependent on how many other members of their corresponding team are present. The bonuses wouldn't have to be all that big individually, and could cover a wide variety of types, but put together they could add an interesting dynamic to pvp in particular.
8) More Balance of Power. This last one is more of a personal preference, but I honestly have more fun in BoP than in any other event. Matches feel actually strategic, and my whole roster is suddenly a lot more fun to play around with. Hell, maybe just replace the season simulator with Balance of Power. I don't know about anyone else but I would play the tinykitty out of that.
A few hours ago, I finally managed to beat the DDQ 4* mission for Jean Grey, after hammering at it for over two hours and dumping a fairly significant amount of HP into her. When I finally succeeded (through blind luck), I didn't feel excited, only relieved that it was finally done. And then very foolish for having just spent time and money on something that I wasn't even enjoying anymore. I want to like this game. I want to have a reason to continue playing, and I know I'm not alone. Meeting us halfway will not drive away the whales or make them any more powerful than they already are as they'll spend whatever it takes to be at the top anyway. Please give your players better reasons to spend money and time on your game without feeling exploited. Because right now, this isn't fun.
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Comments
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Just scrap the point 8 from you suggestions list - I hate Balance of Jaggernout event. Other than this - I agree with most of what you said. I won't be detailing what I didn't like because if all i implemented (lol) this will be a better game anyway.0
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Magic wrote:Just scrap the point 8 from you suggestions list - I hate Balance of Jaggernout event. Other than this - I agree with most of what you said. I won't be detailing what I didn't like because if all i implemented (lol) this will be a better game anyway.
Being one of two things I can play since rostering two 5*s, I would love to see more BoP events. I hadn't realized it before, but they represent one of two actual "puzzle game" opportunities in MPQ, those and the DDQ (sans the 4* node that most are unlikely to complete).
DBC0 -
this is the reason why it feels like treading water.Sandwichboy wrote:[...]
5) Serious disconnect between developer and consumer. [...]
why suggest ANYTHING when everything gets absolutely ignored?
there are big issues, and even more useable solutions, but apperently budget is used for new characters and victory screens.
cant make money with gameplay changes, right?0 -
ammenell wrote:
this is the reason why it feels like treading water.Sandwichboy wrote:[...]
5) Serious disconnect between developer and consumer. [...]
why suggest ANYTHING when everything gets absolutely ignored?
there are big issues, and even more useable solutions, but apperently budget is used for new characters and victory screens.
cant make money with gameplay changes, right?
Unfortunately, this is far too accurate. I'm fully convinced that not only do they not care, they are actively trying to push vets from this game. It's a shame, because I feel exactly like OP. I used to love this game, and at times, I still do. But they do not care about their user base.0 -
Stony wrote:ammenell wrote:
this is the reason why it feels like treading water.Sandwichboy wrote:[...]
5) Serious disconnect between developer and consumer. [...]
why suggest ANYTHING when everything gets absolutely ignored?
there are big issues, and even more useable solutions, but apperently budget is used for new characters and victory screens.
cant make money with gameplay changes, right?
Unfortunately, this is far too accurate. I'm fully convinced that not only do they not care, they are actively trying to push vets from this game. It's a shame, because I feel exactly like OP. I used to love this game, and at times, I still do. But they do not care about their user base.
After many years of interacting with many different groups of devs I have yet to encounter one that didn't care about their game or their customers...however I HAVE encountered plenty that seem to have a totally different idea of what their game IS than their customers, and what it should be in order to be sustainable. I'm pretty sure this is still a case of the latter, which still doesn't change the end result which is that the game is increasingly alienating anyone without really deep pockets and a job that lets you sit on your phone for hours at a time. A someone who spends 60+ hours a week in a kitchen running around like a lunatic at 100kmh, much as I'd love to play more of the game, kind of not going to happen.0 -
Drummerboycroy wrote:Magic wrote:Just scrap the point 8 from you suggestions list - I hate Balance of Jaggernout event. Other than this - I agree with most of what you said. I won't be detailing what I didn't like because if all i implemented (lol) this will be a better game anyway.
Being one of two things I can play since rostering two 5*s, I would love to see more BoP events. I hadn't realized it before, but they represent one of two actual "puzzle game" opportunities in MPQ, those and the DDQ (sans the 4* node that most are unlikely to complete).
DBC
I second this, BOP forces you to actually consider team choices instead of just putting in the most powerful character you start to consider which teams work best since jeanbuster/icebuster etc no longer has a massive advantage over all other teams.0 -
These "open letters" are quite hilarious. Why would they read that manifesto?
Even if they bowed to all your awesome suggestions you didn't state how quickly said changes need to be implemented to make you happy. Could take a year. You going to tough it out? All that's going to happen is you'll get a bunch of upvotes some replies and this thread will fall into the recesses of the forum. Should of just used the time it took to write this and did a pve clear
.
I'm off to write an open letter to HP, I think their engineers are idiots on how they designed my laptop. Oh and an open letter to GE, don't like how they designed my refrigerator.
BTW, BOP is universally hated by alot of players.0 -
Sandwichboy wrote:..which is that the game is increasingly alienating anyone without really deep pockets and a job that lets you sit on your phone for hours at a time. A someone who spends 60+ hours a week in a kitchen running around like a lunatic at 100kmh, much as I'd love to play more of the game, kind of not going to happen.
That's the f2p mobile game model. F2p mobile games are either money pits or time sinks. Why do people think MPQ is going to be any different?
Which f2p mobile games are not like this? I've heard Marvel Future Fight is a little better in this regard but I'm not a fan of the gameplay.0 -
acescracked wrote:Sandwichboy wrote:..which is that the game is increasingly alienating anyone without really deep pockets and a job that lets you sit on your phone for hours at a time. A someone who spends 60+ hours a week in a kitchen running around like a lunatic at 100kmh, much as I'd love to play more of the game, kind of not going to happen.
That's the f2p mobile game model. F2p mobile games are either money pits or time sinks. Why do people think MPQ is going to be any different?
Which f2p mobile games are not like this? I've heard Marvel Future Fight is a little better in this regard but I'm not a fan of the gameplay.
I have no problem with it being a money pit or time sink, I knew what I signed up for. My problem is I'm at the luck based progression stage. I can sink time to make sure I clear all progs in PVE, 1.3 in PVP and every Crash of the Titans (which I do all of these) and still pull my 15th bag lady. All the while little Johnny McN00b comes along a pulls multiple 5*s on a fraction of the LTs.
I just want my effort to be worth more than 1000 ISO.0 -
acescracked wrote:These "open letters" are quite hilarious. Why would they read that manifesto?
Even if they bowed to all your awesome suggestions you didn't state how quickly said changes need to be implemented to make you happy. Could take a year. You going to tough it out? All that's going to happen is you'll get a bunch of upvotes some replies and this thread will fall into the recesses of the forum. Should of just used the time it took to write this and did a pve clear.
I'm off to write an open letter to HP, I think their engineers are idiots on how they designed my laptop. Oh and an open letter to GE, don't like how they designed my refrigerator.
BTW, BOP is universally hated by alot of players.
Nice of you to support your fellow forum member. I'm sure your tone and overall message were appreciated. If I have any improvement ideas for the game, I'll be sure to remember this post and keep them to myself.0 -
The suggestions, while generally good ones in a vacuum, would put an end to this game within 6 months. The game must make money. If it doesn't, then it will be shut down.
1) Scaling rewards will make it even more difficult for new players to reach the end game. There will be an even higher likelihood that new guys or people that are transitioning will simply give up because those ahead of them will always be ahead of them. To a certain extent, it's already that way in the game, but scaling rewards only makes it worse.
2) Slowing down, or stopping character creation directly lowers the game's income.
3) Lowering costs to level has already been done. It doesn't really need to be done further. If it becomes too easy to level characters, people will grow tired of the game faster because they will "complete" it sooner.
4) 4*s need to be difficult to obtain. If they are easy, then who would spend to get them? They have already increased ways to get them, and they aren't done, but making them readily available would be bad for the game.
5) I agree with this one, give us the 4 rewards first then change it to 50 ISO after that.
6) I agree with this one as well. They need to balance some of the characters. IM40 and Psylocke desperately need fixing.
7) Interesting Idea and I think it could be fun if they employed it.
8) Have a Balance of Power "Event" always running. No placement rewards, no progression rewards, just per fight rewards that can be tweaked (chance of heroic token, maybe even chance at legendary token at 1% or something). Just a place that you can play without any pressure when you feel like it. Place a cap on how many times you can play a day, and if you want to play more, make it 5HP a fight or something.0 -
acescracked wrote:Sandwichboy wrote:..which is that the game is increasingly alienating anyone without really deep pockets and a job that lets you sit on your phone for hours at a time. A someone who spends 60+ hours a week in a kitchen running around like a lunatic at 100kmh, much as I'd love to play more of the game, kind of not going to happen.
That's the f2p mobile game model. F2p mobile games are either money pits or time sinks. Why do people think MPQ is going to be any different?
Which f2p mobile games are not like this? I've heard Marvel Future Fight is a little better in this regard but I'm not a fan of the gameplay.
As to which FTP games are not like this, I could waste my time listing 100s of them, or accept the obvious. Some people are going to believe whatever gets them through their day, regardless of any evidence to the contrary. When people spend that much of their time in an online forum passive-aggressively attacking everything that doesn't perfectly mesh with their worldview, it's not like they're going to let something like facts get in their way.
As for MFF, a little better? Yeah, you might want to actually play it, or heck, check out the rosters of anyone in my MFF alliance, most of whom are former MPQ players. Or you can just keep taking shots at anyone who doesn't agree that MPQ's "progression" [quotes intentional]/monetization model is above reproach. It's pretty obvious that fewer and fewer people are swallowing it these days, but do whatever works for you.
In closing, "Why do people think MPQ is going to be any different?" Perhaps it's because of the countless thousands of FTP games that actually ARE different? I don't know, but it could be that. But, you know, don't stop being you.
DBC0 -
You haven't played future fight at all if you think it's slightly better.acescracked wrote:Sandwichboy wrote:..which is that the game is increasingly alienating anyone without really deep pockets and a job that lets you sit on your phone for hours at a time. A someone who spends 60+ hours a week in a kitchen running around like a lunatic at 100kmh, much as I'd love to play more of the game, kind of not going to happen.
That's the f2p mobile game model. F2p mobile games are either money pits or time sinks. Why do people think MPQ is going to be any different?
Which f2p mobile games are not like this? I've heard Marvel Future Fight is a little better in this regard but I'm not a fan of the gameplay.
Go on their reddit.
They have a community manager that communicates directly with developers and addresses common complaints and requests. The game hasn't been out a year and bottom tier characters have been entirely revamped, costumes are added, mistakes are not only acknowledged but made up for with free items, often.
The GM give you free items every day of the week in addition to the game actually giving you things for playing every day. Everything is thrown at you often in that game actually. Imagine if every standard token you got was the equivalent of actually leveling someone up, even just a hair. That's more FF.
You use whoever you want and progress as YOU want to.
It's literally night and day.
Sales actually happen.
They haven't been around 9 months yet but have still had more sales then I've seen this game have in the same time period.
I'm not bashing MPQ, they do things differently and I eagerly await to see how they improve but MFF is one game you do NOT want to compare this one too in terms of developer interaction and generosity.0 -
If MPQ had sales more often i would of supported them more and made more headway ingame and maybe hung around longer. having a great time with MFF spent 2x the amount i spent on MPQ in 2 years in just the first month. I find it way better. i can pick who i want to level and play with they all go up to the highest rank( although some are missing their 6 star skills, but more and more are added each month) and they show love to their low performing heroes to bring back into the pack.0
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Tarheelmax wrote:The suggestions, while generally good ones in a vacuum, would put an end to this game within 6 months. The game must make money. If it doesn't, then it will be shut down.
1) Scaling rewards will make it even more difficult for new players to reach the end game. There will be an even higher likelihood that new guys or people that are transitioning will simply give up because those ahead of them will always be ahead of them. To a certain extent, it's already that way in the game, but scaling rewards only makes it worse.
2) Slowing down, or stopping character creation directly lowers the game's income.
3) Lowering costs to level has already been done. It doesn't really need to be done further. If it becomes too easy to level characters, people will grow tired of the game faster because they will "complete" it sooner.
4) 4*s need to be difficult to obtain. If they are easy, then who would spend to get them? They have already increased ways to get them, and they aren't done, but making them readily available would be bad for the game.
5) I agree with this one, give us the 4 rewards first then change it to 50 ISO after that.
6) I agree with this one as well. They need to balance some of the characters. IM40 and Psylocke desperately need fixing.
7) Interesting Idea and I think it could be fun if they employed it.
8) Have a Balance of Power "Event" always running. No placement rewards, no progression rewards, just per fight rewards that can be tweaked (chance of heroic token, maybe even chance at legendary token at 1% or something). Just a place that you can play without any pressure when you feel like it. Place a cap on how many times you can play a day, and if you want to play more, make it 5HP a fight or something.
I really don't see how adding a modest scaling system to the rewards for absurdly scaled up pve matches would have a negative impact on new players. Not to mention that helping out new players and helping out vets is not mutually exclusive. There SHOULD be incentives for people who've been with the game a long time to stay that way, as they're the ones bringing you a steady cash flow. frankly, I'm having trouble imagining how things could currently be worse for new players as the ever increasing number of 4* characters is creating a serious problem of people playing with a roster of 50 slots, most of which are 1 cover 4* characters, a couple 3* ones with 5 covers in them, and the rest 1 and 2*s. If I started playing now versus 2 years ago, I'd be done with this game in a month.
Slowing down character creation only has a big impact on the game's income because that's ALL they seem to be relying on. And that's not their only option by a long shot. It's their call, but the current model is burning people out. And the lowered costs are akin to walking into Burberry during a sale. 50% off a $3000 jacket is still a hell of a lot more money than most people can drop repeatedly, and the reduction wasn't even close to that level. One 4* is three times the cost of a 3*. That's unnecessary.
And why do 4*s need to be difficult to obtain? Specifically as vastly more difficult than 3*s? Because they have a few extra pixels under their names? Two years ago, 3* characters were pretty hard to obtain, then they released a ton of them and made them less difficult to obtain. I fail to see how this has to be different now since all they've done it repeat the same formula by adding a digital star on top. Hell, before they started tossing out legendaries like they were skittles, tons of people had strong, fully leveled 3* rosters with maybe two mostly leveled 4*s and that didn't break the game. They've already moved the goal post with 5* characters, time to make the focus of the game easier to keep up with.
That said...I REALLY like your counter idea for BOP. Having something like that just always available as like, a simulator for teams and testing out comps under ideal conditions would be wonderful.0 -
GurlBYE wrote:
You haven't played future fight at all if you think it's slightly better.acescracked wrote:Sandwichboy wrote:..which is that the game is increasingly alienating anyone without really deep pockets and a job that lets you sit on your phone for hours at a time. A someone who spends 60+ hours a week in a kitchen running around like a lunatic at 100kmh, much as I'd love to play more of the game, kind of not going to happen.
That's the f2p mobile game model. F2p mobile games are either money pits or time sinks. Why do people think MPQ is going to be any different?
Which f2p mobile games are not like this? I've heard Marvel Future Fight is a little better in this regard but I'm not a fan of the gameplay.
Go on their reddit.
They have a community manager that communicates directly with developers and addresses common complaints and requests. The game hasn't been out a year and bottom tier characters have been entirely revamped, costumes are added, mistakes are not only acknowledged but made up for with free items, often.
The GM give you free items every day of the week in addition to the game actually giving you things for playing every day. Everything is thrown at you often in that game actually. Imagine if every standard token you got was the equivalent of actually leveling someone up, even just a hair. That's more FF.
You use whoever you want and progress as YOU want to.
It's literally night and day.
Sales actually happen.
They haven't been around 9 months yet but have still had more sales then I've seen this game have in the same time period.
I'm not bashing MPQ, they do things differently and I eagerly await to see how they improve but MFF is one game you do NOT want to compare this one too in terms of developer interaction and generosity.
You didn't even read what you quoted...: (0 -
I'm always fascinated by these "please fix this game I'm sick of it" threads. They all read like a confession, a cry for help: "I hate your game but I want to keep playing it so please, change this and that!". Is there something about this game that appeals the neurotic personality?!
I have a few games installed on my phone, one of them is MPQ. Whenever I get sick or bored at any of them I simply stop and go play something else. It's ok to make suggestions, some of the ones found in this thread are nice but for your own sanity, if you no longer enjoy this game, please stop playing it and find something else nice to do with your free time, lots of things available and so little time!0 -
Omega Red wrote:I'm always fascinated by these "please fix this game I'm sick of it" threads. They all read like a confession, a cry for help: "I hate your game but I want to keep playing it so please, change this and that!". Is there something about this game that appeals the neurotic personality?!
I have a few games installed on my phone, one of them is MPQ. Whenever I get sick or bored at any of them I simply stop and go play something else. It's ok to make suggestions, some of the ones found in this thread are nice but for your own sanity, if you no longer enjoy this game, please stop playing it and find something else nice to do with your free time, lots of things available and so little time!
The issue is that the game itself is pretty amazing. Match 3 with Marvel IP that influences gameplay is awesome. The environment we have to navigate in order to play that game is garbage. And since no other company can make a match 3 game with Marvel IP, all the players that want to play that game have to yell into the abyss that is this one.
The Stark Salary I was planning to buy during Anniversary? Half of it went to Future Fight for Black Friday and when I saw their monetization strategy, the range of play modes they had available and the way they treat their players they got the other half of it as well. Just today there was a mistake in rewards that were distributed. An hour after it happened there was a message up with an apology, an exact compensation plan targeted specifically at the players who were affected and the promise that we could keep the original mistake reward as a bonus. I won't write the paragraphs contrasting that with what what would have happened here.
And here's the thing: The base game of FF is worse than MPQ, but the experience of playing it is immeasurably better. There's a game here that I want to keep playing, but not under the conditions that it is being presented. That's why these threads keep being written and why the OP has 70 upvotes while yours has none.0 -
Nooneelsesname wrote:Omega Red wrote:I'm always fascinated by these "please fix this game I'm sick of it" threads. They all read like a confession, a cry for help: "I hate your game but I want to keep playing it so please, change this and that!". Is there something about this game that appeals the neurotic personality?!
I have a few games installed on my phone, one of them is MPQ. Whenever I get sick or bored at any of them I simply stop and go play something else. It's ok to make suggestions, some of the ones found in this thread are nice but for your own sanity, if you no longer enjoy this game, please stop playing it and find something else nice to do with your free time, lots of things available and so little time!
The issue is that the game itself is pretty amazing. Match 3 with Marvel IP that influences gameplay is awesome. The environment we have to navigate in order to play that game is garbage. And since no other company can make a match 3 game with Marvel IP, all the players that want to play that game have to yell into the abyss that is this one.
The Stark Salary I was planning to buy during Anniversary? Half of it went to Future Fight for Black Friday and when I saw their monetization strategy, the range of play modes they had available and the way they treat their players they got the other half of it as well. Just today there was a mistake in rewards that were distributed. An hour after it happened there was a message up with an apology, an exact compensation plan targeted specifically at the players who were affected and the promise that we could keep the original mistake reward as a bonus. I won't write the paragraphs contrasting that with what what would have happened here.
And here's the thing: The base game of FF is worse than MPQ, but the experience of playing it is immeasurably better. There's a game here that I want to keep playing, but not under the conditions that it is being presented. That's why these threads keep being written and why the OP has 70 upvotes while yours has none.
Well, OP has over 70 votes first and foremost because it makes some valid points and makes some good suggestions. But then again, it has that many votes also because it caters to a certain audience: those with chronic dissatisfaction syndrome. My post has no votes because I'm an **** who sees things from a different perspective and I deliver my views in pedantic fashion. I don't mind votes. This is discussion, not a popularity contest. In debate you don't find truth by voting. When I want a post full of votes I'll simply start a thread complaining about LT's, 5*, character releases on PVE, etc. It's easy, and I could even do it without falling into intelectual dishonesty.
There are two things that all these whine threads have in common:
1.- They want a different game.
This is above all, a competitive game. Scarcity exists to provide high value to rewards within the game economy. Since rewards are rare and valuable, you create competition. You can easily give away Ghost rider covers to everybody and make money from those who want to whale him. The problem is that if you do that you kill competition and if you kill competition you kill the game. Almost every complaint about a given "issue" and its proposed "fix" aims to the same goal: making resources more accesible and therefore lower the level of competition. In short, the players from that camp want another game, a casual game.
Now, I have nothing against casual games but if MPQ went that route I most probably would grow bored of it pretty fast. Consider the two runs of Galactus, while I agree that the event had MANY flaws (I even made a post that got plenty of upvotes, see? I can do it too) I enjoyed the first run with its insane difficulty way more than the second which was trivial. I enjoy it when I win covers in a character release -to quote a famous president- not because it's easy, but precisely because it's hard, because it means I went to a highly competitive game and succeeded.
I understand the frustration of players who want this thing to be more casual, more accesible, more rewarding, with a faster progression and less expensive resources but trust me, if the game went that route you would complete your remaining characters in a couple of months, you would grow bored and the game would die. It simply wasn't designed to be a virtual sticker album, it was designed to be a gladiator arena.
2.- They display a mindset of chronic dissatisfaction.
It all started with the need to obtain more 4* covers. The response was legendary tokens. I don't keep count but I have opened something around twenty legendaries so far. Maybe five or six have been dupes, the rest have been 4* I needed. For me that's excellent numbers and I think those tokens have greatly accelerated my progression. Now, I come to the forum and all I see is players ruminating over the Invisible woman they got in their last pull, forgeting the Jean Grey they got the day before. Then command points were introduced and all these posters had to say about them is that they're sick of nodes giving 20 ISO rewards. A new character was introduced last weekend and the usual crowd started threads the next day complaining because they only won one cover.
It's like every new feature, every positive move is doomed to become a new issue that needs to be fixed in these posters eyes. It's like the players starting these threads are never sattisfied unless they are given Kool-aid resolutions like the second run of Galactus was.
There's plenty of room to improve in this game, I will not deny that. But most of the so-called "issues" are at best annoyances that all games have and at worst, lousy excuses for players who want to re-tool the game to their whims.
You mention FF. I checked that game out a while ago and it didn't catch my interest. Imagine if I went to their message board to demand it to be changed to suit my taste. That's just irrational. I'll say it again, MPQ tends to appeal the neurotic personality. Players who rejoice in their own misery are right at home here.0 -
Off topic but..
This should be in suggestions and feedback...
Feedback was given and suggestions were made, so I don't really understand
why are some topics quickly redirected but some like this are left. Its also very interesting recently how many of these topics have popped up with the same content yet some comments have been constructive and others have been so critical and ruthless. Omega red I can kind of see what you mean in your first paragraph.
There are things I would love to see changed in this game. In fact, I often say that with many games that I play. "If XXX was changed or XXX was different it would be awesome". What is unique about this game and other mobile games is that they have the opportunity to evolve. There has been so many changes to it since it first came out, some have been great, some not so much. Some changes have even made the game worse depending on your expectations. The key word is "it has the opportunity to". It doesn't mean it will regardless of what the community says. Bottom line is D3 will do what is in their best interest, not ours. If it isn't profitable or it dangers profitability it's not gonna happen. This game has tons of pros and cons. But at the end of the day it's a game which is something your supposed to enjoy. In my opinion if a game is giving you that much heartache or turning your life in a downward spiral, it maybe time to cut ties with it. If there is more negative feeling instead of joyful ones you have to say pertaining to it, it may not be for you. If you notice yourself not enjoying it at all, it's probably time to stop and find another hobby. Regardless of a player's passion and patience on certain matters if your not having fun, why put yourself through the misery? That's when it starts bordering addiction, which is a whole different topic all together.0
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