Meh

Dragon_Nexus

Bryan Lambert wrote:

The math dictates that players who don't pay will continue to fall behind, and falling behind is a great way to negate any feelings of actual progression.

I feel like I fell behind months ago, only I didn't realise it until recently.

I liked the legendary token idea but I came to realise it requires so much time and effort to get *one* random 4*. I know that if I open one and it's a 5* I'll be disappointed. Don'r need them, don't even want them really. It'll be something that takes *even longer* to level up and would screw up my scaling even more.

Know how far behind I am? This month I finally got 13 covers for Invisible Woman. I've been playing for 700 days. Still only have 11 covers for XFW. 12 for Elektra and Nick Fury. After that it just drops off down to 8 covers, then 6, then 5, then 4 and so on. Hulkbuster's been out since March and I have 6 covers for him, not a single red.

I got Ironfist purple last week, completing my 3* roster. I have 5 characters that aren't level 166 and I have no idea what I'm going to do to progress when they are finally maxed out. I want to level up my 4*s, but what's the point when the only competitive ones are Invisible Woman, Elektra, Thoress, Nick Fury and sort-of X-Force Wolvie? All the squishy meh ones.

Oh and Devil Dino. Whooopie.

DaveR4470

I'm day 454, and I have 3 9-cover 4*s -- Thoress and X-Wolvie, and Double D. Also an 8-cover Nick, and then I'm down to 5-cover Ant, IW, and Prof. Every other 4* I have (and I actually do have most of them) is 4 covers or less.

The only remotely usable ones from that group in PvP are Thoress and X-Force. Nick just doesn't cut it unless he's fully covered, and even then there are better 3* choices. The others are usable in PvE when boosted, but that's about it.

Meanwhile, I've got 3 5*s, including a 4-cover Surfer. Arguably, there's no justification for my having any endgame-level characters when my 4* roster is as undeveloped as it is.

But I solder on, a boat against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past....

TxMoose

TxMoose wrote:

DaveR4470 wrote:

to develop a 5* roster (without massive expenditure), you have to have a well-developed 4* roster, and to develop a 4* roster, you... have to have a well-developed 4* roster.

one small point - and to develop a 4* roster quickly, you... have to have a well-developed 4* roster, or at least a key pair for pvp. slower development can certainly happen via pve and 1K. 1300 is pretty difficult without a good 4* pair. that is how I started my transition - 1K and after LTs were intro'ed, pve (that is 4-5 covers a week, plus any token pulls). and you don't have to have 4*s for that. and the more you do that, the more 4*s you'll get, then you'll start beating the 4* ddq node and it develops from there. it is significantly slower than 3* transition, but to start with 4-5 covers/week and then add from there as your roster strengthens, I didn't find it horribly slow. full disclosure I did spend hp on 3 of my jeanbuster's covers, that sped the process along too. without that my hb would be at 4/5/4 and jean at 4/4/5.

i thought about this last night and when I started my 4* transition (approximately around September/October timeframe), there were ~fifteen 4* characters. those fifteen characters are pretty well covered now and the last 6-8 characters are not so hot (other than rulk maybe, -/5/- can be useful on him). now, with all the additional dilution of token pulls and not adding any significant 4* cover rewards (other than cp, which isn't significant anyway), this transition is lengthening continually. those same 5-7 covers/week that I was able to maintain actually doesn't go as far with more and more characters added to the pool. I really think it is overdue to revamp the rewards system for the 4* transition and the rng nature of the 5* transition has been total **** from the get-go. after thinking about it, I better understand the frustration of those currently entering the 4* transition. all I can say is keep plugging away. it will happen, but might take longer than some took before you. one day I realized that I had a large group getting covered randomly and relatively evenly - I had 8-10 characters all entering usability around the same time. while it might take the current early transitioner longer, they will likely enter with 12-15 characters coming along all at once. anyway, just wanted to add these thoughts.

rollx

I have to say I completely agree with the sentiments of this post. For a while now, I have been asking myself, "why am I still playing this game?" I had so much fun with it back when I was a "casual". I would hop on, do my grind and be done with it. But I didn't get anywhere. "I'm in first place this entire event and now suddenly I'm in 27th. What the hell!?!" I would tell myself.

I started to get frustrated. Given my personality, I didn't quit, I couldn't quit, so I turned to the forums. You guys have been such a saving grace for me (at last at that time). I finally found out that I can't grind a node to 1 just 12 hours into an event, I had to play each node once every 8 hours. I realized that I should probably stop leveling my 133 3* magneto when everyone else is level 94. Shield hopping? Yes, please! What a difference that made in my scoring! I was so excited the first time I got top 10 in a pve event, even more so when I made 2nd place in a PVP event. But at the same time, this information was my downfall.

I quickly learned that I would have to plan my 7 day events around my work and life schedule. "Honey, I can't go to the 10 o'clock movie when I need to grind at 11. Can we see the 7 o'clock showing instead?" would be something that was typical. But what could I do? I was at the mercy of the game and the way it was developed. I can't level 434 xforce wolverine to the level I want? I guess that makes sense... Once I gained all this knowledge of how to maximize my gaming experience, I couldn't go back to being a "filthy casual". So I continued to play, and I placed well, and helped my alliance. I was finally getting somewhere. Blew through the 2*- 3* transition. Made it to the 3* to 4* transition in no time. Now I'm in the 4* to 5* transition. And that's when I became spiteful. Why aren't the developers listening to us? Another 7 day event? Why is this 4* and 5* character drop rate so terrible? I was looking forward to this anniversary, why is it so bad? What are they thinking? There is an exploit to get the covers you want, I don't blame them... WHY ARE THEY NOT LISTENING TO US!?!?!

Then I had an epiphany. That simple question I asked my self a few times throughout the course of the game. "Why am I still playing this game?" I've decided I've had enough. I previously told myself that when this "big change" comes that they have been alluding to things will be different. But they post-poned it. Mid way through a pve event, I stopped grinding. I didn't set my alarm to wake up early to hit my grind. I slept in. And it was wonderful. I felt I had the power back. I was no longer at the mercy of this "broken" system. Am I every going to move out of the 4* to 5* transition again? Probably not, but I didn't care.

What I'm getting at is that I was a hardcore player. I played and played and played. I spend a good amount of money on the game. But after hitting my head against the wall so many times, I had a metaphorical concussion. I'm done with this game. They don't listen to feedback. They just don't care. Or at least that's the message I have received.

Maybe I'll try out Marvel Future Flight or Magic The Gathering puzzle quest instead...