MPQ Player Types (Or What Kind of MPQ Player Are You?)

MPQ_Daywalker

What do you enjoy about Marvel Puzzle Quest? What drives you to keep playing? I expect everyone enjoys match-3 puzzle games -- otherwise you would have uninstalled the game before getting through Day 1. You may also be a fan of Marvel comics/TV shows/movies. I propose that all MPQ players have two main personality traits, and how much you are of one than the other defines how you approach the game as well as how you view changes to it.

The Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology attempts to categorize gamers by seeing how they fit into four categories, devised by MMO pioneer Richard Bartle. Similarly, the book Play by Stuart Brown, M.D. and Christopher Vaughn talks about eight different play personality types. The two types I think that apply to MPQ are the Collector and the Competitor (as Brown/Vaughn name them; the Bartle versions of these two types are Achievers and Killers). Very few people will be all of one type; you're likely more of one than the other, but driven by both.

The Collector
The Collector in MPQ is the player who strives to get every character (or as many as they have roster space for) and then proceed to level them up (either one by one, in groups, or evenly across their roster). They're aiming for a great roster and thoroughly enjoy the collection process. They want newly released characters just because they don't have them yet.

The Competitor
The Competitor in MPQ lives for the competitive side of the game. Aiming for #1 or top ten finishes in either part of the game (PVE/Story or PVP/Vs.). They want new characters because if they don't have them, they might lose their competitive edge.

How you view changes to MPQ is largely dependent on which personality trait you most lean toward.

Championing, for example, is a giant win for Collectors. The Collectors were already collecting every character and maxing them out as they went. They now not only get rewards for doing so but will continue to get rewards, including more covers to collect (until all of their Champions get maxed). The Competitors, however, may view Championing as a detriment to the game. In their need to be competitive, they may have skipped over entire * tiers of characters, or only maxed out a few characters to focus on the ones that have meant the most to PVP.

Similarly, the move to not being able to purchase individual covers with HP is viewed differently by Collectors and Competitors. Collectors may be happy to just get the covers as they get them in the game, but if you're more of a Competitor, you're more willing to purchase the last one (or more) covers for a character just to be more competitive in PVP.

What kind of MPQ player are you?

(EDIT: Added a quick and simple poll.)

MPQ_Daywalker

Personally, I'm much more of a Collector than a Competitor (I'd say maybe 80% Collector, 20% Competitor?). I've competed in PVE and continue to compete in PVP, but I've never been hardcore about it. I realize that no matter much time I put in (4 or more clears in a PVE sub, for example), there are always others who are willing to put in way more time and effort than I am to get the top prizes and I'm totally fine with that. I take a Top 100 prize for a new character, or may just farm a PVE for ISO, or aim for the LT progression reward. Placement is not something I am generally striving for.

I started MPQ about a year after it launched so my roster has always been behind the top players -- I was still working on my 3*s when the top players were maxing out XFW and Goddess Thor before their nerfs. Now, on Day 512, I have 22 maxed 3*s with 3 more coming up soon, 15 of which are currently championed. I struggle after 800 in PVP because everyone's running maxed 4*s, but I'm fine with slowly building my 4* roster, just like I slowly built my 3* roster.

Malcrof

I am a completionist (collector), but to do that, you have to be semi-competitive.. it goes hand in hand.

Unknown

i try to be the collector, but i dont have enough roster slots. So i am the wanna be collector.

KingDreadnaught

The Mega Whale.

MPQ_Daywalker

Frasaria wrote:

i try to be the collector, but i dont have enough roster slots. So i am the wanna be collector.

Aye, there's the rub. The only HP I've ever purchased in the game has been for roster slots. I've spent $40 since I started, just for more slots.

And really, since roster slots are the resource that appeals to both the Collector and the Competitor for new characters, they've got us shelling out either way for more slots, don't they? I haven't purchased HP for some time as I've been earning/winning enough to get by, but as of right now, I only have one 5*; if I happen to pull OML, SS and Black Suit Spidey (BSS?) I won't have enough HP to roster them.

MPQ_Daywalker

KingDreadnaught wrote:

The Mega Whale.

Nice. You are definitely the one everyone looks to for that descriptor. Sometimes my 12-year-old son likes to pull up your roster just to goggle over what you've gotten lately.

What does drive you to do it, though? Is it more that you have a burning need to collect all the characters and covers, or did you just always want the most super-competitive team?

KingDreadnaught

I love this game and I always want to challenge with other high end competitors. Also to be one of the first to test characters and analyze it for my alliance and friends. Based from your question, I'm probably not a collector but to build the hi-end competitive roster.

jigawatt

all competitor all day did nothing but buy covers this Power Upgrade update is **** **** them oh well

jackstar0

c. Casual

I'll collect and compete when it amuses me to do so... but it's all about fun. When it stops being fun, I'll stop playing. But matching jewels just hits a happy place in my brain and super-heroes are fun!

puppychow

I have every character except for 5* spidey. That makes me a collector, easily.

mpqr7

More collector than competitor. I generally aim for 1500+ in pvp, but that's more so that I'll be able to stay in my current alliance, rather than because I must have super high scores. I could probably get to 2000+, but then I'd need to spend a ton of money to have HP for endless shields, and to me, it's just not worth it. Top scores in a season only gets you a little better prize than lower scores (some extra tokens, hp and cp for a month of grueling work), plus it depends on if you're in a n00b season or a pro season.

So anyway I do pretty well in pvp so that I can stay in a good alliance that wins lots of hp and covers for me. If I were in a worse alliance, I wouldn't win as much of that sweet, sweet alliance goodness, so it would be slower for me to make progress.

But once I hit that 1500+ score, I'm usually good to go, and I don't need to go nutz and try to eat every single cupcake and/or jg/hb team out there. I know I'll never/rarely make first place or even probably top 10 or 25, but top 50 (or lower in tough brackets) is good enough for me!

Marvelfamily

Collector.

I see it on the long way with playing MPQ. If there is time, I'm engaged to achieve my goals, but not Top Ten with using Shield Hopping etc.

I have a life with kids and my cat... not only gaming.