Prologue nodes now lock out?

Der_Lex

First of all, thanks to David for passing this on to the dev team. I realize it's a very specific subset of the community asking for this to be changed back, but considering the rather high average age of players in the 'tell us about yourself' thread, I think there are probably quite a few of us out there who play this game with young children when we're not busy slaving away for placement or progression.

Having the kids play easy Pve nodes instead is a possibility, but only if there isn't a new character release PvE going on, where there really isn't much room to mess about because you need those nigh-perfect clear times for placement (the fact that I took 2nd place in The Hunt by a mere 100 points was a prime example of that). PvP matchmaking makes messing around with just about any team that takes your fancy hard as well, since the game (rightfully) only looks at the fact that I have 6 L270+ characters on my roster and matches me to opponents accordingly... so the kids can't just use the characters they like instead of the ones that happen to be the most powerful.

That 'characters they like' is a key answer to the 'why don't you play another match-3 game then' question. Both of my girls love superheroes. It started with the oldest asking questions about the game that dad was sometimes playing on his iPad when they were busy playing on their own, and has now reached the point where she and her little sis look at every comic, watch every cartoon and play any game with these characters that they can get their hands on (I just got the oldest the Lego Avengers game for her birthday, and we've been having a blast playing that together, although everything but the free-roam stuff is unfortunately still a bit too difficult for the youngest). It's hard to describe to a non-parent how
awesome it is to share something you really enjoy with your kids, and to see them as enthusiastic about that as you are, if not more, but we wouldn't get quite the same experience from another Match-3 game.

Besides, I'm far from convinced that there's a valid, pressing reason to close off the prologue part of the game.

Leaving the nodes reward-less once the set rewards are gone, just like the new PvE nodes, is just fine, and would remove any worry about people farming prologue for ISO.

Prologue healing... is this even a thing anymore in any significant way? I've been here since the start of the game, and I'm all too aware of how much of an issue it was back when the likes of OBW still true healed, because it was used by players to get high scores by means of sustained play to a degree that was not intended by the devs. But with the way matchmaking, scoring and point loss now work in PvP, that really is no longer the case, because by the time you have prologue healed your X23 or OML, you'll already have lost a bazillion points (and if you shielded, you have plenty of time to regen enough health packs for your 2-3 match shield hops anyway). PvP high scores are decided by the amount of HP you're able/willing to spend on shields, LINE communication with your own alliance and/or other groups, and to a lesser degree how many L350+ 4/5* characters you have. True healing is no part of that.
It's not a factor in PvE either. The most you could get out of it, I guess, is maybe being able to finish a single run when you're low on health packs, but during that all-important final grind you have no time to prologue heal.

So in short (ha, as if I could ever be brief on anything. Almost as if I'm paid by the word for my day job ), I don't really see any game-breaking abuses that would remain in place by leaving the prologue open once all rewards are exhausted. Unless there's some part I'm missing, though, but then I'm sure somebody will be kind enough to enlighten me.

wirius

Der_Lex wrote:

First of all, thanks to David for passing this on to the dev team. I realize it's a very specific subset of the community asking for this to be changed back, but considering the rather high average age of players in the 'tell us about yourself' thread, I think there are probably quite a few of us out there who play this game with young children when we're not busy slaving away for placement or progression.

Having the kids play easy Pve nodes instead is a possibility, but only if there isn't a new character release PvE going on, where there really isn't much room to mess about because you need those nigh-perfect clear times for placement (the fact that I took 2nd place in The Hunt by a mere 100 points was a prime example of that). PvP matchmaking makes messing around with just about any team that takes your fancy hard as well, since the game (rightfully) only looks at the fact that I have 6 L270+ characters on my roster and matches me to opponents accordingly... so the kids can't just use the characters they like instead of the ones that happen to be the most powerful.

That 'characters they like' is a key answer to the 'why don't you play another match-3 game then' question. Both of my girls love superheroes. It started with the oldest asking questions about the game that dad was sometimes playing on his iPad when they were busy playing on their own, and has now reached the point where she and her little sis look at every comic, watch every cartoon and play any game with these characters that they can get their hands on (I just got the oldest the Lego Avengers game for her birthday, and we've been having a blast playing that together, although everything but the free-roam stuff is unfortunately still a bit too difficult for the youngest). It's hard to describe to a non-parent how
awesome it is to share something you really enjoy with your kids, and to see them as enthusiastic about that as you are, if not more, but we wouldn't get quite the same experience from another Match-3 game.

Besides, I'm far from convinced that there's a valid, pressing reason to close off the prologue part of the game.

Leaving the nodes reward-less once the set rewards are gone, just like the new PvE nodes, is just fine, and would remove any worry about people farming prologue for ISO.

Prologue healing... is this even a thing anymore in any significant way? I've been here since the start of the game, and I'm all too aware of how much of an issue it was back when the likes of OBW still true healed, because it was used by players to get high scores by means of sustained play to a degree that was not intended by the devs. But with the way matchmaking, scoring and point loss now work in PvP, that really is no longer the case, because by the time you have prologue healed your X23 or OML, you'll already have lost a bazillion points (and if you shielded, you have plenty of time to regen enough health packs for your 2-3 match shield hops anyway). PvP high scores are decided by the amount of HP you're able/willing to spend on shields, LINE communication with your own alliance and/or other groups, and to a lesser degree how many L350+ 4/5* characters you have. True healing is no part of that.
It's not a factor in PvE either. The most you could get out of it, I guess, is maybe being able to finish a single run when you're low on health packs, but during that all-important final grind you have no time to prologue heal.

So in short (ha, as if I could ever be brief on anything. Almost as if I'm paid by the word for my day job ), I don't really see any game-breaking abuses that would remain in place by leaving the prologue open once all rewards are exhausted. Unless there's some part I'm missing, though, but then I'm sure somebody will be kind enough to enlighten me.

Great points Der_Lex. If prologue healing isn't an issue, I have nothing against it. Regardless, I hope you continue to have fun with your daughter.

Der_Lex

wirius wrote:

Der_Lex wrote:

First of all, thanks to David for passing this on to the dev team. I realize it's a very specific subset of the community asking for this to be changed back, but considering the rather high average age of players in the 'tell us about yourself' thread, I think there are probably quite a few of us out there who play this game with young children when we're not busy slaving away for placement or progression.

Having the kids play easy Pve nodes instead is a possibility, but only if there isn't a new character release PvE going on, where there really isn't much room to mess about because you need those nigh-perfect clear times for placement (the fact that I took 2nd place in The Hunt by a mere 100 points was a prime example of that). PvP matchmaking makes messing around with just about any team that takes your fancy hard as well, since the game (rightfully) only looks at the fact that I have 6 L270+ characters on my roster and matches me to opponents accordingly... so the kids can't just use the characters they like instead of the ones that happen to be the most powerful.

That 'characters they like' is a key answer to the 'why don't you play another match-3 game then' question. Both of my girls love superheroes. It started with the oldest asking questions about the game that dad was sometimes playing on his iPad when they were busy playing on their own, and has now reached the point where she and her little sis look at every comic, watch every cartoon and play any game with these characters that they can get their hands on (I just got the oldest the Lego Avengers game for her birthday, and we've been having a blast playing that together, although everything but the free-roam stuff is unfortunately still a bit too difficult for the youngest). It's hard to describe to a non-parent how
awesome it is to share something you really enjoy with your kids, and to see them as enthusiastic about that as you are, if not more, but we wouldn't get quite the same experience from another Match-3 game.

Besides, I'm far from convinced that there's a valid, pressing reason to close off the prologue part of the game.

Leaving the nodes reward-less once the set rewards are gone, just like the new PvE nodes, is just fine, and would remove any worry about people farming prologue for ISO.

Prologue healing... is this even a thing anymore in any significant way? I've been here since the start of the game, and I'm all too aware of how much of an issue it was back when the likes of OBW still true healed, because it was used by players to get high scores by means of sustained play to a degree that was not intended by the devs. But with the way matchmaking, scoring and point loss now work in PvP, that really is no longer the case, because by the time you have prologue healed your X23 or OML, you'll already have lost a bazillion points (and if you shielded, you have plenty of time to regen enough health packs for your 2-3 match shield hops anyway). PvP high scores are decided by the amount of HP you're able/willing to spend on shields, LINE communication with your own alliance and/or other groups, and to a lesser degree how many L350+ 4/5* characters you have. True healing is no part of that.
It's not a factor in PvE either. The most you could get out of it, I guess, is maybe being able to finish a single run when you're low on health packs, but during that all-important final grind you have no time to prologue heal.

So in short (ha, as if I could ever be brief on anything. Almost as if I'm paid by the word for my day job ), I don't really see any game-breaking abuses that would remain in place by leaving the prologue open once all rewards are exhausted. Unless there's some part I'm missing, though, but then I'm sure somebody will be kind enough to enlighten me.

Great points Der_Lex. If prologue healing isn't an issue, I have nothing against it. Regardless, I hope you continue to have fun with your daughter.

Thanks, man. It's appreciated.

At the moment, they're both really happy to see Nova added to the game (definitely their favorite addition to the game since Phoenix, who the oldest fell in love with when I taught her how to play Marvel versus Capcom). Hopefully they'll add White Tiger at some point to round out the Spider-Man cartoon crew.

TLCstormz

People are so nosey. Lord.....

puppychow

i've started using the ddq nodes as a substitute for prologue healing.

CaptainFrugal

I have mixed feelings on the recent update. First I am happy to see the rewards system update, I hated beating a mission 8 times and paying 100+ISO on boosts each time and never getting the command point. I beat one mission 8 times and gave up without ever getting the command point.
The negative is the prologue lockout. First I loved using it to test characters and teams, second it was nice to mess around and get a some small amount of ISO as a reward. Without the prologue I can't play my lower level characters because they will be decimated.
With that point it may prevent the very thing they wanted to achieve, generating money. I was going to purchase some coins again to expand my roster but now with the new system I have no reason to since I might as well ditch the covers for ISO because I will get them again long before leveling the characters.

Overall I find the change good and bad, but I feel that it will leave me playing the game less.

onthebrink

Nate7671 wrote:

I also liked the prologue to get my Deadpool whale points......

I used it for that & also healing up my Old Man Logan with Die Hard ability. Has definitely slowed down my multiplayer.