How to encourage QB players to level their planeswalkers

Unknown

At the moment, as we all know, it is advantageous in QuickBattles to use a low-level planeswalker. Some have complained about this on this forum, arguing that players should be encouraged to level up as in any other game. I want to suggest a very simple fix that would do this.

At the moment, when you start a QB, the game randomly selects an "opponent" roughly the same level as you. Solution: change it so that the last six words in that sentence no longer apply. You just meet a random opponent.

So anyone with a high-rank PW will cruise through a lot of easy matches, but a player with a low-level PW will often get mollocated by a high-rank deck, unless they level up too.

What do you think? Too brutal? It would be very easy to implement, probably one line of code to change.

Unknown

I'd rather see a system where people slightly benefit from leveling their PWs instead of one in which low PWs have a big disadvantage.
Also you don't really need a high level PW to beat a high level PW. And the HP aside they aren't often even that much better, because their abilities get more expensive. In the case of Lilliana it's getting even more ineffective.

Unknown

I'd rather not have to deal with games where my opponent has 90 health.

Unknown

cheveedodd wrote:

I'd rather not have to deal with games where my opponent has 90 health.

Sooooo much this. The Planewalker Leveling system makes sense for Story Mode. I like being able to make my Planeswalker stronger and able to take down more difficult opponents. The Planeswalker leveling system is 100% incompatible with the PvP mechanics.

Anyone with half a brain would've use the Pokemon Battle Tower model and just made all Quick Battles default to Level 50 Planewalkers abilities and HP. Why this already isn't in the game is truly baffling.

Unknown

ecoKady wrote:

cheveedodd wrote:

I'd rather not have to deal with games where my opponent has 90 health.

Sooooo much this. The Planewalker Leveling system makes sense for Story Mode. I like being able to make my Planeswalker stronger and able to take down more difficult opponents. The Planeswalker leveling system is 100% incompatible with the PvP mechanics.

Anyone with half a brain would've use the Pokemon Battle Tower model and just made all Quick Battles default to Level 50 Planewalkers abilities and HP. Why this already isn't in the game is truly baffling.

Quick battles are anything but quick. This is the reason I play with a level 10 planeswalker... not because I want to cheat the rewards system, but because I don't want to play 15 minute games.

Meto5000

cheveedodd wrote:

ecoKady wrote:

cheveedodd wrote:

I'd rather not have to deal with games where my opponent has 90 health.

Sooooo much this. The Planewalker Leveling system makes sense for Story Mode. I like being able to make my Planeswalker stronger and able to take down more difficult opponents. The Planeswalker leveling system is 100% incompatible with the PvP mechanics.

Anyone with half a brain would've use the Pokemon Battle Tower model and just made all Quick Battles default to Level 50 Planewalkers abilities and HP. Why this already isn't in the game is truly baffling.

Quick battles are anything but quick. This is the reason I play with a level 10 planeswalker... not because I want to cheat the rewards system, but because I don't want to play 15 minute games.

I don't level my Gideon because spending 3 more loyalty for "Flying" is not even close to worth it.

The_Leftist

They should do something. I think it would be neat to start bracketing players based on average plays per day. That way it comes down to who wins more (and for now, who crashes the least) and who can throw in a little bit more time. I think the players playing 200 matches a day should be forced to be bracketed together at least ocasionally.

Just an idea

Meto5000

The_Leftist wrote:

They should do something. I think it would be neat to start bracketing players based on average plays per day. That way it comes down to who wins more (and for now, who crashes the least) and who can throw in a little bit more time. I think the players playing 200 matches a day should be forced to be bracketed together at least occasionally.

Just an idea

I don't see how grouping everyone who plays the most together makes sense. If I had to play 200+ matches every 2 days in order to compete for 50th place I would quit this game in an instant. I actually think bracketing is fine right now - what's not fine is that my level 8 Gideon can play can complete 3-5 matches in the same amount of time as my level 50 Nissa takes to complete 1.

Unknown

The_Leftist wrote:

They should do something. I think it would be neat to start bracketing players based on average plays per day. That way it comes down to who wins more (and for now, who crashes the least) and who can throw in a little bit more time. I think the players playing 200 matches a day should be forced to be bracketed together at least ocasionally.

Just an idea

I don't think that this would work out quite as you think.

A lot of people wouldn't play as much as now if they have to compete with a lot of hardcore gamers.
Also a lot of people who play not that much now would play a lot more if they think they have a chance to get to place 1 to 6 so there will always be people fighting for first places.
Thanks to the different color rewards of the event most people would not put the same afford into every event.
Only a few people would go for the first places all the time.
So you would never get into a ladder where you can get first places with only a few games.

Unknown

I don't really have a problem with people that play more than me getting better prizes. Seems like a pretty good system given the limitations of their ladder.

I just don't like that it makes so much more sense to use my Level 2 Jace than my Level 50 Gideon to Quick Battle if I want to move up the ladder.

Upstartes

I would just like to see the system not reward the decks that kill the fastest.

Coming from paper Magic, I have always like that some decks win fast and others win slow, and you can pick which way you want to play.

If people don't want to fight against an opponent with 100 life, I think that's reasonable. I'd be fine if low-level PWs and high-level PWs were on an equal playing field. However, if I want to play a deck that takes control of the board first, then kills my opponent, I don't think I should be at a disadvantage against someone who has optimized their deck to kill as fast as possible. In Magic the Gathering, be it paper or Puzzle Quest, I would prefer both strategies to be reasonable choices.

Of course, making that a reality is tricky.

loroku

Upstartes wrote:

Of course, making that a reality is tricky.

Very true. The only thing that comes to mind would put more emphasis on win rate instead of win total, but that is horribly skewed right now because of all the crashing.

That said, win rate would presumably be higher with a higher-level PW (aside from constant crashing) since you'd have more health and get more mana per match.

Of course, you can't focus solely on win rate because then a person could just win one match and be done. There has to be some combination with win total, and then you're back to the beginning again.

Unknown

loroku wrote:

Upstartes wrote:

Of course, making that a reality is tricky.

Very true. The only thing that comes to mind would put more emphasis on win rate instead of win total, but that is horribly skewed right now because of all the crashing.

That said, win rate would presumably be higher with a higher-level PW (aside from constant crashing) since you'd have more health and get more mana per match.

Of course, you can't focus solely on win rate because then a person could just win one match and be done. There has to be some combination with win total, and then you're back to the beginning again.

Max 10 Quick Battles per day for 3 days? That would combine win percent with some base level of time investment. If you could choose to play a few slowy-control matches and punch through your other matches quickly. Crashes and bad luck can still prevent you from hitting the top of the leaderboard so it's still not a perfect solution.

Keegan

It's ethically ambiguous to do, but when checking in to collect a daily reward last night with an account that I've pretty much abandoned I noticed that you can wait to enter a QuickBattle event at any time, and you will be matched up with others who are also playing the event fresh.

This means that I saw someone win last night with only 15 reward points in 22 minutes.

This person (I assume) got a Mythic for their hard work

Unknown

loroku wrote:

That said, win rate would presumably be higher with a higher-level PW (aside from constant crashing) since you'd have more health and get more mana per match.

Your opponent does have more mana and hp too at higher levels. At higher levels you just can allow yourself a mistake or some bad luck from time to time.

With a good deck and good decisions you can pretty much win with a 100% rate at low level. At least without crashes.

Rolandofgilead

Ya I tend to keep my planes walkers at a lower level. I have tons of rares and a couple mythic and it's way easier. Is the rank reward for winning greater for higher level planeswalkers? Because thats the only reason I would level up.

loroku

Rolandofgilead wrote:

Ya I tend to keep my planes walkers at a lower level. I have tons of rares and a couple mythic and it's way easier. Is the rank reward for winning greater for higher level planeswalkers? Because thats the only reason I would level up.

I think that's the only way they'll be able to offset the time advantage - if higher levels actually gets you higher rewards.

Unfortunately the rewards are so small (3 currently) that even a 1 point gain is HUGE, so that will likely create a very large stepping stone effect - which will then just create an optimal level vs. reward point. For example, if you find that you can still win matches in 2 minutes at level 20 and get 3 points, but it takes 5 minutes at level 50 and you get 5 points, it's STILL better to remain at level 20.

It would be better if the rewards were already pretty big - like 50 points for a win - and then they could have a much more granular reward step. Like, for example: reward = 50+ level. That way level 20 vs. 50 is still a big gain, but there's no optimal spot (necessarily) between the two that you should stop at.

Unknown

Keegan wrote:

This person (I assume) got a Mythic for their hard work

And they're probably kicking themselves for not getting second place and the guaranteed rare instead.

Unknown

I think maybe certain types of cards should have level requirements. I can blast through other players with my level 4 Gideon because I've been able to build a deck with better cards that most players that level. It would level the playing field a bit by restricting the cards you have access to at lower levels. If everyone is using the same quality of cards, it will balance and rely more on skill.

Or they could just scale everyone to the same level during PvP matches. The PvP in this game really does not support the leveling system very well.

Unknown

You know what would make me want to level? If the game was even remotely challenging. I dont even heal my PW until I drop below 15 health because the only time I lose is to a bad draw or lucky cascade. Facing a PW 5 levels higher than me is only mildly annoying because I have to grind through more health.

If my win percentage dropped below 70% because of these higher-level matchups, then I might consider leveling.

Keegan

Eh, I dunno about the whole thing.

Is it fun to get in the top whatever you prefer, or to win? Sure. But what do you get? A couple thousand runes and a fat pack, with the bonus card a toss up. There are 20 cards in a FP, so it's about seven three-card boosters, a value of around 1500 runes. The prize pack total value is around 3500 runes.

Meanwhile, by playing QB for a few hours without stressing over winning, you can farm just as many runes as you'd like, up to and exceeding the value of the prize.

TL;DR Just think of Quick Battle as a rune farm and enjoy the easy winnings. If you happen to win, have fun complaining about the Mythic being not worth the time!