Thoughts from a Returned Player
Punisher5784
Posts: 3,845 Chairperson of the Boards
Hello everyone. Most of you may recall I retired back in mid January just as Championing was rolling out. I was frustrated I could no longer have duplicate characters because it helped me preserve healthpacks (among other frustrations of the game). This was resolved by D3 shortly after and they did contact me but I had no desire to return... until now.
Surprisingly I did not just retire from MPQ, but all video games in general. It was not until a little mobile game called Pokemon Go came out that caught my attention (I'm sure most of you are laughing
). As good as the game is, it can only be played on the Go but not when I'm in bed or not moving so I was considering playing videogames on my spare time (I bought Deus Ex: Mankind Divided). I have been reading the forums at work while I am bored to see the changes and state of the game. One particular change drove me to come back.. SHIELD Rank. I love the fact you can now level up just by playing the game. To me, SHIELD Rank is right next to DDQ as one of the best implemented features in the game.
While playing I noticed a ton of new changes so I am writing my thoughts on positives and negatives of MPQ below (enjoy):
Positives:
Neutral:
Negatives:
Horrible:
This is just a few things off the top of my head. I am sure there is more (speed of new characters has not slowed down) but overall I like and appreciate alot of the improvements the devs have made to MPQ even if there are still some lingering issues but you cannot please everyone (and I am hard to please haha). With that said, it is good to be back and I look forward to the third Anniversary! Will it be as amazing as the first one or dreadful like the second one?! I expect 6* Thanos for everyone!
Surprisingly I did not just retire from MPQ, but all video games in general. It was not until a little mobile game called Pokemon Go came out that caught my attention (I'm sure most of you are laughing
). As good as the game is, it can only be played on the Go but not when I'm in bed or not moving so I was considering playing videogames on my spare time (I bought Deus Ex: Mankind Divided). I have been reading the forums at work while I am bored to see the changes and state of the game. One particular change drove me to come back.. SHIELD Rank. I love the fact you can now level up just by playing the game. To me, SHIELD Rank is right next to DDQ as one of the best implemented features in the game.While playing I noticed a ton of new changes so I am writing my thoughts on positives and negatives of MPQ below (enjoy):
Positives:
+ My old Alliance took me back: This is more of a personal positive but I wanted to thank Stampcollectors for immediately taking me back. We finished Round 7 of both CW sides to grab the 4* covers, they have not missed a step and I commend them for staying strong. It is good to be back and they made me feel welcomed. While I'm on the Alliance topic, I am so happy to see the increased Alliance daily Iso from 10 to 100.
+No More 20 Iso!: I never thought this day would come! The elimination of 20 Iso is amazing. We can now earn all rewards from PVE nodes (increased from 4 to 7!). I also love that they removed the random rewards and it's more structured (Command Point at 4th completion). This definitely makes PVE less frustrating to play.
+ PVE: I actually like the new PVE format. Most of you may disagree and maybe it's because I was not playing during the numerous PVE changes and tests throughout the year (I believe there was about 8!). I like that I can play at my own pace, although it is best to beat each node 4x then 2x later on, it seems pretty good so far. I placed 54 in the Heroics PVE which I was happy about considering I did not have Spider-Woman. I also like the scaling.. not so much fighting crazy hard enemies but the fact that the game shows you the scaling! I was shocked to watch a screen show the enemy levels increase after I beat the node. No more surprises about crazy scaling later, we can now see what it will be. I still wish they rewarded more 4*s outside of T10 (1%). I am missing all the new 4*'s after Venom so PVE 4* essentials will be an issue for me personally. Overall I think PVE is in the right direction, even if it's not straight progression rewards like we've been asking.
+ Reward Screen Pop-Up: I made this suggestion to the devs over a year ago. Everytime I received rewards, it would freeze or slow down the game. Now you get one screen with everything you won. I love this and I have not noticed a problem yet.
+ Selling Covers: OMG THANK YOU! This has been the most requested change.. sorting covers to sell easier. Now I can sort by 1*s and sell all. This use to be such a time consuming process to manage all the unused covers. I love this.. now get rid of the cover expirations
+ DDQ: When I first read that DDQ was changing to a random set of battles, I was worried for everyone especially with added Ultron Sentries and Venom Symbiotes. It was nice knowing who you were up against, even if it did become very boring. However, I find DDQ much easier now! I can beat DDQ with any team now instead of using the same 2-3 teams everyday.
+ NO MORE CRIT BOOSTS!: FINALLY! I like the Mystery Boosts, even though it still gives you boosts that are Full as opposed to ones you need but still, anything is better than straight up Crit Boosts since most of us never need them. Thank you!
+No More 20 Iso!: I never thought this day would come! The elimination of 20 Iso is amazing. We can now earn all rewards from PVE nodes (increased from 4 to 7!). I also love that they removed the random rewards and it's more structured (Command Point at 4th completion). This definitely makes PVE less frustrating to play.
+ PVE: I actually like the new PVE format. Most of you may disagree and maybe it's because I was not playing during the numerous PVE changes and tests throughout the year (I believe there was about 8!). I like that I can play at my own pace, although it is best to beat each node 4x then 2x later on, it seems pretty good so far. I placed 54 in the Heroics PVE which I was happy about considering I did not have Spider-Woman. I also like the scaling.. not so much fighting crazy hard enemies but the fact that the game shows you the scaling! I was shocked to watch a screen show the enemy levels increase after I beat the node. No more surprises about crazy scaling later, we can now see what it will be. I still wish they rewarded more 4*s outside of T10 (1%). I am missing all the new 4*'s after Venom so PVE 4* essentials will be an issue for me personally. Overall I think PVE is in the right direction, even if it's not straight progression rewards like we've been asking.
+ Reward Screen Pop-Up: I made this suggestion to the devs over a year ago. Everytime I received rewards, it would freeze or slow down the game. Now you get one screen with everything you won. I love this and I have not noticed a problem yet.
+ Selling Covers: OMG THANK YOU! This has been the most requested change.. sorting covers to sell easier. Now I can sort by 1*s and sell all. This use to be such a time consuming process to manage all the unused covers. I love this.. now get rid of the cover expirations
+ DDQ: When I first read that DDQ was changing to a random set of battles, I was worried for everyone especially with added Ultron Sentries and Venom Symbiotes. It was nice knowing who you were up against, even if it did become very boring. However, I find DDQ much easier now! I can beat DDQ with any team now instead of using the same 2-3 teams everyday.
+ NO MORE CRIT BOOSTS!: FINALLY! I like the Mystery Boosts, even though it still gives you boosts that are Full as opposed to ones you need but still, anything is better than straight up Crit Boosts since most of us never need them. Thank you!
Neutral:
+/- Level-Up Button: This has been a consistent compliant from me since I first started playing over 2-years ago. I thought I read the devs finally made a +1 level button but the old one still exists, however it is faster and easier to level than previously so this is suffice.
+/- Improved Characters: I was originally going to place this into Negatives but I understand why the devs have not improved many characters despite our constant pleas (no $$ for them). They started off good by improving Quicksilver and an even better job with IM40 then nothing.. what happened? I thought they were going to start improving other characters such as Psylocke, 3* Punisher, IW, etc. The biggest disappointment is 3* Spiderman, who had a character redesign (which looks really good) but no changes to his abilities. Instead we have 1* Spidey, 5* BSS, and 4*'s Spider-Gwen, Spider-Ham, Spiderwoman... list goes on. I get that he is a support character but come on! Every other Spiderman makes him look laughable.
+/- Roster View: The Roster can now be viewed by scrolling left and right as opposed to clicking the arrow back and forth. While this is a positive changes, it's not what we want. It would be great if we can sort our Roster by Star Tier or even by our Favorites, as opposed to the Default view of Highest Level. Pokemon Go gives the players multiple options to sort their Pokemon, I do not see why MPQ cannot do the same, especially with with all the characters in the game. We are now able to sort covers to sell by Star Tier, so apply it to the Roster now!
+/- VIP: I would have liked to have seen better rewards from VIP but it does not scream "Buy me Punisher, buy me now". While the initial month is not terrible (especially for new players), it's the VIP Streak that could entice players, but it's only +1 Commander.. woo-freaking-hoo. The streak should have increased rewards each month you renew such as 15% Iso and HP increase, 1 roster slot, LT instead of Heroic after 6-months.. something better than they have currently in-place.
+/- Improved Characters: I was originally going to place this into Negatives but I understand why the devs have not improved many characters despite our constant pleas (no $$ for them). They started off good by improving Quicksilver and an even better job with IM40 then nothing.. what happened? I thought they were going to start improving other characters such as Psylocke, 3* Punisher, IW, etc. The biggest disappointment is 3* Spiderman, who had a character redesign (which looks really good) but no changes to his abilities. Instead we have 1* Spidey, 5* BSS, and 4*'s Spider-Gwen, Spider-Ham, Spiderwoman... list goes on. I get that he is a support character but come on! Every other Spiderman makes him look laughable.
+/- Roster View: The Roster can now be viewed by scrolling left and right as opposed to clicking the arrow back and forth. While this is a positive changes, it's not what we want. It would be great if we can sort our Roster by Star Tier or even by our Favorites, as opposed to the Default view of Highest Level. Pokemon Go gives the players multiple options to sort their Pokemon, I do not see why MPQ cannot do the same, especially with with all the characters in the game. We are now able to sort covers to sell by Star Tier, so apply it to the Roster now!
+/- VIP: I would have liked to have seen better rewards from VIP but it does not scream "Buy me Punisher, buy me now". While the initial month is not terrible (especially for new players), it's the VIP Streak that could entice players, but it's only +1 Commander.. woo-freaking-hoo. The streak should have increased rewards each month you renew such as 15% Iso and HP increase, 1 roster slot, LT instead of Heroic after 6-months.. something better than they have currently in-place.
Negatives:
- Roster Slots: 1000 for a slot is still high! I have 93 slots, that is alot of HP I used for slots, some I paid for, some from earning HP but overall it's costly. The devs made a statement over a year ago they would improve roster slots but nothing has changed. There are so many characters clogging up spots (5*'s with 1 cover). While HP is only used for slots and tokens (among other things) now, I would have liked to have seen a reduced cost or even a roster slot sale at 750. If VIP gave you 1000 HP per month then maybe it wouldn't be so bad but of course it does not.
- Time Slices: I am disappointed that time slices have not changed. I love the original time slices that were introduced but then the devs decided to change the times based on a random survey that less than 100 players participated in before time slices were implemented. I live in NY and anyone from eastern USA can tell you these time slices are horrible for anyone who works a regular 8-5 job. I was hoping the devs would have changed the time slices again (once a year) or added a new time slice but it's still the same.
- PVP: Too be honest, I have only played a few lightning rounds since I returned and I have not joined Season XXXI. However, my complaint is nothing has changed though. The reward structure is the same, the lame Iso Skip tax is the same, the matchmaking is still brutal. I hope SHIELD Rank alleviates the frustrating of PVP by separating us by SHIELD Rank, but I wonder if players would start "soft-capping" their Rank to stay in an easier PVP matchmaking like players have done with softcapping their characters, it's possible if unlikely but just a thought.
- 4* DDQ: I hate this stupid node with a passion! It is still nearly impossible to complete unless your 4* has the right amount of covers. I understand it is supposed to be a challenge but it just reminds me of playing old NES or arcades games.. "you're supposed to lose". Below is my wonderful journey of defeating Starlord with my undercovered Miles:
My Miles was 2/0/2 but I heard this is winnable by staying invisible, which is easier said then done when you need another 14 Purple AP to return invisible. First time I fought him without any boosts and he had 500 HP left! Awesome I can do this! 6 fights later and I was ready to throw my phone. I noticed there was a Yellow Miles cover in my DDQ vault and I had 55 tokens. It was a gamble but after 40 tokens, I opened the Yellow Miles and I leveled him to the full 94! Awesome, at least now I can make some web tiles to increase his purple swing damage and make purple AP. Nope, still a problem! I got him down to 66 HP.. 66 HP.. yes 66 HP then his purple CD went off (see pic) below. 5 more fights later and I was going to fight him one last time.. I finally did it, barely but I did it! I earned my LT and opened.. Totally Awesome Hulk.. just kidding I got Thing yellow, now 2/1/1.
- Time Slices: I am disappointed that time slices have not changed. I love the original time slices that were introduced but then the devs decided to change the times based on a random survey that less than 100 players participated in before time slices were implemented. I live in NY and anyone from eastern USA can tell you these time slices are horrible for anyone who works a regular 8-5 job. I was hoping the devs would have changed the time slices again (once a year) or added a new time slice but it's still the same.
- PVP: Too be honest, I have only played a few lightning rounds since I returned and I have not joined Season XXXI. However, my complaint is nothing has changed though. The reward structure is the same, the lame Iso Skip tax is the same, the matchmaking is still brutal. I hope SHIELD Rank alleviates the frustrating of PVP by separating us by SHIELD Rank, but I wonder if players would start "soft-capping" their Rank to stay in an easier PVP matchmaking like players have done with softcapping their characters, it's possible if unlikely but just a thought.
- 4* DDQ: I hate this stupid node with a passion! It is still nearly impossible to complete unless your 4* has the right amount of covers. I understand it is supposed to be a challenge but it just reminds me of playing old NES or arcades games.. "you're supposed to lose". Below is my wonderful journey of defeating Starlord with my undercovered Miles:
My Miles was 2/0/2 but I heard this is winnable by staying invisible, which is easier said then done when you need another 14 Purple AP to return invisible. First time I fought him without any boosts and he had 500 HP left! Awesome I can do this! 6 fights later and I was ready to throw my phone. I noticed there was a Yellow Miles cover in my DDQ vault and I had 55 tokens. It was a gamble but after 40 tokens, I opened the Yellow Miles and I leveled him to the full 94! Awesome, at least now I can make some web tiles to increase his purple swing damage and make purple AP. Nope, still a problem! I got him down to 66 HP.. 66 HP.. yes 66 HP then his purple CD went off (see pic) below. 5 more fights later and I was going to fight him one last time.. I finally did it, barely but I did it! I earned my LT and opened.. Totally Awesome Hulk.. just kidding I got Thing yellow, now 2/1/1.
Horrible:
- - - Totally Awesome Hulk: YOU SUCK!!
This is just a few things off the top of my head. I am sure there is more (speed of new characters has not slowed down) but overall I like and appreciate alot of the improvements the devs have made to MPQ even if there are still some lingering issues but you cannot please everyone (and I am hard to please haha). With that said, it is good to be back and I look forward to the third Anniversary! Will it be as amazing as the first one or dreadful like the second one?! I expect 6* Thanos for everyone!
0
Comments
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well written and all observations are completely on point. +10
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Welcome back and congrats on Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - it's my current addiction and I love almost everything about it - copious amounts of lore/email to read, non-violent resolution options for most situations, lengthy interactive dialog sequences, hacking, configurable mines, interesting characters, point-of-interest/Prague architecture, etc. Plus CATS! I have a crush on cat lady Daria.
Regarding Horrible: There's a circulating myth that the character is so bad because Demi was forced to include the character and thus was intentionally made awful - I have no idea if it is true (and if it is it's more of a cruel joke on the game players, not Marvel), but he is bad enough to make this seem plausible. He's original X-Force/Invisible woman bad. I recently fought my first maxed Cho, and he was pitiful. Pathetic damage, charged tiles that helped me more than the enemy, and he never did get a board that let him cast Hot Dog Stand even once. I saved him for last and purposely held off killing him to see if he could do something... anything... and he was a complete waste of space. I ended up downing him out of pity with a Moonstone team-up power.0 -
Welcome back! I returned a few months ago myself and found that playing at a casual pace is nice. And the way things are structured now it's also possible to still progress without grinding. Hope your return is a comfortable casual pace. Again welcome back. 0
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Hey! Quit bullying Cho!0
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Welcome back man.0
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