S.H.I.E.L.D. Clearance Level: Event Rewards Preview *Updated

Punisher5784

The more I look at the rewards the more I realize that Elite tokens really replaced Heroic tokens, not Standard..

Although my 4* pull from heroics isn't desirable at least I know I have a chance to pull a 4*. This really sucks.

DAC169

Could someone remind me why we even have "Elite" tokens? Why nerf Heroic tokens & call it a buff? The only new token we needed was something between Heroic & Legendary - large chance of 3*, small chance of 4*, miniscule chance of 5*.

various people wrote:

something to the effect of "calm down" or "put the pitchforks & torches away"

We have enough information to know that all but the highest currently available Clearance Level is a GIGANTIC NERF to placement rewards, and nothing to show that CL7 is not gonna be a nerf either. Unless it's because they're working towards removing placement rewards & putting them all into progressions (ProTip: NEVER GONNA HAPPEN!!), that's more than enough reason to be pissed.

GurlBYE

DAC169 wrote:

Could someone remind me why we even have "Elite" tokens? Why nerf Heroic tokens & call it a buff? The only new token we needed was something between Heroic & Legendary - large chance of 3*, small chance of 4*, miniscule chance of 5*.

various people wrote:

something to the effect of "calm down" or "put the pitchforks & torches away"

We have enough information to know that all but the highest currently available Clearance Level is a GIGANTIC NERF to placement rewards, and nothing to show that CL7 is not gonna be a nerf either. Unless it's because they're working towards removing placement rewards & putting them all into progressions (ProTip: NEVER GONNA HAPPEN!!), that's more than enough reason to be pissed.

Elite replaces standard.

heroics remain the same.

We really have to see 7 because it could make or break my progress the next few events.

Seeing these, im hoping it has at least 1 or 2 progressions 4's and cp

Vhailorx

DAC169 wrote:

Could someone remind me why we even have "Elite" tokens? Why nerf Heroic tokens & call it a buff? The only new token we needed was something between Heroic & Legendary - large chance of 3*, small chance of 4*, miniscule chance of 5*.

various people wrote:

something to the effect of "calm down" or "put the pitchforks & torches away"

We have enough information to know that all but the highest currently available Clearance Level is a GIGANTIC NERF to placement rewards, and nothing to show that CL7 is not gonna be a nerf either. Unless it's because they're working towards removing placement rewards & putting them all into progressions (ProTip: NEVER GONNA HAPPEN!!), that's more than enough reason to be pissed.

Losing 250 placement covers is worth adding 1000 prog covers. This is a huge player-friendly change. Everyone hates grinding for competitive placement in "pve" mode anyway. Don't lose sight of the positive. But do keep pointing out the very real negatives.

Spudgutter

Vhailorx wrote:

Akari wrote:

Holy cow, I and many others likely considered dropping clearance levels just for easier 3* rewards, but it looks like CL6 has **** for rewards even compared to current pve system. This is 0 steps forward, 10 steps back. Even if CL7 is the same system of rewards as current pve (4* covers at t10 t5 t1), all this does is make the game even more super competitive, which I'm already getting sick of.

If these rewards are finalized and released tomorrow for DP vs MPQ, my playtime is gonna drop significantly. To zero.

This is more negative than I think is warranted. Yes, a total of 250ish 3* covers are disappearing from placement (101-200 All lose 1 cover, 51-100 lose 2, 2-50 All get fewer). But 1000 players all have access to a second cover from progs. That's a net gain for players.

The cl6 rewards are underwhelming for players trying to reach 4* land. But they are actually a bit better than the current rewards for 3* players.

Cl7 might not be everything we wanted, but it's not immediately clear that clearance levels are a disaster from this info.

But why roll out a new program with a negative? Top 200 was already getting two guaranteed 3* from progression and placement. The same person now still only gets two 3* with a 24% chance of an additional 3* cover. Would it break the system that much to keep the reward structure the same, and still introduce the additional cover to progression?

broll

DAC169 wrote:

Could someone remind me why we even have "Elite" tokens? Why nerf Heroic tokens & call it a buff? The only new token we needed was something between Heroic & Legendary - large chance of 3*, small chance of 4*, miniscule chance of 5*.

various people wrote:

something to the effect of "calm down" or "put the pitchforks & torches away"

We have enough information to know that all but the highest currently available Clearance Level is a GIGANTIC NERF to placement rewards, and nothing to show that CL7 is not gonna be a nerf either. Unless it's because they're working towards removing placement rewards & putting them all into progressions (ProTip: NEVER GONNA HAPPEN!!), that's more than enough reason to be pissed.

A nerf for the people at the top who shouldn't be playing in that rank. One of the biggest mistakes I thought they were goijg to make was make 5 & 6 tempting enough for people to drop down. They didn't do that and IMO that's good on them.

Also the fact that they dramatically lowered the entry cost per level after the original announcement makes me suspect we'll see 8-10 sooner than later, probably at or before the year anniversary.

Cool your jets chicken little.

TxMoose

Punisher5784 wrote:

The more I look at the rewards the more I realize that Elite tokens really replaced Heroic tokens, not Standard..

Although my 4* pull from heroics isn't desirable at least I know I have a chance to pull a 4*. This really sucks.

I agree. in the last week I've pulled both rulk and maxipun from heroics. the steps back on stuff like that really make me less excited to see the in game preview tomorrow. some good though. moving some rewards from placement to progression are exactly what some have been asking for.

side note: heroics including 4s and giving lower level rosters 4*s early was causing some roster pressure for slots early on. this will help alleviate that and but is really a player-friendly move for lower level ftp players. doesn't make sense business-wise, because there will be less pressure to buy slots early on, but that will hit later anyway for those who stick around. on the other hand, higher players who rake in heroics in, say, LRs - if those get changed, there will be some who are upset about it (see rulk and pun pulls above)

JHawkInc

Lots of thoughts, lots of thoughts....

First, I like the changes. But I seem to be looking at these changes from a step further away than most. Shield Ranks and Clearance Level are great systems for building up players, and for breaking growth into stages. Teaching new players to crawl before they walk, and walk before the run, not throwing anyone into the deep end (pulling a 5*) before they learn to swim, etc.

The problem, then, is the chart that was posted, and then edited.



SCL 6 was Rank 30, with SCL 7 Rank 50, right? Made mental sense to the players, sense we were grandfathered into the system and couldn't possibly have started higher than 65 to begin with. So people that have been around for a while, people that play the game often enough to, say, visit the forums, are going to be SCL 5+. It holds true for the people in the family of alliances I belong to, with people that are concerned enough to join and communicate with a competitive alliance being SCL 5+, where we only had a handful of Rank 50+ that were ready to reach for SCL 8+ to see what it would have to offer.

But then you changed it, and you lowered the bar to entry into SCL 6/7. With 6/7 appearing to be most similar to what we currently have in game, that kinda makes sense, as it leaves the most players satisfied. We don't have to worry about the people in our alliance being knocked down a peg or two for rewards just because they're "too new" to have climbed as high in the ranks as some of the rest of us. That's cool.

The problem is that this first rollout of Shield Ranks and Clearance Levels, the "Shield Phase 1", so to speak, appears to be a quality of life improvement for the entire playerbase, in order to create more veteran players. But it does nothing for existing veteran players. (or maybe it does, the charts are a nightmare to read, and I can't decide if I should be excited about Elite tokens when I think I'd rather have a Heroic and don't really have any idea how many Elites I'm going to end up with in the first place)

Basically, you've set up a system to feed the people, and it was announced that there would be Better Food For All! Then you started setting it up to feed the poor and the needy and the malnourished, and it never crossed anybody's mind to tell the veterans, already thriving on the existing system, that "Hey, we need to lay the groundwork before we can add in SCL 8+ and give you guys something to cheer for, okay?"

Given that the forums are largely comprised of more veteran players, and there were a whole mess of people Rank 50+ ready for the exciting new SCL 7 that now feel SCL 7 isn't "for them", you've got a bunch of people unsatisfied by a system that I personally feel was never meant to satisfy them in the first place. It's the "Shield Phase 2" of those SCL 8+ that'll really shine for the veteran players, and without that existing at launch, and without VERY CLEARLY stating how the new system will benefit veteran players at launch, it kinda feels like we're being told "Better Food For All! Except you guys who eat here too much anyways."

I love the new Shield Rank/Clearance system, I think it's good for the game, and I think it will help pull in new players to get them to where I am faster, so more people can enjoy the game and keep it going into the future.

But I think the main reason I'm not pissed off is because I've realized that, as a Day 500+ Rank 57 competitive PVE player, I've realized that so far this system isn't "for me." And it's a bummer, because it would be easier to swallow for many if it had been pitched that way to begin with, and we'd known a few weeks ago that it wouldn't really shine for the veteran players until SCL 8+ comes out.

tl;dr I think veteran players are pissed because the part of this setup that'll truly benefit them isn't coming out yet, that was the plan for the start, and nobody bothered to spell it out until those veterans realized the system doesn't do anything significant for them yet. (or maybe it does and we just can't see it yet, because, as I said, those rewards charts are a nightmare)

CrookedKnight

DAC169 wrote:

Could someone remind me why we even have "Elite" tokens? Why nerf Heroic tokens & call it a buff?

Because we're going to be getting 8-11 of them per sub depending on placement and somebody decided that would be too many free 4* covers?

GrumpySmurf1002

Spudgutter wrote:

But why roll out a new program with a negative? Top 200 was already getting two guaranteed 3* from progression and placement. The same person now still only gets two 3* with a 24% chance of an additional 3* cover.

This is only true if this person can't get into CL7, which is a pretty low bar. Now, maybe it's T100 instead of T200 because the cover(s) moved to progression, but I think a lot of vets are just assuming the 6 and 7 structure are roughly the same.

Given the additional reward table, I don't think that's necessarily a fair assumption. But let me echo that posting CL6 instead of CL7 on the forums is certainly silly, since a high percentage of the users here are going to be rank 32+

jobob

We_are_Venom wrote:

They've done some good things lately and they seemed to be pretty confident about this change, so maybe a little leeway can be given.. Getting this kind of reaction before it's been implemented has to be disheartening.

To be fair, they've done good things... And not so good things. I think people might give them more leeway had they not completely screwed defensive rosters AND made the game maddeningly laggy in the span of less than a week. Not to mention, the negative feedback had to reach fever pitch before it was taken seriously last week.

Orangecrush

CrookedKnight wrote:

DAC169 wrote:

Could someone remind me why we even have "Elite" tokens? Why nerf Heroic tokens & call it a buff?

Because we're going to be getting 8-11 of them per sub depending on placement and somebody decided that would be too many free 4* covers?

Elite tokens won't replace standards in node rewards as far as I can tell.

CrookedKnight

Did they walk that back explicitly somewhere? They're not in the table, but the table isn't broken down by CL at all.

firethorne

Orangecrush wrote:

CrookedKnight wrote:

DAC169 wrote:

Could someone remind me why we even have "Elite" tokens? Why nerf Heroic tokens & call it a buff?

Because we're going to be getting 8-11 of them per sub depending on placement and somebody decided that would be too many free 4* covers?

Elite tokens won't replace standards in node rewards as far as I can tell.

I'm confused...

"David wrote:

Moore"]Elite tokens will replace Standard tokens starting in S.H.I.E.L.D. Clearance Level 5 (Rank 20+) to help players transitioning from 2-Star to 3-Star rosters."

wymtime

"David wrote:

Moore"]Hi everyone,

With the arrival of Marvel Puzzle Quest's R109 update today - many of you will notice a new type of token in the game. Here's Anthony at Demiurge to tell you a bit about it:

"Starting with S.H.I.E.L.D. Clearance Levels, there will be a new token that players can earn: Elite Tokens.

The contents of Elite tokens consist mainly of 2-Stars (76%) with 3-Stars being a rarer reward (24%). Elite tokens will replace Standard tokens starting in S.H.I.E.L.D. Clearance Level 5 (Rank 20+) to help players transitioning from 2-Star to 3-Star rosters."

Here is my question if elite tokens replace standard tokens at clearence level 5 will we still get standard tokens from easy nodes like listed on the chart?

These are the types of updates that would benefit from having a dev online answering questions!

nihilium

Please everyone check your SHIELD ranks, if they seem to be calculated correctly.

D3 acknowledges that there is a problem with wrongly calculated shield ranks, which after implementation of the clearance lvls will mean that players wont be able to compete for any usefull rewards anymore.

There doesnt seem to be a fix yet, but I am not sure if they ever find one if it will be implemented for all accounts or only those that filed a ticket.




So please everyone make sure your are not one of those who will be locked out from the game!
I really hope they will find a fix soon =(

TxMoose

"original plans were altered" or it was miscommunicated somewhere..... they are really good about overpromising and underdelivering. woulda been aok if they hadn't led us to believe direct switch-out. however, so much has been wrong, I'm waiting for in-game preview before I get too concerned. of course it could be wrong too, so who knows.

Orangecrush

CrookedKnight wrote:

Did they walk that back explicitly somewhere? They're not in the table, but the table isn't broken down by CL at all.

Do mission rewards change?
Currently, mission rewards do not change for different Clearance Levels.

From the FAQ announcing the CL.

wymtime

Vhailorx wrote:

wymtime wrote:

So here is my guess for clearance level 7 in PVE top 10 will get a 4* just like today. Maybe in September in 2018 they will release clearance level 10 where first place gets a 5*.

So what does everyone think PVP will look like? Clearance leve 7 gives a 4* for top 5? 5CP will replace the 800 token and they will give a 2nd 4* at 1200 points? HP rates should not go down!

I was hoping for another strong influx of ISO and I was wrong. Back to plodding away 70 ISO at a time

I don't care much about top 10 4* covers as long as everyone gets a 4* prog. (hell, we can dump 3x 4* covers for a tiny fraction. That's just rich get richer). So for covers cl7 might (hopefully) be a clear improvement.

But this level of his bump just isn't enough. The game adds at least 380,000 iso to everyone's "needs" every two weeks. The entire prog table for a 4 day pve event should offer more than 8k + covers sold iso. 20 or 30k wouldn't be too much (though it will never happen). HP rates should not go down!

Just a clarifying question for you. So you feel the game gives out 380k ISO every 2 weeks now or after seeing clearence level 6? it normally takes me 2 and 1/2 weeks to get enough ISO to champion a 4* and I feel I play the game too much. If you are getting 380k ISO in 2 weeks you might have more of an MPQ problem then me.

I do agree more Stuff(ISO, HP, CP, 4*) should be available at higher levels.

GurlBYE

wymtime wrote:

Vhailorx wrote:

wymtime wrote:

So here is my guess for clearance level 7 in PVE top 10 will get a 4* just like today. Maybe in September in 2018 they will release clearance level 10 where first place gets a 5*.

So what does everyone think PVP will look like? Clearance leve 7 gives a 4* for top 5? 5CP will replace the 800 token and they will give a 2nd 4* at 1200 points? HP rates should not go down!

I was hoping for another strong influx of ISO and I was wrong. Back to plodding away 70 ISO at a time

I don't care much about top 10 4* covers as long as everyone gets a 4* prog. (hell, we can dump 3x 4* covers for a tiny fraction. That's just rich get richer). So for covers cl7 might (hopefully) be a clear improvement.

But this level of his bump just isn't enough. The game adds at least 380,000 iso to everyone's "needs" every two weeks. The entire prog table for a 4 day pve event should offer more than 8k + covers sold iso. 20 or 30k wouldn't be too much (though it will never happen). HP rates should not go down!

Just a clarifying question for you. So you feel the game gives out 380k ISO every 2 weeks now or after seeing clearence level 6? it normally takes me 2 and 1/2 weeks to get enough ISO to champion a 4* and I feel I play the game too much. If you are getting 380k ISO in 2 weeks you might have more of an MPQ problem then me.

I do agree more Stuff(ISO, HP, CP, 4*) should be available at higher levels.

He's saying a new 4 star comes out every 2 weeks.

Ours needs are going up was his point.