A Golden Ticket

Legasher

More and more commonly, the progression in this game is hampered by RNG. Daily there is a new thread about how much it sucks to have a 5/5/1 with three covers rotting in a personal queue. Clearly, the devs refuse to consider simply removing colors from the covers. Actually though, I think that's ok. when you're building up a character, it's actually kind of interesting to have them work a little oddly because of the order you got the covers in, and lets you see the value of some of the covers that aren't usually in the spotlight. As well, when you reach champion levels, the issue becomes moot, and champion levels are a great deal of fun.

But we still need some sort of protection from the wrath of RNGesus. I shouldn't be scared to open an LT because it could end up being completely worthless. What I'd like to suggest is a new item. That item would be a sort of Golden Ticket for struggling rosters that are stunted purely by the game's fickle whim.

Summary:

The item (There are a number of power-boosting items and powers in the Marvel universe. Pick one or many.) would basically work as a CP coupon for use only to increase the cover level of a single character to a max of 13. In other words, they could not add a champ level to a character, but otherwise would work as a cover for every color of every character.

How to obtain:

The higher levels of the progression ladder are pretty well spoken for, and this item would not be very valuable to the kinds of whales that top the placement boards, so it wouldn't really fit there. At the same time, this would be very valuable to others and ought to be very rare. So here's how I think it should be earned: Each sub-event, when a player gets green check marks on each node, the sub itself on the main page will display a green check mark as well. If a player "checks" each sub in the event they earn 1 of these items.

Issues:

Obviously, the interaction with 5*s would be questionable. But perhaps there could be an extra rare version (see opportunities below), or maybe the line would be drawn a 4*s. I don't think it would be unreasonable to have ten tickets work as a single ticket for a 5* either.

I don't think this would affect the economy too terribly much - effectively giving out a laser-guided 4* once, maybe twice a week (rarer than a DDQ LT) that becomes less valuable the more you have.

Opportunities:

I may be the only one, but I like the idea of there being a few different types. I think this could heighten the affiliations characteristic of many characters. For example, have one called "Enigma Force" that only works for Heroes and a "Black Vortex" that only works for villains. Teregen crystals for inhumans and X-genes for mutants. Or maybe just one for each power stone that heightens a specific color. If the suggestion I had for how to obtain the item is decided to be too frequent, maybe it could be used as a selling point to launch PVE seasons, with a ticket as a progression prize.

Conclusion:

There are a LOT of characters at this point, especially 4*s. The game has done a wonderful job of increasing our chances of obtaining these covers lately, but that doesn't make it any less painful to be at the mercy of chance to keep you from having to throw some of those covers away. I think the devs should note that we aren't the only ones. Every time RNG deals against one of us, they risk it being the last straw that causes a player to finally quit. A bad pull may reduce the likelihood that a customer will buy tokens in the future, just as much as a good one may increase it. In other words, we may be relying on RNG to increase our enjoyment of a game, they are relying on it to keep them in business and pay their bills. I don't think taking a reasonable measure to reduce its power on all of us is too much to ask.