Impossible PVP Scaling

Nick441234

Bloody Marvel wrote:

Can I just focus on these bits for a moment...

Spiderben69 wrote:

I don't play PVE as I get bored replaying the same battles over and over. So this game has been reduced to Deadpool Daily and that is it.

I understand if you're an FTP player, but you can't complain that you're not getting 4* covers if you refuse to play PvE. If that's the choice you make, you're gonna hafta learn to live with the consequences.

PvE progression will net you at least 25CP and a legendary cover if you're at SCL7 or higher. DDQ alone is never gonna be enough to make any kind of progression in the game.

Exactly this. You have to play PVE to progress in this game, you simply have to. If you dont, then you will never, ever, ever compete for the highest rewards in PVP.

mpqr7

acescracked wrote:

mpqr7 wrote:

PVP doesn't become "easy" to get to 1200 until you have at least two boosted 5*s.

My oml was lvl 420 & PHX lvl 435 last two seasons. I would hit 1200+ 95℅ of the events. Using those two characters or oml + boosted 4* or PHX + boosted 4*. Usually on a 3hr & 8hr shield.

I've just recently got black suit Spidey to 450...My sole 13 cover 5*.

Nice! I'm at lv 420 OML and PHX lv 405. I hope that there's a light at the end of the tunnel and I have an experience that's similar to yours when I gain a few more non-dupe covers for one or more of those characters. Right now my characters are not quite high enough to pull that off without doing numerous hops.

Spiderben69

Problem with this fundamentally flawed game is that even playing PVP to get CP progression awards is ridiculous - I have literally just played and lost 3 consecutive battles in Tex Mex, always losing to a supposedly weaker team because opposition just "happens" to get all the AP he needs to fire his powers off whilst I am left trying to accumulate the AP needed..... Lost count of the times the opponent "randomly" makes a gem match of a colour that is no interest to him, just to see a giant cascade kick off from tiles that were not visible off the top of the playing board. Never gonna win battles when the AI generates 3 X as many AP as the player........ all supposedly at random!

acescracked

Spiderben69 wrote:

Problem with this fundamentally flawed game is that even playing PVP to get CP progression awards is ridiculous - I have literally just played and lost 3 consecutive battles in Tex Mex, always losing to a supposedly weaker team because opposition just "happens" to get all the AP he needs to fire his powers off whilst I am left trying to accumulate the AP needed..... Lost count of the times the opponent "randomly" makes a gem match of a colour that is no interest to him, just to see a giant cascade kick off from tiles that were not visible off the top of the playing board. Never gonna win battles when the AI generates 3 X as many AP as the player........ all supposedly at random!

Maybe you just aren't playing good?

Team composition (picking good counter to the AI characters) don't deny AI matches, miss match 5s or miss the 'best' moves, don't target the correct order of enemies, don't combo your abilities the best way, don't use boosts, don't load good team ups.

I've seen this frustration kind of post many times on the forum. This is basically a simple game but there is no guaranteed wins when you start the match.

It's easy to blame the 'broken' game, maybe see if you are doing things wrong. A 'weaker' team can be deceptively tough, especially AP stealers (Hood, obw) or self AP generators (im40, switch).

pheregas

This is an interesting topic to me if only because it illustrates the problems of perceived inequality and knowledgeable play style.

We all have the same tiered scaling. My MMR is mine and alike to other players of my roster. This is why I see the same people over and over. PVP has been specifically designed to be won. The penalty for losing your match is very very low. The gains, depending on the points of the battle, are pretty decent (until the end of the run in SIM, but then again, the point differentials are much lower so that makes some sense). The points you lose if attacked can be brutal, but much for the same reasons with point gains.

So this is a perceived inequality.

To the matter of play style, this seems to be the root problem.

Character attack progression is key. Depending on what tier you are in, you have a few helpful tidbits, depending on who you are facing.

Attack Loki 1st, but only with match 3's (TU Match-4s excluded, hit them if you have them as it does not trigger Loki passive). Save Old Man Logan for Last, unless fighting OML/PHX teams, then PHX last (but beat on PHX until almost dead, gaining all your AP, then blasting him all at once.) Attack lowest HP people first. Don't launch an attack if the enemy has enough banked AP to steal it, blast it, or remove it. Patience is a virtue. Powers can and should be saved until most effective. A 3-Match in a primary color is greater than a 4-Match in an off-color (however, a 5-match is always the priority, no matter the color). Trap the enemy, leave 4-matches around that are in their off colors so they can't get the AP they need. Deny AP as necessary, but only depending on who may be a problem. Look at cascade opportunities before making any match. Cascade is usually greater than non-cascade (and a great way to get AP for non-tanks). Never ever make a match that will cascade to a match 5 (yes, this can be predicted with bottom of the board matches... to a point...)

Anyway... Don't give up the ship. Finesse is often the better course of action over brute force.

Jarvind

Spiderben69 wrote:

probably by design to force frustrated players to speed up their roster development by paying a lot of money.

This is literally the entire Free-to-Play business model. This will never change.

I'm not trying to be a jerk but yeah. That is how they get you to spend money - because the game is more fun (or in most cases, more addiction-satisfying) when you do.

Honestly, MPQ is on the low end of the greed spectrum when it comes to this. There are loads of games where you either:

- Cannot ever progress without spending money because the upgrades or whatever that you need would literally take decades to complete. Read this article for a better idea of how absurd it gets.

- Get "promotions" shoved in your face prodding you to spend money every time you do anything. You know the "hey, if you spend money you can make your roster stronger" popup you get when you lose a match sometimes? Imagine that, but every time you complete any match, win or lose.

And the majority do both. On the other hand, you can definitely build up to a competitive roster without spending money in MPQ if you're efficient and patient about it, and the VIP option will give a newer player a tremendous head start for a relatively low cost.

Dragon_Nexus

Jarvind wrote:

Spiderben69 wrote:

probably by design to force frustrated players to speed up their roster development by paying a lot of money.

This is literally the entire Free-to-Play business model. This will never change.

I'm not trying to be a jerk but yeah. That is how they get you to spend money - because the game is more fun (or in most cases, more addiction-satisfying) when you do.

Honestly, MPQ is on the low end of the greed spectrum when it comes to this. There are loads of games where you either:

- Cannot ever progress without spending money because the upgrades or whatever that you need would literally take decades to complete. Read this article for a better idea of how absurd it gets.

- Get "promotions" shoved in your face prodding you to spend money every time you do anything. You know the "hey, if you spend money you can make your roster stronger" popup you get when you lose a match sometimes? Imagine that, but every time you complete any match, win or lose.

And the majority do both. On the other hand, you can definitely build up to a competitive roster without spending money in MPQ if you're efficient and patient about it, and the VIP option will give a newer player a tremendous head start for a relatively low cost.

Yeah, knowing all this is why I hate people knee jerking the "OMG PAY TO WIN" response on Facebook or wherever. People have *no idea* what pay to win actually means these days, simply confusing "It's a free game in which I can buy things with money...ergo it's pay to win."

The fact that people with the biggest and best rosters may get higher in PvP is true, but they also don't automatically get to 1st place because they spent more money. Sure, they'll do it easier than me, but they have to fight others who *also* spent a butt load of money. And those fights are hard. Not to mention bonkers scaling in PvE. I dread fighting level 400+ Muscles or a level 400+ Juggernaut.

This game is actually incredibly fair, I think. It's why I keep playing it. If I don't have something, there's usually a way I can put some time and effort in to earn it for free. I grumbled about the cost of 4* covers being 120CP at first since that seemed to hard to get, but they've made it a lot easier to earn some CP now, not just in PvE but as a half-way point in PVP progression. Now if I have a 12 cover 4*, especially one that's, say, 5/5/2, I'll simply save up and buy that last cover. I've done that for several characters who I'd otherwise *still* be waiting for a last cover for. I don't think I've had a blue Jean Grey since I champed her.

Calnexin

Spiderben69 wrote:

Don't even get me started on SHIELD Simulator - I have a go at that, go as far as I can before the impossible matches appear and thats me done there too - I'm not going to shield for 3 weeks to get to the end of the season, progressing a little when I can.... so I play the simulator for a bit, stop when all oppositions are 4* & 5* Champs and then watch whilst I get beaten all the way back to 0 points over the rest of the season! What is the point of that?

I only started getting to 2k in simulator a couple of seasons ago. It's a slow burn. You can't get there right out of the gate. You climb a little and let it sit. While you sit, everyone else in the bracket climbs. They're worth more points, so you hit, sit, and get hit. You have to ratchet your way up. If you make it to 1k in the first day, you are the target. High point values don't develop until near the end of the season.

In some ways Simulator is almost a co-op event. You want to do your part to put points out there so other people can climb off you, and other people can climb off them so you can, in turn, take advantage of those 75 point teams.

It doesn't always work that way. Last season the top player in my bracket only ended with 3k points, and everyone else was 2200 or less. That final climb was rough. I didn't get hit that much, though. I got to 2100, got my prize, but left myself unshielded. Got smacked down to 1700, but I hope someone else was able to get their 2k prize by stomping on my neck.

Bishop

Welcome to Marvel Puzzle Quest: The Grind. I think they should just sandbox 5* together, 4*s, and 3*s...2's. at this point in the game at least will all be playing the grind that is pvp even 5* players. Seeing 5's in top 10 in every corner of this game is what annoys me!

Dragon_Nexus

Calnexin wrote:

Spiderben69 wrote:

Don't even get me started on SHIELD Simulator - I have a go at that, go as far as I can before the impossible matches appear and thats me done there too - I'm not going to shield for 3 weeks to get to the end of the season, progressing a little when I can.... so I play the simulator for a bit, stop when all oppositions are 4* & 5* Champs and then watch whilst I get beaten all the way back to 0 points over the rest of the season! What is the point of that?

I only started getting to 2k in simulator a couple of seasons ago. It's a slow burn. You can't get there right out of the gate. You climb a little and let it sit. While you sit, everyone else in the bracket climbs. They're worth more points, so you hit, sit, and get hit. You have to ratchet your way up. If you make it to 1k in the first day, you are the target. High point values don't develop until near the end of the season.

In some ways Simulator is almost a co-op event. You want to do your part to put points out there so other people can climb off you, and other people can climb off them so you can, in turn, take advantage of those 75 point teams.

It doesn't always work that way. Last season the top player in my bracket only ended with 3k points, and everyone else was 2200 or less. That final climb was rough. I didn't get hit that much, though. I got to 2100, got my prize, but left myself unshielded. Got smacked down to 1700, but I hope someone else was able to get their 2k prize by stomping on my neck.

I try to complete Shield Sim with about 14 days to go. People tend not to hit too often at that point. I make the last 500 points in one climb and when I get that cover, I just let people hit me all they want. That way they can get the cover too.

I might climb a little bit near the end of the season if I'm in danger of dropping below top 250 or something, but otherwise once I get that 4* cover I'm good.