New Feature: Bonus Heroes! *Updated (3/1/17)

Quebbster

I'd probably try to keep the people who pay my salary happy too.

8punch

i dont see a problem that the whales have a say in how the game goes. after i see a roster like dreadnaught and i think how much money he must have spend on this game, i see it only logical he and other big spenders have a say in this game.

actually i even wonder why someone dreadnaught and other whales not start up their own game company and create their own game?

Magic

I am always wondering what is the incentive for the whales to play and pay. They get to win the events? In PvE it still takes hours of grinding on a schedule against a difficult scaling. And in PvP it still takes hours of matches worth 20-50 points to climb high enough to win the event. So even whaling everything and maxing everything doesn't give the rewards on a plate. And the rewards are meaningless to the whales as they already have all that they give. Strange.

killercool

8punch wrote:

i dont see a problem that the whales have a say in how the game goes. after i see a roster like dreadnaught and i think how much money he must have spend on this game, i see it only logical he and other big spenders have a say in this game.

actually i even wonder why someone dreadnaught and other whales not start up their own game company and create their own game?

It is still important that the whale food is looked after. If all the krill leave there is nothing left for the whales to feed on (other than fellow whales) - and then the whales will leave too. So D3 understand they need to keep both the whales and the krill happy.

Bowgentle

killercool wrote:

8punch wrote:

i dont see a problem that the whales have a say in how the game goes. after i see a roster like dreadnaught and i think how much money he must have spend on this game, i see it only logical he and other big spenders have a say in this game.

actually i even wonder why someone dreadnaught and other whales not start up their own game company and create their own game?

It is still important that the whale food is looked after. If all the krill leave there is nothing left for the whales to feed on (other than fellow whales) - and then the whales will leave too. So D3 understand they need to keep both the whales and the krill happy.

That's what MMR does.
Whales only see each other except when going for high points early in an event.
Krill is 95% whale-proof.

Nick441234

Magic wrote:

I am always wondering what is the incentive for the whales to play and pay. They get to win the events? In PvE it still takes hours of grinding on a schedule against a difficult scaling. And in PvP it still takes hours of matches worth 20-50 points to climb high enough to win the event. So even whaling everything and maxing everything doesn't give the rewards on a plate. And the rewards are meaningless to the whales as they already have all that they give. Strange.

Got to agree. I play this game for casual entertainment. I have supported it with money over the 2 and a half years of playing but I struggle to understand why anyone would put the sort of money whales put into it. Its still a lot of hard work whether you have a 2* roster or every 5*.

kyo28

nick_chicane wrote:

Magic wrote:

I am always wondering what is the incentive for the whales to play and pay. They get to win the events? In PvE it still takes hours of grinding on a schedule against a difficult scaling. And in PvP it still takes hours of matches worth 20-50 points to climb high enough to win the event. So even whaling everything and maxing everything doesn't give the rewards on a plate. And the rewards are meaningless to the whales as they already have all that they give. Strange.

Got to agree. I play this game for casual entertainment. I have supported it with money over the 2 and a half years of playing but I struggle to understand why anyone would put the sort of money whales put into it. Its still a lot of hard work whether you have a 2* roster or every 5*.

Yes and no. Some whales have assistants playing for them. So the assistants need to play the grind so the whale can enjoy the fun matches on his/her free time. Not saying all whales are like this but some are.

I also understand from a business point of view that whales need to be catered to and have more of a say. Money talks and it is a business after all. But I don't understand why D3 can't implement changes that cater to both. I mean, give the whales the opportunity to pull only latest covers but give little players the opportunity to choose from other packs if they want.

But, shortsighted as they are they rushed, again, to implement a change that caters to the whales and forget about the krill. Sad, really.

Magic

kyo28 wrote:

nick_chicane wrote:

Magic wrote:

I am always wondering what is the incentive for the whales to play and pay. They get to win the events? In PvE it still takes hours of grinding on a schedule against a difficult scaling. And in PvP it still takes hours of matches worth 20-50 points to climb high enough to win the event. So even whaling everything and maxing everything doesn't give the rewards on a plate. And the rewards are meaningless to the whales as they already have all that they give. Strange.

Got to agree. I play this game for casual entertainment. I have supported it with money over the 2 and a half years of playing but I struggle to understand why anyone would put the sort of money whales put into it. Its still a lot of hard work whether you have a 2* roster or every 5*.

Yes and no. Some whales have assistants playing for them. So the assistants need to play the grind so the whale can enjoy the fun matches on his/her free time. Not saying all whales are like this but some are.

I also understand from a business point of view that whales need to be catered to and have more of a say. Money talks and it is a business after all. But I don't understand why D3 can't implement changes that cater to both. I mean, give the whales the opportunity to pull only latest covers but give little players the opportunity to choose from other packs if they want.

But, shortsighted as they are they rushed, again, to implement a change that caters to the whales and forget about the krill. Sad, really.

What-the-tinykitty? Are you **** me? They have assistants to play the MPQ game? And what? Whey are told to immediately inform the said whale that there is 50 point PvP match up against a certain team so the whale can step in and enjoy his moment?

Quebbster

Magic wrote:

kyo28 wrote:

nick_chicane wrote:

Magic wrote:

I am always wondering what is the incentive for the whales to play and pay. They get to win the events? In PvE it still takes hours of grinding on a schedule against a difficult scaling. And in PvP it still takes hours of matches worth 20-50 points to climb high enough to win the event. So even whaling everything and maxing everything doesn't give the rewards on a plate. And the rewards are meaningless to the whales as they already have all that they give. Strange.

Got to agree. I play this game for casual entertainment. I have supported it with money over the 2 and a half years of playing but I struggle to understand why anyone would put the sort of money whales put into it. Its still a lot of hard work whether you have a 2* roster or every 5*.

Yes and no. Some whales have assistants playing for them. So the assistants need to play the grind so the whale can enjoy the fun matches on his/her free time. Not saying all whales are like this but some are.

I also understand from a business point of view that whales need to be catered to and have more of a say. Money talks and it is a business after all. But I don't understand why D3 can't implement changes that cater to both. I mean, give the whales the opportunity to pull only latest covers but give little players the opportunity to choose from other packs if they want.

But, shortsighted as they are they rushed, again, to implement a change that caters to the whales and forget about the krill. Sad, really.

What-the-tinykitty? Are you tinykitty me? They have assistants to play the MPQ game? And what? Whey are told to immediately inform the said whale that there is 50 point PvP match up against a certain team so the whale can step in and enjoy his moment?

It's not something that only happens in MPQ: http://www.cracked.com/personal-experie ... ities.html
If I were to venture a guess, I'd say the assistants probably handle the boring parts of the game (PvE grind, Lightning rounds, initial PvP climb) while their employer steps in at the very end. Or something.

Magic

It begs to get one question answered - WHY?

Why would you do that? In the myriad of things you can do when you have that sort of money why would you do that?

Not only why MPQ, but in general - why? Do they send them to the theater to watch a movie or a show so they can step in to see the last 10 minutes? Do they ask them to read a book, describe it so they can read the final chapter? Do they ask them to make love to their wife to step in in the last minute to finish things off?

****?

Nick441234

Thats insane! Does the assistant get paid then? Hell I'd do that job if I got paid to do it.

SunCrusher

Quebbster wrote:

Magic wrote:

kyo28 wrote:

nick_chicane wrote:

Got to agree. I play this game for casual entertainment. I have supported it with money over the 2 and a half years of playing but I struggle to understand why anyone would put the sort of money whales put into it. Its still a lot of hard work whether you have a 2* roster or every 5*.

Yes and no. Some whales have assistants playing for them. So the assistants need to play the grind so the whale can enjoy the fun matches on his/her free time. Not saying all whales are like this but some are.

I also understand from a business point of view that whales need to be catered to and have more of a say. Money talks and it is a business after all. But I don't understand why D3 can't implement changes that cater to both. I mean, give the whales the opportunity to pull only latest covers but give little players the opportunity to choose from other packs if they want.

But, shortsighted as they are they rushed, again, to implement a change that caters to the whales and forget about the krill. Sad, really.

What-the-tinykitty? Are you tinykitty me? They have assistants to play the MPQ game? And what? Whey are told to immediately inform the said whale that there is 50 point PvP match up against a certain team so the whale can step in and enjoy his moment?

It's not something that only happens in MPQ: http://www.cracked.com/personal-experie ... ities.html
If I were to venture a guess, I'd say the assistants probably handle the boring parts of the game (PvE grind, Lightning rounds, initial PvP climb) while their employer steps in at the very end. Or something.

... I think my brain just broke. What the ****.

... You know what? Nevermind.

For all the frustrations I've had, I still prefer to play it on my own because I otherwise lose the point of me playing games.

kyo28

To each their own and I'm not one to critic, everyone spends their money how they want ... but when you're loaded, really loaded, then you buy time with your money: that means letting an assistant play the boring parts of the game and you stepping in to do the fun bit.

It happens more than you could imagine.

For me that would take out of the fun of the game: I feel more accomplished getting somewhere in a game by doing the work myself but I can imagine some people want to skip ahead to the fun part.

See how this new system perfectly caters to those players?

Magic

I can understand it in many aspects but game like this? I mean - apparently the boring part is actually playing it? Does the whale take the phone or tablet to their hand just to get the rewards and open packs? What is the fun part of the game if it's not playing it?

I understand people farming gold in WoW somewhere in China - you can sell the items for real cash. Not here.

And I re-emphasis - there is endless amount of things you can do with the money that would be required to hire somebody to play a game for you all day. That money would be better spent on any form of charity. Or even given to a random stranger.

TheIncredibleClick

A week later, and I'm still trying to understand how this either makes the game experience better or leads to increased revenue for Demiurge. I've been playing for over a year and this new feature doesn't make sense to me.

The argument I keep seeing is that by focusing drops on the newer 3 and 4 stars players can cover those characters faster. That's great for players that already championed everyone else. I understand the bonus system *in theory*, but after a week in practice, I'm not seeing the point. I have a single 3 star favorited - Dr Strange - and I've received 6 or 7 bonus covers to date. But this is due to the law of averages; I get a TON of Elite tokens so an increased change of getting a 3 star, which leads to an increased chance for a 5% bonus. I have yet to receive a 4 star cover from ANY event this past week, so the bonus system is useless for me here. 5% of 0 is still 0. From this, one could conclude I may as well remove all older 4s from my roster and focus on 2 and 3 stars. I have Jean Grey, for example, at 0/2/0, and one of those covers is from a champion reward. Under the current system, I will never fully cover this character. She's not even playable in her current state.

On the other hand, Behemoth Burrito. I love this event. Random combinations of 2, 3 and 4 star teams, with another taco token and command points for a reward - great idea. But this directly conflicts with the new Bonus Feature. By vaulting most 4 stars, yet making them all eventually required for this event, Demiurge has given players another unattainable carrot (like the iPhone in a claw machine game). Crash of the Titans already gives me a daily reminder of the useless state of most of my 4 stars, thanks. I don't need another temptation to stop playing.

Plus, by flooding the system with only new covers, and forcing players to choose between the covers they have and the ones they want but will most likely never have, aren't we at risk for going right back to a problem the devs tried to address last year? Mainly, all players using the same heroes in every battle.

My dream feature: A new Big Enchilada devoted to 4 stars, with a 4 star cover as a reward. Over a year later, and I'm still championing my 3 stars, especially now that new ones are being added again. It will take at least another year to two years to do the same for my four stars. The events may be hit or miss for me, but I will always play the Deadpool Dailies.

jordanix

After having such terrible luck with opening bonus champs, I think I'll take a previous posters advice and just save til 120 cp and buy the exact cover I want.
Don't get me wrong, I think the bonus feature is great, if underwhelming.

Vaulting is terrible, which is another reason I'll be saving cp for covers, since I don't care too much about the magnificent 12.

fmftint

They missed a easy fix to the vaulted 4 issue, imo only the 12 newest drains the pool too much leaving not enough variety. Why not the newest 12 plus rotating the weekly boosted characters? For instance this week we'd have the currect 12 AND Elektra, Spidergwen, and Wolverine (Medusa and Wasp are already in the pool)

Landale

Magic wrote:

That money would be better spent on any form of charity. Or even given to a random stranger.

It is given to a random stranger...hired to play the game for the boss .

Frankly, the idea of it sounds insane to me.

DeNappa

I still find it disappointing that it's so much harder to cover my older heroes now. I'd really like to see that problem addressed.

I'm a long time player, but I'm also not very fast -- I've only recently begun my transition into 4* territory. The 4*s I have covered most:

Championed : XFW, IW
13 covers: Devil Dino
12 covers: Ant-man, Ghost Rider
11 covers: Cyclops, Elektra, Red Hulk, Sam Wilson, StarLord, Chulk, Thoress, X23
10 covers: Deadpool, Hulkbuster
9 covers: Luke Cage, Nick Fury
8 covers: Iceman, Mr F

See a problem here? Of my better covered 4*s, only Luke Cage is currently available from packs now (and dunno how I ended up with so many covers for him anyway xD).
With the rate at which I accumulate 4* covers, I'm also pretty sure the 'new' characters will be switched out long before I can cover them, too. Which means I'll get to max cover even fewer characters unless I pony up some cash (because i need the HP for roster spots) or spend all my cp on buying covers directly.

I think I had more of a chance at maxing them with that diluted pool.

Crowl

fmftint wrote:

They missed a easy fix to the vaulted 4 issue, imo only the 12 newest drains the pool too much leaving not enough variety. Why not the newest 12 plus rotating the weekly boosted characters? For instance this week we'd have the currect 12 AND Elektra, Spidergwen, and Wolverine (Medusa and Wasp are already in the pool)

That still restricts things too much, assuming they were dead set on vaulting to deal with dilution and to speed up levelling of new characters they should have split the classic 4*'s in half and made the tokens consist of the latest 12 plus half of the remainder, swapping the classic group each season.