Time Gem Season Updates *Updated (10/19/17)

Orion

Devs love to throw around the phrase "play the game the way it was intended to be played", so let's see if this is how they intended PvP to go...

First, as a 5* player, I'm supposed to be in CL8, right?  Obviously.  Well, not anymore!  Now the 5* players will spread out to CL6, CL7 and CL8 so more of them can get the 15 CP from being in the top 10. "Working as intended", devs?  I doubt that.

Next, here's how I played the last test.  I joined the PvP when it started and beat the seed teams with a loaner 3* and 2 2*s. Then I let some 2* players beat me up and hit the retals with a 3* team. After that teams got hit by some 3* players, I hit those retals with a boosted 3* team.  Then I went to 4*s, boosted 4*s, then finally my 5*s, getting to 40 wins off of almost all retals against smaller teams.  Is that how you want me to play?  Because there's no way in hell I'm slogging through 40 5* fights to get a 4* reward that's mostly meaningless to me.

@Brigby, I would love for you to get a developer on here so they can explain the logic behind awarding the 15 CP to only the top 10 of CL6-CL8.  Normally, I can understand the logic, even if I don't agree with it. But this I can't figure out. You are taking 15 CP away from rosters that could get to 1200 but not make top 10 and giving it to whom?  For those rosters, the CP is the only way to progress in the game.  If my progression is slowed down by too much, then what incentive do I have to keep playing?

Bowgentle

Orion said:

@Brigby, I would love for you to get a developer on here so they can explain the logic behind awarding the 15 CP to only the top 10 of CL6-CL8.  Normally, I can understand the logic, even if I don't agree with it. But this I can't figure out. You are taking 15 CP away from rosters that could get to 1200 but not make top 10 and giving it to whom?  For those rosters, the CP is the only way to progress in the game.  If my progression is slowed down by too much, then what incentive do I have to keep playing?

I think they're under the delusion that you'll just do more buy clubs to make up for lost CP.

fmftint

 Time to remove the MMR band aids that habe been applied over the years. If we're required to play quantity over quality then let us see EVERYONE!

LFChikarason

I guess I have no problem with this change, but the last times they did win based PVP, to get alliance rewards, you also had to reach a certain point amount as well. So, this change means you have to get both a certain amount of wins and a certain score overall for the alliance. If it was one or the other, that's cool. But this change makes it both, which evidently will be tough for many players. 

CT1888

This kills the 5* transition for anyone pvp focused unless they open up MMR. Why would you want to enter that realm and have to grind 40 wins against Panthos/Gambolt/etc. for the same rewards as before?

I haven't been looking forward to the expected influx of Gambit/Black Bolt teams - combined with this, gah, do I need to come back every couple of hours once the health packs have regened? How much play time do the devs think is suitable to get a 4* cover?

Felessa

System Reboot is back with updates for Fury and a 3*!?! Thank you very much, he and Psylock really needed some love! And I'm happy with PvP wins too, because even being an almost 3 years player, I had never reached the 4* cover in progression before, but in the mini-season test I did it for the first time (IMHB and Jean), and it was really cool!

broll

fmftint said:

 Time to remove the MMR band aids that habe been applied over the years. If we're required to play quantity over quality then let us see EVERYONE!

Everyone is a bit of a stretch, but yeah MMR needs to be opened up with this if they aren't going to some type of hybrid with points.

wymtime

Things the Devs could have done to show support for The higher end PVP player but they didn’t do because the Devs know better than the players.
#1 make PVP progression a hybrid system of wins or points.
#2 open CL9-10 and make those CL points progression over wins.
#3 open MMR so 5* players could see 3-4* players or anyone in their CL.
#4 in CL9-10 place CP in win progression at 40 wins and open MMR
#5 make win based progression for season and sim, not individual events.  Increase the rewards in season progression so players can progress 2 ways.

all of these options would encourage more players to play PVP and help players who are struggleing in PVP the ability to progress while still engaging the higher level player.  The reason the Devs are not implementing these options is simple.  This is their game and they are going to tell us how to play it and they will get upset if we figure out any work around.

Sm0keyJ0e

As someone with a well-developed 5* roster, I found the PVE changes to be superb. If I happen to have the time for a specific event and want a good challenge, I can go cl9 and compete there. If it's an event where I can't play optimally or just don't have as much time that week, I can drop down to cl7 and cut my play time in half and still obtain decent rewards. It was a great quality of life change that kept me engaged in playing PVE and offered me true flexibility. Seemed like they were listening to the player demographic that I happen to fall into.

For PVP, this change seems to completely counteract that. I no longer have the option to play how I like if they keep the 40 wins threshold for progression. There are events where I happen to have the time to float all event and randomly hit stuff and I probably hit 40 wins. But there are times when work and life get in the way, similar to the PVE events where I have to drop down to cl7, and I don't have the time to invest in the game. I climb past 1200+ and shield out, usually in under 20 wins. I am now forced to try and play for extended periods of time every event and sacrifice PVE, or vice versa.

I am only speaking for my demographic (which is my entire alliance and others like it). This seems like a move of the needle in the opposite direction they were going for with PVE.

smkspy

RunningMan said:

Wish they would've gone for a hybrid approach where progression rewards were awarded the first time you reach a given threshold, like:
  16 wins OR 575 pts : 10cp
  28 wins OR 800 pts : 3* cover
  40 wins OR 900 pts : 4* cover
                     1200pts : 15cp

Would've been best of both worlds ...

Yeah, this what I've been advocating. Even simple milestone markers every 200 points would have kept the core of PvP intact and allowed players to get to 900 without those terrible beatdowns.

tiomono

Unpopular opinion alert.

I have limited time to spend on this game. With 2 small children that need my attention more than a mobile game, I love the win based progression system. 

Under the point based system which required specific timing and shielding I could not reliably hit the 900 for a 4*. My wife, children, job, and myself all have needs that outweigh this game that I do enjoy very much.

Under win based progression I can pick up an event from the time it starts and play a few matches, and play more in between the small breaks I get from my actual life. With the tests I easily hit the 40 wins with no timing or shielding needed.

In the tests I also saw greater team diversity, which is something this game sorely needs. There are over a hundred characters in the game and I might see 10 different ones in any given versus event. People need reasons to use those wide rosters. The win based gives those wide rosters an advantage. 

I was eagerly anticipating this change and I am glad it's here.

Starfury

broll said:

fmftint said:

 Time to remove the MMR band aids that habe been applied over the years. If we're required to play quantity over quality then let us see EVERYONE!

Everyone is a bit of a stretch, but yeah MMR needs to be opened up with this if they aren't going to some type of hybrid with points.

And as soon as that happens you'll have the 3*/4* rosters complaining about getting eaten by killer whales and losing the placement rewards they used to get earlier.

Meander

tiomono said:

Unpopular opinion alert.

I have limited time to spend on this game. With 2 small children that need my attention more than a mobile game, I love the win based progression system. 

Cop out alert.  You think you're the only one with a life outside this game? You know how many times I see "wife nerf" "had to put the kids to bed" "kid meltdown" etc in Line rooms.  These things cause quick shields,  not whiney excuses

broll

Starfury said:

broll said:

fmftint said:

 Time to remove the MMR band aids that habe been applied over the years. If we're required to play quantity over quality then let us see EVERYONE!

Everyone is a bit of a stretch, but yeah MMR needs to be opened up with this if they aren't going to some type of hybrid with points.

And as soon as that happens you'll have the 3*/4* rosters complaining about getting eaten by killer whales and losing the placement rewards they used to get earlier.

Probably, but IMO this change speaks to me that a lot of 3*/4* players and lower have given up on PvP to a large extent due to feeling unwinnable.  The people that come back to PvP most likely won't care about placement much/at all.  I know for me I rarely place above 20-50.  I'm fine trading that in for T100 if I can be assured the 4* placement every time by 40 quick wins against easy opponents.  

Another interesting though about CP in placement.  What if SCL 9 came out and the 15 CP went as low as T50 (similar to the 4* cover in T50).  That wouldn't guarantee every vet could get it, but I would think the vast majority of vets don't struggle to get T50, even in an SCL 9 situation.  We've seen plenty of precedent to the devs releasing a new feature before a complimentary feature that probably should have been added first.... Just a thought...

DaBeast911

D4Ni13 said:

rixmith said:

Wow, I thought they'd at least lower the number of wins for a 4* from 40 to something more reasonable like 25 or 30. But I guess the data showed otherwise...

They didn't said if they changed the number or not, just that the PvP based on wins will be starting from next season. Why so ready to jump to conclusions ? 

The rockett said:

Throw a grenade and walk away.  Great idea.  Make a major change to the game and decide to go home for the night while everybody has questions. 95% of the people I play with, and it's a lot, think the win progression was a terrible idea.  The only thing that can save this is if you put the CPs back in here, too bad this wasn't deemed important enough for you to post tonight. Plus do this major change right after the Anniversary and the sales you had. Already got our money now let's make a fundamental change to PVP, which is the money maker for the game. Good luck. 

First of, you are way overreacting. You will get your anwsers soon enough, there is still 2 days before the changes go live. Furthermore,  everybody knew win-based PvP is coming sooner or later. They made 3 tests for it already, so it was only a matter of time, not a question of if. 

JHawkInc said:

The devs are DENSE if they think PVP based wins are ready to be implemented straight into the game.

Regardless as to whether you're for or against the change, it was pretty obvious that it was very rough around the edges and needed some work.

I don't like being given deliberately half-baked game features.

Nobody said it is going to be the same as the test reward & number-wise. Lets wait to see some actual details. 

Do you work for D3? Sure seems like it.......just asking

Friarbundy

+1 in favor of this change!  Thanks for listening to the little guys!

D4Ni13

Meander said:

tiomono said:

Unpopular opinion alert.

I have limited time to spend on this game. With 2 small children that need my attention more than a mobile game, I love the win based progression system. 

Cop out alert.  You think you're the only one with a life outside this game? You know how many times I see "wife nerf" "had to put the kids to bed" "kid meltdown" etc in Line rooms.  These things cause quick shields,  not whiney excuses

Lol. Everybody playes the game as he/she likes. If you want to be competitive, be competitive. But playing casual is not a whiney excuse. Everybody has different preferences of spending their free time. If he likes the option to play 1-2 games every 1 hours, what is your problem with that ? 

Vhailorx

brisashi said:

Personally I am very happy to hear about the win based progression

It may mean more matches but it does indeed give me more flexibility on when to play and still get all progression rewards

I feel like everyone else is playing a different game.  How is progression more flexibile now?  You could play to 900 for prog at basically any time in the old system.  The only requirement was that you couldn't play a game here and a game there above 600 or so.  

But the new system requires far more of your time.  How may people couldn't get 20 minutes to do the final 5 or so matches to climb 600-900 all at once, but do have the free time and dedication to this game to play an extra 20+ matches every couple of days?

This isn't a player quality of life improvement.  It's shuffling deck chairs on the titanic, just moving incinvenience from one small group of players to another.  And in the shuffle demi is snatching 15 cp from our pockets.

tiomono

Meander said:

tiomono said:

Unpopular opinion alert.

I have limited time to spend on this game. With 2 small children that need my attention more than a mobile game, I love the win based progression system. 

Cop out alert.  You think you're the only one with a life outside this game? You know how many times I see "wife nerf" "had to put the kids to bed" "kid meltdown" etc in Line rooms.  These things cause quick shields,  not whiney excuses

So I'm copping out, and whiny? 70% of the replies in this topic have been whiny. I was not whining but expressing my happiness over a change. Let me be happy.

I feel giving my family priority over a game is called being a good husband, not a cop out.

granne

I really don't like this change.

I read all these comments saying "now I can play as much as I want when I want" and wonder how you have all been playing PvP until now, because that's what I've always done and it's going to change drastically once this change goes live. 40 wins is too many.

I've played hard to get my roster to where it is (26 4* champs), where if the boosted list is kind to me I can climb to 900+ before my first shield. 1200 is only a problem if I have no boosteds. If the CP is taken out of progression, I'll be 45 CP down each week. That's 2.25 classic pulls or 1.8 latest pulls per week. That will add up over time.

People in low clearance levels don't need CP - they need HP. Offering CP for placement in the lower clearance levels is just going to make that HP shortage worse, as people struggle to roster the shiny new 4 and 5* covers they pull, and simultaneously bork their MMR.

Of course, convincing players to spend early in the game is probably the intent here, but why does that have to be at the expense of 4 and 5* players? Give us the CP in progression instead of placement at higher SCLs.

If the required wins are lower than 40 for the 4*, or the CP is back in progression, I will come and take this back. After I've picked myself up off the floor from my fainting fit.

~~~

Pleased about the Psylocke rework. I think I'm pleased about Fury's (especially as I just champed him), but I'm reserving judgement until I see the numbers.