Are we at the beginning of the end with MPQ ?

tonypq

Was curious what outlook some of you have regarding how much longer MPQ can continue on after all these years.

I guess new players will always be attracted to the game and play for a while, but veterans many are quitting or fed up with lack up anything new aside from the lot of new characters that keep coming. 

The developers ask for input often and have made some ok changes here and there, but others not so much. To me the Black Panther event seemed really obnoxious, poorly developed and not fun. Seemingly not much is added as far as new content unless tied into a latest Marvel flick which is a let down. Would be nice for D3 to add content more often aside from the latest box office tie in. 

They have a steady enoug cash flow from the thousands of people who make purchases of some sort that I feel like we should expect some new features more regularly than 3 day movie related pve events. The mess created for those who are completionists and others who are stuck in quick sand between 4 and 5 start transitioning also seems to be something lingering on far too long, without any real effort or solutions to ease either burdon.

I keep playing because I'm a Marvel fan and this game is a bit more fun than other licensed games out there, it's kind of the default Marvel game me at the moment. I just think more could be done to add new life to this game other than grind pve or pvp endlessly. Lot of other mobile games have quite a bit more content and daily list of things to do, would be nice if MPQ got a shot in the arm after years of a pve/pvp grind fest, especially with tapping in pve really killing the fun factor.

Nice to hear how some of you feel, also from those playing for years. I just don't think we're asking too much for some new content that's fresh to be added. Especially with so many ideas the fan base has brought up, and features other successful mobile games offer that people enjoy and could be incorporated into MPQ.

Colognoisseur

This same exact question gets asked every few months.

So far the answer is no after four-plus years.

Just like psychics who keep predicting there will be a massive earthquake in California eventually one of these posts will be timed just right.

I'm guessing this one is not the lucky one.

SymmeTrey

The recent non-revenue related interface tweaks don't seem like the type of moves made by a failing game. That was quite a bit of engineering investment with no real immediate cash returns.

Every online game I've ever played has its demise predicted about once per quarter. I think MPQ is probably doing fine from a cash flow perspective, it's not a huge game, but, it's probably profitable and I think Marvel feels like these kinds of games feed their overall ecosystem around their properties.

Maybe we haven't had any features announced recently because they have been hard at work on stuff that just isn't quite ready for release yet? Rumors have been going around the player base to the effect of major game additions, but, nothing has been announced and no one really seems to know what those additions might be. But, if there were significant additions coming, relatively "low activity" on the addition front is exactly what I would expect prior to the new features being announced.

Crnch73

I believe it’s somewhere in the grey area. Ending? Not while it’s still making money. 

I believe it’s on auto pilot though. Rare new stories, which are bad, re running old stories quite often... even boss battles are starting to bore me because they aren’t new, the rewards are the same, iso disparity, etc. The only true changes are new characters. Even as cool as some of them are, I’m not using most of them because we just have SO many characters to choose from. 

So I think the developers are just resting on their lorels, maybe developing other games, who knows. They have proven that their hard work in the past can continue to churn out new money in the present, so they just aren’t in a hurry to put in the same effort again moving forward. 

IceHockey333

No, it is not ending any time soon.  Look for the ten year anniversary vault, gonna be big.

Beer40

I don't think the game is ending. I think the player base is shifting yet again. I haven't played a match in at least 5 days, if not more, because I've found other things to occupy my old MPQ time. I only check the Forums during weekdays and I barely look at them and rarely comment anymore.

My point being: Lots of names on the Forum are gone from when I started two years ago. Probably just as many have shown up to replace them. I think the game could probably go on for a nearly infinite amount of time due to the large catalog of Marvel characters they could put in game and due to the amount of people that would pick up a "free" Marvel game and put some money into it. 

Daredevil217

No.

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Straycat

Conventional wisdom says that it will end eventually, but why does it have to? Even if it isn't making tons of money, if it has an engaged playerbase it still has value as a promotional tool. They could insert ads, give a new VIP level, make new bundles, etc. to keep it afloat before shutting down for good. The bottom does not seem to be falling out of the superhero movie genre anytime soon, so they would be smart to keep this game going.

It's also not directly competing with many games, nor is it really cannibalizing the market against other Marvel games. Marvel heroes shut down but its competing with DC Universe Online, and Marvel is starting to make its own console games.

dokiy

This game isn't going anywhere as long as the MCU continues to crush at the box office. 

animaniactoo

I agree that the game needs some changes to make it more sustainable longterm, but also "fresh" for vet players.

In particular, new storylines would help alot, particularly against new kinds of enemies. New storylines fighting the usual bunch are a quick fail of "ugh I just did this".

However, from a licensing PD standpoint (familiar with this licensor), I am willing to bet that some of what is feeding the way things are being developed is a "what we can get approved" thought process. With the heavy push of the MCU, storylines that contradict the MCU are unlikely to happen, even though there is a vast archive of lore to work with. So what happens is more that new storylines have to be planned and worked on in conjunction with whatever is happening in the MCU, and those storylines are likely months in the planning, not a few weeks.

Which is really unfortunately because there has always been a "Strange Tales" and "MultiVerse" "Alternate Reality" spin throughout which could tie in and out of the MCU thread. But if you're limited to what's happening in the MCU, it makes sense to tie new releases to the movies that support them. Also because the licensor pushes you to create product that specifically supports a new release. Which leaves limited opportunities to do stuff outside it without killing your development pace. I would still like to see more of those explored, but I get the "what we can get approved" thinking - it does not pay to spend too much time on things you're probably not going to get approved. It's easy to fall into the trap when you have to keep up with creating new PD all the time.

The rockett

As Colog said this question gets asked a lot. I think the Pinnacle of the game was in year 2.  Yes we had the “you are suppose to lose” but after the tweak it was fine.  If I would say there was a time of downfall, it was after Boss Rush. That time frame seems to be a downturn in people leaving.  Some of the vets are handing on, but I can say that if the Infinity War tie-ins are subpar, I would be worried about the player base.  

Yes the game is making money, but not like it was.  They get a massive push a few times a year during sales, but the biggest one is Amazon Digital Days.  Anybody that knew what was going on can attest to how crazy that day was.  

I am a bit more hopefuly knowing some of other devs are back here and I am hoping there is something big coming.  We will know in a few weeks. 

WilsonFisk

I'm one of those vets who called it quits after this season. I have 1475 days logged. 

For me, I just got completely bored with the same events over and over, but you know what? I still played 1475 days which is pretty damn crazy. 

Vets are obviously going to get bored with same recycled garbage over and over, but at it's core it's got great and addictive gameplay, so I can't see an end coming anytime soon. New players are still gonna come in and get hooked on the gameplay, they just might not hang around quite as long as some of us old-timers if they don't change things up a bit. 

smkspy

Not ending, but definitely feeling like it has long been on autopilot, which isn't good when there are obvious problems that are apparent and need addressing.

This isn't to say development is not working on fixing them, but the game needs a shot in the arm to spark some life back into it.

Spudgutter

Highly unlikely.

Just mentioned in another thread i am seeing ads all over the place for mpq lately, including inside of popular youtube videos.  Doesnt make sense to spend money on ads if you are circling the drain

Calnexin

Cycling of the playerbase is to be expected, and not at all indicative of the "death" of anything.  World of Warcraft is what, 13 years old now?  Updates, upgrades, and fresh content can keep a game (particularly multiplayer ones on subscription-like business models) going for a long time.  I think they've made enough tweaks that the actual game has been pretty well streamlined, though not properly balanced at all tiers.

For me personally, I'm on day 1090 and my interest is waning.  The preponderance of Gambit (and my inability to cover him) forced me out of PvP in any competitive sense, and I decrease my time investment by mostly playing easier CLs and slacker brackets.  I'm mostly just keeping up with the 4* tier, looking to round out some 5's for interesting casual play options.  Pretty much done spending any serious money on it unless they introduce a significant upgrade, like new game modes or ways to manipulate the meta.  I keep up VIP, though.  I still spend more time with this game than most of my other hobbies, so it's worth supporting.

Of course, who knows if that'll last.  When I stopped spending time in PvP I started spending it in a different game, which is occupying more of my time than MPQ these days.  That and there's, you know, life.  There are surely better things I could be doing with my time, so never say never to putting the game down for a hiatus.

KinDM

Having played a couple other Marvel mobile games that died, the biggest thing I learned is that you can't necessarily the game changes and improvements to game health. One announced that there were a ton of awesome things coming, an entire Phoenix Force storyline that was likely to span 6 months or more, and had just made some positive changes, then announced the next week that they were turning the servers off in 3 months. They had kept working expecting things to be fine, but the licensing terms likely changed and their profits weren't enough to make it worthwhile.

I think instead it's best to look at outside factors. The game is still one of several pushed directly on the marvel website, and which ties in to advertising and direct support. Peggy Carter Captain America, an original creation for the game, will shortly be featured in a paper comic for the first time. I think these factors speak to a healthy level of support from Marvel directly, which is often more important than minutia in gaming trends. The game has hit a point where their biggest challenge is going to become accessibility for new players without a huge cost associated with it. If they can tackle that, then I think they'll do fine for a good while longer.

RemoDestroyer

Spudgutter said:

Highly unlikely.

Just mentioned in another thread i am seeing ads all over the place for mpq lately, including inside of popular youtube videos.  Doesnt make sense to spend money on ads if you are circling the drain

Is there a chance these are targeted ads? Not sure exactly how advertising works but maybe money is not spent advertising to everyone using YouTube and the internet. Only advertising to those likely to use Mpq given previous behavior may cost a lot less than advertising to everyone. That would make sense.

And for those that already downloaded Mpq maybe the ads will act as messages to play more. Maybe even cause the player to do something that directly or indirectly leads to in game purchases.

Spudgutter

RemoDestroyer said:

Spudgutter said:

Highly unlikely.

Just mentioned in another thread i am seeing ads all over the place for mpq lately, including inside of popular youtube videos.  Doesnt make sense to spend money on ads if you are circling the drain

Is there a chance these are targeted ads? Not sure exactly how advertising works but maybe money is not spent advertising to everyone using YouTube and the internet. Only advertising to those likely to use Mpq given previous behavior may cost a lot less than advertising to everyone. That would make sense.

And for those that already downloaded Mpq maybe the ads will act as messages to play more. Maybe even cause the player to do something that directly or indirectly leads to in game purchases.

Considering i have been playing words with friends with my girlfriend for years, and the adds have ranged from movie trailers, to crash royale (never played) to FFXV (never played) to garbage games that look like cash grabs, i doubt it for there.  In the reddit is fun app, i gloss over the adds, so i couldn't say one way or the other there. 

but for you tube?  Nerdist isn't exactly a small thing.  i don't watch it all the time, just when the topic is something that might interest me, so i don't know how many times they have done this.  on this video, there were just over 100k views.  somtimes they have tens of thousands, sometimes over a million.  not saying it is an expensive ad, but i cant imagine it is cheap, or the only one that they may have done.

https://youtu.be/Sy_r77ke2DY

Moon Roach

I have it on very good authority that the very last character to be released will be Dazzler.

I think the quote was something like "The last character we'd ever release would be Dazzler".

So we're safe until we do, finally, see her.

Dragon_Nexus

It'll be interesting if they pull a Paragon and refund everyone's purchases if the game goes belly up.

It'll be freakin scary if I could see how much money I'd ended up spending on this thing before the end.

Dormammu

The 'beginning of the end' starts the day you were born, my friend. We're all on our way out.