My Truths about...

0_efx_0

”Supports”
They are a viable new way to look at gameplay. Though are they necessary? I believe not. Well not for me at least. 
My true thought about them is that they were created in order to balance out the characters we all wish they would balance! 
These Supports are created as shortcuts so that the Devs wouldn’t have to go on an rebalance some of our favorite characters. 
Think about it...Medusa/Gamora/Grocket is a must in PVP. And when the Supports are implemented in, they will help handle and defeat that amazing team without question.
Creating and implementing new characters in the game will be very simple and yet lazy now, characters we wish they would add into the game will now be small Supports. Think about it...
Wish we had some more Spider-Man villains? Now they will be in soon, as Supports. (Ex: Lockjaws Blue) I’m assuming, but I feel like I am assuming correctly.
What do you all think and believe?

LeaveMyCookies

Think about it yourself, what's gonna happen when you equip those 3 characters with supports? They gonna completely trash the underpower ones, even more than they do now.

Pongie

I don’t think it’s lazy, but think of it more as a lower entry point for characters to make it into the game. Devs don’t have to come up with 3 abilities and decide which 3 colours are their abilities etc. 

fight4thedream

I think it's really too early to tell how much of an impact supports will have on the game meta.

I suspect that at least initially they are intended to be a "little" more helpful than TUs and boosts but not so game changing as to be "must have" items, especially considering that they are currently intended only for PvE. Perhaps further down the line, after having gathered enough data and seeing how they affect both PvE and PvP the devs may try focus the meta more prominently around the interaction between supports and characters but for now it seems like they are playing it safe and trying to ease everyone into using them.

With that said, I do feel that is has a lot of potential to add another layer of strategy and "balance", as the OP put it, to the game. As someone who plays at the higher end, I would love to see supports used to counter-balance top tier meta PvP teams, not exacerbate tier disparity. Outside of AP generation, I am not sure how much of an effect supports will have for PvE. With that said, it also has just as much potential to further disbalance top end play and hopefully the dev team will be careful about this.

As much as I want an "Infinity Gauntlet" support for next year, I don't want it to be the "One-Support-To-Rule-Them-All" and throw us back into another year of Thanos dominating the meta. If they can find ways to bring in comparable supports to help diversify the power dynamics of top tier meta play that would be awesome!

And just to be clear, I don't think they should use supports as a replacement to properly rebalancing characters. I am certain there are characters that no amount of "support" (pun, sorry I couldn't help myself lol) can help and those characters should be adjusted accordingly.

But for now, I am just looking to max out Korg and Web shooters asap and looking forward to what other cool stuff supports bring.  (*fingers crossed for Mjölnir and Silver Surfer's board in the next batch)

bluewolf

So sorry, the Marvel nerd in me is solidly against a Mjolnir Support. It hurts my brain to think about equipping Mjolnir on, say, The Punisher.

Edit:  I suppose if a “Worthy” affiliation is added to a limited set of characters, it could be a fun addition.  I take it back.   Onward to battle!

fight4thedream

bluewolf said:

So sorry, the Marvel nerd in me is solidly against a Mjolnir Support. It hurts my brain to think about equipping Mjolnir on, say, The Punisher.

Edit:  I suppose if a “Worthy” affiliation is added to a limited set of characters, it could be a fun addition.  I take it back.   Onward to battle!

Good point and I agree totally! Maybe certain supports will be restricted?

Also, having thought it over a bit more, it's already pretty clear which supports will be considered "valuable" from a competitive standpoint:  those that help you win match faster.  So obviously AP generation and damage modifiers will be popular. But still too early and too many unknowns to give a meaningful analysis.

NeonBlue

fight4thedream said:

With that said, I do feel that is has a lot of potential to add another layer of strategy and "balance", as the OP put it, to the game. As someone who plays at the higher end, I would love to see supports used to counter-balance top tier meta PvP teams, not exacerbate tier disparity. Outside of AP generation, I am not sure how much of an effect supports will have for PvE. With that said, it also has just as much potential to further disbalance top end play and hopefully the dev team will be careful about this.

What concerns me the most, and I do hope this gets addressed directly by the devs, is the increased potential for "pay2win." How much will supports increase the gap between paying and non-paying players? Currently (in PvP), the only thing that distinguishes one roster's ability from another is team composition, level, and cover distribution. With experience, you could know at a moment's glance how likely you are to win a certain match. Matchmaking (MMR) is dependent on this fact. As it stands now, if I have the same team as my opponent at similar levels, our "might" or power would be approximately the same (if supports weren't deployed in PvP). "Paying2win" in this scenario is less about paying for power, and more about paying for speed and earlier access because the power is entirely contained within the characters you choose; there's currently a definable and reasonable upper limit to the power of a particular character. 

With supports, this wont be the case. If I was a free player with lower-end supports, and I fought the same team with maxed supports, I would get crushed. They would not only have vastly superior stats, but also additional effects due to supports. To address this, MMR would have to move to a more representative power system (e.g. "Might" from some other games). Without it, when supports become part of the monetization, the whales could buy maxed out supports and crush everyone else in a few matches. 

As the game currently is, champing a new character could be a straight upgrade in power, but usually it is in the form of roster versatility (ie. it wouldn't be easier to beat another team just because I have more champs). The boosting system works because they are temporary increases in power, and this rotation rewards roster diversity. Expanding the toolbox of characters is only useful as long as the player could utilize them properly. Investing in supports however will most certainly always be a permanent vertical upgrade (as in, it takes what I already have and just makes stuff better).  

broll

fight4thedream said:

bluewolf said:

So sorry, the Marvel nerd in me is solidly against a Mjolnir Support. It hurts my brain to think about equipping Mjolnir on, say, The Punisher.

Edit:  I suppose if a “Worthy” affiliation is added to a limited set of characters, it could be a fun addition.  I take it back.   Onward to battle!

Good point and I agree totally! Maybe certain supports will be restricted?

Also, having thought it over a bit more, it's already pretty clear which supports will be considered "valuable" from a competitive standpoint:  those that help you wins match faster.  So obviously AP generation and damage modifiers will be popular. But still too early and too many unknowns to give a meaningful analysis.

There's no maybe about it.  We have supports restricted to Heroes and Villains in the first 14.  I think a Mjolnir with only a few listed as worth to equip it would be pretty cool.

Waddles_Pines

I think that for the time being while it's only PVE; supports sole function is to shave time off of clears.  The distribution of whales to vets to casual to noobs isn't going to change.  As such, unless you're on the cusp between two of those groups, your placement shouldn't be affected that much.  So, to me the net effect is to make clears a hair faster at this stage, and a noticeable time improvement as it gets fleshed out.  Or at least that's what I think the endgame is in PVE.  Personally I rather them make max progression 4 clears instead of 5, but whatever...

As for PVP, I'm totally against supports as currently constituted... 

Michaelcles

0_efx_0 said:

”Supports”
They are a viable new way to look at gameplay. Though are they necessary? I believe not. Well not for me at least. 
My true thought about them is that they were created in order to balance out the characters we all wish they would balance! 
These Supports are created as shortcuts so that the Devs wouldn’t have to go on an rebalance some of our favorite characters. 
Think about it...Medusa/Gamora/Grocket is a must in PVP. And when the Supports are implemented in, they will help handle and defeat that amazing team without question.
Creating and implementing new characters in the game will be very simple and yet lazy now, characters we wish they would add into the game will now be small Supports. Think about it...
Wish we had some more Spider-Man villains? Now they will be in soon, as Supports. (Ex: Lockjaws Blue) I’m assuming, but I feel like I am assuming correctly.
What do you all think and believe?

They were created as a new revenue stream.

Shintok17

Michaelcles said:

0_efx_0 said:

”Supports”
They are a viable new way to look at gameplay. Though are they necessary? I believe not. Well not for me at least. 
My true thought about them is that they were created in order to balance out the characters we all wish they would balance! 
These Supports are created as shortcuts so that the Devs wouldn’t have to go on an rebalance some of our favorite characters. 
Think about it...Medusa/Gamora/Grocket is a must in PVP. And when the Supports are implemented in, they will help handle and defeat that amazing team without question.
Creating and implementing new characters in the game will be very simple and yet lazy now, characters we wish they would add into the game will now be small Supports. Think about it...
Wish we had some more Spider-Man villains? Now they will be in soon, as Supports. (Ex: Lockjaws Blue) I’m assuming, but I feel like I am assuming correctly.
What do you all think and believe?

They were created as a new revenue stream.

Yup. They are banking on people spending money for Red Iso and on bundles.

Dragon_Nexus

So far my opinion is...these seem like a lot of fun if you're in 3* or 4* land, which is the majority of players.

However I'm creeping in 5* land (which means I have at least two 5* characters, so that's all I get to fight against now).
The supports seem utterly useless for me so far. There are supports designed for specific characters that are either incredibly under covered for me or just don't exist yet like a 5* Deadpool.

*Maybe* this will be useful later if I have some high powered supports to give to this week's boosted 4* that'll allow them to punch above their weight, but for now I'm not seeing this as anything other than just one more thing I need to pour resources in as busy work.

Straycat

My truth about supports, they are simply more content. The issue I guess this would address is burnout. Its a second collectible metagame for us to play, and we are all starting at the ground floor. For longtime players near the endgame, they just got a new endgame thats out of reach for now.  For Marvel fans, it lets even the most obscure Marvel characters to enter the game.

Gameplay-wise it adds another layer of strategy and depth. Not here to replace rebalances, but it could make niche characters more usable, or top tier characters even better. Assuming supports don't have debuffs, than it just raises your floor and ceiling, letting you punch above your weight. But I think its mostly for fun, not to change everything that much.

Dragon_Nexus

Straycat said:

For Marvel fans, it lets even the most obscure Marvel characters to enter the game.

Yeah, but that does mean if you were holding out for a character to be added to the game and they suddenly appear as a support, you're going to be disappointed since they're obviously never gonna be a legit character.

With that said if Dazzler ever shows up as a support, I'm out.

ZootSax

Dragon_Nexus said:

With that said if Dazzler ever shows up as a support, I'm out.

What if it was an alternate timeline Dazzler support, who had a synergy perk with a standard character Dazzler?

0_efx_0

Will they now create new characters with passive powers that require supports in order to function?

If implemented in PvP, will the opposing Ai team also have supports attached, making it more difficult to win?

Will the Devs go the easy way and create characters we want as 13 cover characters, only to added as a support?

Will we finally see Dazzler in the game, as a Support??

Find out next time on thee next episode of Dragon Ball P!

Again, I believe I’m assuming correctly.

Dormammu

Many of the mobile games out there have some sort of equipment mechanic that allows developers to add another layer of resource management and complexity to the game. I've always appreciated MPQs ability to avoid this while still maintaining diverse strategies built into the character pool and their colors/abilities. That being said, I'm not opposed to Supports. I'm glad they don't require regular ISO to level as players in the middle of roster development (3-star tier to 5-star tier) are starved enough for ISO as it is.

The developers absolutely must avoid a situation where these things become over-powered. Instead, they should simply offer us more strategic options. For example, if a character can affect or manipulate special tiles but can't create them on their own, we have to team them with a character who can. But a Support can now possibly do that for them giving us more options in team building and adding another layer of strategy. If a support has the ability to generate AP, maybe we don't always have to attach IM40 to <insert character here>.

It will be interesting to try and build a team of three characters, with three different Supports attached and see what what we can come up with; does that start to break the game or simply add more thought and fun to the MPQ experience?

Dragon_Nexus

ZootSax said:

Dragon_Nexus said:

With that said if Dazzler ever shows up as a support, I'm out.

What if it was an alternate timeline Dazzler support, who had a synergy perk with a standard character Dazzler?

Easy way for that to work.
Get standard Dazzler in...and her support is her Mjolnir.