I'm Back.........and I'm Starting Over

bbigler
bbigler Posts: 2,111 Chairperson of the Boards
in MPQ General Discussion
Hi Everyone, if you don't remember me that's OK, I quit MPQ a year ago because I got burned out from the grind.  I thought to myself that I was running on a hamster wheel.  Playing the same characters over and over, trying to win the same battles as fast as possible and in the right order.  It was exhausting, so I quit.  Well, like before, I got bored again with my other phone app games and came back to MPQ, again.  Seriously, this is the 4th time I've quit the game and came back.  Anyway, I would like to get the latest news from you all, but I suppose I should read all the Game Update posts to see what's changed.  So, if you don't mind, I have many questions:

What is the health of the game?  Are people happy?  Lots of Cheaters?  Lots of Whales?
Do they still have VIP membership?
Did they fix the 5* scaling problem in PVE?
Do people still hoard LT in order to max cover a 5*?
Did they open up SCL levels 9 and 10?
I see that Equipment is new - any advice on that?
Did they nerf any characters in the last year?
Is it impossible to max champ older 4*s?
Did they increase ISO output?

The other big thing I wanted to get your opinion on was about starting over with the game.  When I left the game in May 2017, I had about 15 champed 4*s, with many more in the pipeline.  I had a hoarding plan to max cover 3 x 5*s; I left the game with about 106 LT,  4000 CP and 600K ISO.  I was 2 months away from my hoarding goals before I quit.  When I reinstalled the game, it started me over, so I logged in with my previous account, but it didn't restore everything, it just saved my existing roster of 1*s.  I tried several more times with no luck.  I thought I would contact customer service to restore my account, but in the mean time I just played the game for fun. 

Well, after a lot of thought, I came to the conclusion that it would be more fun to start over than to pick up where I left off.  I know, it sounds crazy given the enormous effort, time and money I spent building up my roster for years.  I logged about 900 total days played since 2013.  But, there is no end to this game.  My enjoyment in the game comes from progressing through the tiers and discovering new character combos.  But the huge advantage that I have in starting from scratch is that I already know the best characters and strategies.  It's kinda like re-living your childhood but with the knowledge you have as an adult.  So far, I've played 4 days and I've progressed very quickly.  If you all are interested in hearing my experience of playing the game from scratch as a MPQ veteran, then I'll post about it.
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Comments

  • DyingLegend
    DyingLegend Posts: 1,208 Chairperson of the Boards
    Dilution is still awful 
  • Rod5
    Rod5 Posts: 587 Critical Contributor
    Hey dude

    Bear with me, I’ll answer them all
  • Rod5
    Rod5 Posts: 587 Critical Contributor
    edited May 2018

    bbigler said:

    What is the health of the game? 
    Depends on who you ask. A lot of veterans are moving on, take that however you will
    Are people happy?
    Generally no to be honest, a lot of the content is stale and that is genuine consensus. That and the omnipotence if Gambit in the game is driving antipathy and boredom
    Lots of Cheaters?
    Mostly weekend warriors
    Lots of Whales?
    Yes, but mostly the same as when you left
    Do they still have VIP membership
    Yes
    Did they fix the 5* scaling problem in PVE?
    Yes
    Do people still hoard LT in order to max cover a 5*?
    Yes, probably more hoard than don’t 
    Did they open up SCL levels 9 and 10?
    CL9 yes, 10 no
    I see that Equipment is new - any advice on that? Nope ;)
    Did they nerf any characters in the last year?
    Not the one they should have. They can’t now really nerf anyone else till they nerf the Gambit-God
    Is it impossible to max champ older 4*s?
    Not unless you pull a lot and BH them, and even then you need to probably inject cash
    Did they increase ISO output?
    Yes via PvE and intercepts 

  • First21
    First21 Posts: 87 Match Maker
    They introduced supports
  • bbigler
    bbigler Posts: 2,111 Chairperson of the Boards
    What's broken about Gambit?  Is this the 3* version you're talking about?
  • Rod5
    Rod5 Posts: 587 Critical Contributor
    No, the 5* version completely rules the PvP meta
  • beyonderbub
    beyonderbub Posts: 661 Critical Contributor
    Welcome back!
  • dr tinykittylove
    dr tinykittylove Posts: 1,459 Chairperson of the Boards
    New players always have a ton more fun! :) 
  • HoundofShadow
    HoundofShadow Posts: 8,004 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited May 2018
    1) S.H.I.E.L.D intercept was discontinued.

    2) Progress rewards changed from 20 to 30 in story events. You need to do 5 clears instead of 4 clears now to get max reward.

    3) Story Events are tied to SCL now.

    4) you can buy 4* in Heroes for Hire with HP.
    The featured 4* is the one in DDQ CoT node.

    5) they tried out win-based progression in PvP and change it back to point-based due to backlash from other group of players.

    6) you can buy 5* Heroes in Heroes for Hire now. The featured 5* is the one in story event essentials. 250cp for classic and 500cp for Latest.

    7) Shield rank has been raised to 200.

    8) new event called S.H.I.E.L.D training will run for every new 4*. You can earn extra 4* covers. This is targeted at the more veteran players.

    9) character animation can be turned off.

    10) 4* gives 6 covers of 5* as champion reward now.

    11) you can view the total strength of attack/protect/strike tiles by clicking on any tile.

    12) tapping has been solved.

    13) SCL 9 in PvP and story events.

    14) boss events are more frequent now. Once per month.

    15) support was introduced in MPQ mid April this year. Only 3* and above characters can equip it.

    That's about it. The one constant thing in this forum is the general atmosphere is still negative. It's not much different from a few years back. 

    Hot topics are usually:

    1) win-based vs point based PvP
    2) 5* gambit
    3) communications
    4) grinding
    5) wasted covers
    6) RNG.


  • Quebbster
    Quebbster Posts: 8,070 Chairperson of the Boards
    HoundofShadow said:
    1) S.H.I.E.L.D intercept was discontinued.

    It most certainly was not. The ads were discontinued, but intercepts are still available. All that's required is an in-app purchase (a $2 Bugle Pittance will do the trick just fine) and you get four weeks of Intercepts.

    Also, it should be pointed out that only certain fourstars have fivestar covers among their champion rewards. Off the top of my head, Vulture gives Peter Parker covers, Medusa gives Black Bolt, Gamora gives Thanos, Sandman gives Green Goblin, Kingpin gives Daredevil, Drax gives Star-Lord, Kate Bishop gives Hawkeye, X-force Wolverine gives Old Man Logan, Black Panther gives Black Panther and Peggy Carter gives Civil War Captain America. They usually announce a new feeder after the start of a new season, so people are expecting Another announcement next week.

  • HoundofShadow
    HoundofShadow Posts: 8,004 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited May 2018
    Thanks for pointing out the details. Let me add it in.

    1) the one where you get rewards for watching ads has been discontinued.

    2) they began to add in 5* covers reward as 4* champion reward in Nov 2017. It has been a monthly affair as of now. Three was added in November 2017 and from December onwards, one was added each month. In April or May, they threw in an additional 4* feeder.

    You came back at a pretty good time to watch a potential eruption. 6 June should be the announcement of the next feeder. 
  • Qubort
    Qubort Posts: 203 Tile Toppler
    Rod5 said:
    No, the 5* version completely rules the PvP meta

    But Thor rules PVE and you don't seem to have an issue with that. I guess your beef with Gambit is personal bias for the format you prefer to play.
  • Jarvind
    Jarvind Posts: 1,684 Chairperson of the Boards
    What is the health of the game?  Are people happy?  Lots of Cheaters?  Lots of Whales?

    I can't say I've seen many cheaters, but I never have, so I guess that's about the same as ever. Ditto whales. Are people happy? I dunno, but for my part my interest is at an all time low. Read on for reasons.

    Do they still have VIP membership?

    Yarp. Still a good deal for newer players, still pretty meh if you have a 4* roster or better.

    Did they fix the 5* scaling problem in PVE?

    Yes. Scaling is now fixed to the clearance level you choose at the start of the event. Access to clearance levels is based on your SHIELD rank.

    Do people still hoard LT in order to max cover a 5*?

    Yep. The general consensus is that to cover a full batch of three Latest characters, you need 250-300 pulls saved up.

    Did they open up SCL levels 9 and 10?

    9 yes, 10 no.

    I see that Equipment is new - any advice on that?

    It's pointless at the moment. The amount of red ISO available is vanishingly small, and the tokens can only be acquired in vaults or by buying Heroes for Hire deals. Also, they are disabled in PVP.

    Did they nerf any characters in the last year?

    They "nerfed" 5* Gambit, but he's still hysterically overpowered.

    Is it impossible to max champ older 4*s?

    No. Vaulting went away, so you have a decent chance of pulling older 4s now.

    Did they increase ISO output?

    Since last year? I think it's probably about the same? Not sure.



    If you want my overall opinion, I probably wouldn't come back at this point. The game is long overdue for something new, and the something new we got was Supports. Supports are complete garbage, currently. As I said above, you basically can't get them without emptying vaults. The lack of functionality in PVP amounts to a tacit admission that they can't be bothered to actually test anything before releasing it; the implication was that this would be changed fairly quickly, but so far nary a word. Reception has moved from "lukewarm" to "well, they suck and I can't get them anyway, so I've already forgotten about them."

    The "fix" to this has been...to release more supports. That we can't reasonably acquire. Two times zero, unfortunately, is still zero.

    That leaves us with the same unrelenting flow of new characters that's been cranking along for years. Some of the new characters are still great, but it's hard to get excited about a new 4* when there's already 60+ of them. Additionally, once you hit 5* territory, the only character that matters is Gambit. Gambit is the master of all that he surveys.

    If you don't have Gambit, you will be endlessly crushed, both by those that have him looking for easy wins, and those who do not have him looking to play just one match where he isn't dumping all over them. If you do have him, you will be forced to use him for virtually everything. In PVE this is for the sake of speed, and in PVP, both speed and to stave off some small amount of attacks that will otherwise pour in.

    Gambit is love. Gambit is life. You must submit to Gambit.

    The "fix" for this was to change him from "wildly, hilariously overpowered because he generates buttloads of free AP for himself" to "wildly, hilariously overpowered because he generates slightly smaller buttloads of free AP while also draining enemy AP." Pretty much everyone agrees that he ruins the game, but it's been months so it looks like he will stay as-is.

    TLDR:     Cash grabbing is at an all time high, game is stale as butts. It's probably still fun at 4* and below, but for me personally, if I know the endgame sucks, I wouldn't be motivated to get there in the first place.
  • Sm0keyJ0e
    Sm0keyJ0e Posts: 730 Critical Contributor
    Qubort said:
    Rod5 said:
    No, the 5* version completely rules the PvP meta

    But Thor rules PVE and you don't seem to have an issue with that. I guess your beef with Gambit is personal bias for the format you prefer to play.

    Well, no, Thor doesn't rule PVE. Thanos does. So I guess Thor is your personal bias for the format you prefer to play.

    As far as Gambit, 99% of the player base that is in the 5* tier wants him nerfed. He is overpowered. That's all there is to it and there's no defending he's not. 
  • HoundofShadow
    HoundofShadow Posts: 8,004 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited May 2018
    The statement about not being able to get support unless you empty vault is completely false. Here are the facts:

    All players who have at least 1 3* get 3 or 4 free supports.

    Till date, the Devs have given out a total of 9 Beginner Support Tokens and 3 Advanced Support Tokens for the introduction of different themed supports. They are totally free and you do not need to spend any resources at all. However, you need to log in to the game at that point of time to get your free tokens. 




  • broll
    broll Posts: 4,732 Chairperson of the Boards
    Sm0keyJ0e said:
    Qubort said:
    Rod5 said:
    No, the 5* version completely rules the PvP meta

    But Thor rules PVE and you don't seem to have an issue with that. I guess your beef with Gambit is personal bias for the format you prefer to play.

    Well, no, Thor doesn't rule PVE. Thanos does. So I guess Thor is your personal bias for the format you prefer to play.

    As far as Gambit, 99% of the player base that is in the 5* tier wants him nerfed. He is overpowered. That's all there is to it and there's no defending he's not. 
    From my understanding of the meta you're both sorta right, but neither is completely correct:

    Thanos rules the trivial nodes.
    Half-Life Thor + Chavez rules the rest.
  • JHawkInc
    JHawkInc Posts: 2,605 Chairperson of the Boards
    Sm0keyJ0e said:
    Qubort said:
    Rod5 said:
    No, the 5* version completely rules the PvP meta

    But Thor rules PVE and you don't seem to have an issue with that. I guess your beef with Gambit is personal bias for the format you prefer to play.

    Well, no, Thor doesn't rule PVE. Thanos does. So I guess Thor is your personal bias for the format you prefer to play.

    As far as Gambit, 99% of the player base that is in the 5* tier wants him nerfed. He is overpowered. That's all there is to it and there's no defending he's not. 
    I think fewer people want him nerfed than forumites like to claim. I also think they keep quiet because they recognize the futility of trying to have a meaningful conversation with people that say things like "there's no defending he's not" as if it were concrete fact.
  • Sm0keyJ0e
    Sm0keyJ0e Posts: 730 Critical Contributor
    It is concrete fact. And I have no idea whatever venues/forums/chats you participate in, but here/Line/Discord/alliance chat where there are 5* players--they all want him nerfed. And those voices will swell as people enter the 5* tier without Gambit.

    And when I say Thanos rules the PVE format, I mean for those who play for speed and competition. Thanos/Guardians or some format of that is what people are using for placement.
  • Quebbster
    Quebbster Posts: 8,070 Chairperson of the Boards

    I Think the Thor/Thanos disagreement show that neither truly rules PvE. :) Both are excellent and get results, but in somewhat different ways. I say this as someone who uses both depending a bit on the situation (if I have the essential fivestar champed Thor + Chavez is incredibly fast, otherwise I tend to rely on Thanos and Daredevil).

    There's no question that Gambit rules PvP though. He shows up almost everywhere after all.

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