SHIELD TRAINING doesn't help new rosters

bbigler
bbigler Posts: 2,111 Chairperson of the Boards
in MPQ General Discussion
I like the concept of the SHIELD TRAINING event, it's one of the new things that was introduced while I was gone, but it's also completely useless to me with my new roster.  I would love to fight those battles for the rewards, but I can't given my lack of 4*s.  This is the 2nd time that the event has been useless since I re-started 19 days ago.

Here's my proposal: make SHIELD TRAINING require either all 2*s, 3*s, 4*s or 5*s.  The player can choose which tier they want to play at, so no one is excluded from the event.  Having required characters is fine, but let's make it tier based, not just exclusive to 4*s.  The higher the tier, the better the rewards (obviously) with enemy levels appropriate for that tier.   

Comments

  • randomhero1090
    randomhero1090 Posts: 396 Mover and Shaker
    Might sound crazy, but should have a training set for each level (2*,3*,4*).  You get to pick which one you enter, you win a cover 1x higher then the level you enter.  2* full event clear gives a 3*, 3 gives 4, 4 gives 5.

    So, if you have been around awhile, you either get the new 4* or a 5* cover.  And a very new player with just a 2* roster can get a 3*.

    Makes more sense to me.
  • Blindman13
    Blindman13 Posts: 504 Critical Contributor
    To reiterate what the others said, when SHIELD Training was first rolled out, the Devs said it was a way for them to reward the long standing players with deep rosters.

    That said, I can see how daunting it would look to a new player to try and get 3 different 4*s up to level 209 in order to get the new 4* cover. I think this is deliberate to encourage people to buy the 7,000 HP H4H option to speed the process along.
  • randomhero1090
    randomhero1090 Posts: 396 Mover and Shaker
    I totally agree @Blindman13.  But to get 2 covers and 16 elite tokens for 7000 HP...  yeah, ok...  If elites paid out 4*s at a 1:3 ratio or something sure.

    Be lucky if you hit 2x 3* and 1x 4* in those elites.  Real lucky.
  • AlexR
    AlexR Posts: 453 Mover and Shaker
    edited June 2018
    I get that it's meant for developed rosters, but there's no reason to completely 100% lock out everyone below 4* land. Especially when the event is around for a full week! 

    Only developed rosters can get the new shiny 4*, fair enough. But I really wished the first row had no character requirements or would give a loaner of the 4* character in question, so at the very least growing rosters could get the first event token. Which probably gives a 2* anyway, so it's not like they're getting anything special, but it'd be a nicer gesture. 

    I can now always complete Row1 and sometimes Row2, and I'm fine with that. But when I was still in 3* land, and had a growing roster of 86+ characters (steadily rostering 4* characters) and I could not even complete the very first row to get a single event token from it... well, that's just disheartening, you know?


    The event can still reward developed rosters while not being completely 100% pointless for anyone below 4* land.
  • Blindman13
    Blindman13 Posts: 504 Critical Contributor
    AlexR said:
    I get that it's meant for developed rosters, but there's no reason to completely 100% lock out everyone below 4* land. Especially when the event is around for a full week! 

    Only developed rosters can get the new shiny 4*, fair enough. But I really wished the first row had no character requirements or would give a loaner of the 4* character in question, so at the very least growing rosters could get the first event token. Which probably gives a 2* anyway, so it's not like they're getting anything special, but it'd be a nicer gesture. 

    I can now always complete Row1 and sometimes Row2, and I'm fine with that. But when I was still in 3* land, and had a growing roster of 86+ characters (steadily rostering 4* characters) and I could not even complete the very first row to get a single event token from it... well, that's just disheartening, you know?


    The event can still reward developed rosters while not being completely 100% pointless for anyone below 4* land.
    I get where you are coming from.  For the first 6-8 SHIELD Training's I was one of those complaining about them requiring the most recent 4* to be level 209 to get the new one. Now that they relaxed that back some, and I can reliably get the new shiny, I am satisfied. However, I know how frustrating it is to be close, but still excluded from the rewards you want. 
  • shartattack
    shartattack Posts: 370 Mover and Shaker
    I've invested almost 2 years of high level play into this game to the point where i have all 4s over 209 (only 2 not champed), but yes, someone just starting out should get the same rewards.  No one should ever lose a match or miss out on a reward ever, lest someone get the feels.

    They already fixed it so they don't require 10 covers of a brand new 4 in order to finish shield training.  
  • animaniactoo
    animaniactoo Posts: 486 Mover and Shaker
    Honestly, I would love to see the devs leverage SHIELD rank more comprehensively.

    This would be a great place to have ongoing SHIELD trainings appear as one-time events when you hit a certain level. Each time building on characters guaranteed to have been gained by limiting the pool of characters available to pull from tokens/etc and having them gradually open up more characters as you hit key levels.
  • bbigler
    bbigler Posts: 2,111 Chairperson of the Boards
    animaniactoo said:
    Honestly, I would love to see the devs leverage SHIELD rank more comprehensively.

    This would be a great place to have ongoing SHIELD trainings appear as one-time events when you hit a certain level. Each time building on characters guaranteed to have been gained by limiting the pool of characters available to pull from tokens/etc and having them gradually open up more characters as you hit key levels.
    Well, the devs certainly built in automated 1-time SCL Packs for sale when you hit a certain rank.
  • Punisher5784
    Punisher5784 Posts: 3,845 Chairperson of the Boards
    Bowgentle said:
    bbigler said:
    I like the concept of the SHIELD TRAINING event, it's one of the new things that was introduced while I was gone, but it's also completely useless to me with my new roster.  I would love to fight those battles for the rewards, but I can't given my lack of 4*s.  This is the 2nd time that the event has been useless since I re-started 19 days ago.

    Here's my proposal: make SHIELD TRAINING require either all 2*s, 3*s, 4*s or 5*s.  The player can choose which tier they want to play at, so no one is excluded from the event.  Having required characters is fine, but let's make it tier based, not just exclusive to 4*s.  The higher the tier, the better the rewards (obviously) with enemy levels appropriate for that tier.   
    It's not meant for new players.
    It's meant for people with developed rosters.

    He would have a developed roster if he was not starting over again. Now he'll have to wait at least 1-2years
  • mega ghost
    mega ghost Posts: 1,156 Chairperson of the Boards
    S.H.I.E.L.D. Training was meant as a bonus event for more developed rosters and is always run in addition to other content, not in place of it. That said, I know it's frustrating having content gated from you, so I'm a fan of the idea of attaching it to SCL or just offering multiple paths (2* teams winning a featured 3* , 3* teams winning a classic/vintage 4*, and 4* teams winning the new release 4*.

    And while I'm glad the required 4* characters are no longer all Latest, now that the there is no longer an increased Latest pull percentage they should only require classic/vintage 4* characters.
  • Jarvind
    Jarvind Posts: 1,684 Chairperson of the Boards
    1: It's not supposed to help new rosters
    2: It doesn't replace something that would help new rosters

    I have plenty of gripes w/ the game, to the point that I basically just play DDQ and a few PVP matches here and there lately, but I really don't get why people still have beef with SHIELD training events.
  • Dormammu
    Dormammu Posts: 3,531 Chairperson of the Boards
    I look at it this way:

    MPQ has done a fantastic job of making the entirety of their game accessible to all players, regardless of roster strength. Don't have what you need? They give you loaners. Yes, there are nodes here and there in DDQ and PvE essentials that require you to have a character on roster, but you only need 1 measly cover to participate and it certainly doesn't keep you out of the rest of the event.

    SHIELD Training is for the vets, the players who have stuck it out for 4+ years and helped support this game throughout. It's such a small portion of the overall MPQ experience, too, that I don't get why people are so upset.

    After SHIELD Training came along the developers also started tying new releases to boss events - meaning you can get three covers right off the bat. That actually helps new players and hurts the vets, as we were previously able to get more covers through high placement. So it's give and take.
  • jamesh
    jamesh Posts: 1,600 Chairperson of the Boards
    It's also worth noting that there are some decent rewards for playing even if you can't complete it.

    In the last SHIELD Training, I didn't have the covers to bring two of the required characters to level 209, but still walked away with 11,250 iso.  That's 9,000 iso for reaching the 2000 point mark, and 2,250 iso for completing missions.

    Doing that only needs the essential characters at level 94, and to win at least one cover for the new character.  So that should be achievable for people _very_ early in the 4* transition phase.
  • HoundofShadow
    HoundofShadow Posts: 8,004 Chairperson of the Boards
    The devs have publicly stated that S.H.I.E.L.D Training was targeted at veteran players. It was never meant to replace other Story Events, but as an addition or a bonus for veteran players.

    All games need certain level of differentiation. If a feature is available to every player of all levels, there isn't any differentiation at all. 
  • wymtime
    wymtime Posts: 3,759 Chairperson of the Boards
    bbigler said:
    I like the concept of the SHIELD TRAINING event, it's one of the new things that was introduced while I was gone, but it's also completely useless to me with my new roster.  I would love to fight those battles for the rewards, but I can't given my lack of 4*s.  This is the 2nd time that the event has been useless since I re-started 19 days ago.

    Here's my proposal: make SHIELD TRAINING require either all 2*s, 3*s, 4*s or 5*s.  The player can choose which tier they want to play at, so no one is excluded from the event.  Having required characters is fine, but let's make it tier based, not just exclusive to 4*s.  The higher the tier, the better the rewards (obviously) with enemy levels appropriate for that tier.   
    When they released shield trading the devs said they wanted this system to reward players with deep rosters and long time players.  They had started by placing the news released 4* in the mix which was awful as only a small percentcould complete it.  As a reward for long time players to get an easier cover.  The boss event and the new release event are ways for all players to get the new cover.  
    Shield training is like DPDQ for a new release character.  I don’t have an issue with them using older 4* essentials is fine by me I felt it was a lot worse when it was the newest released 4* required to be leveled to complete it.
  • JackTenrec
    JackTenrec Posts: 808 Critical Contributor
    Dormammu said:

    After SHIELD Training came along the developers also started tying new releases to boss events - meaning you can get three covers right off the bat. That actually helps new players and hurts the vets, as we were previously able to get more covers through high placement. So it's give and take.
    That assumes that new players are able to easily join alliances capable of clearing eight rounds of boss events.  The rosters in my admittedly super-casual alliance really aren't capable of completing past round six (many are still in the 2* - 3* transition, albeit with occasional 5*s rostered).  Which is fine -- the tradeoff for not having pressure to put up numbers or get booted is you don't get all the rewards. I can't imagine that my experience is more of the rule than the exception, so the idea that this particular reward structure for boss events favors anyone other than those in mature, well-performing alliances (who are also likely to be longtime players) doesn't hold water for me.
  • DAZ0273
    DAZ0273 Posts: 10,283 Chairperson of the Boards
    I think the Devs have taken on board criticism levelled at past iterations of SHIELD Training also and have tried to mix up the characters required.

    As a nice little bookend: I was able to win the Rogue cover from the very first SHIELD Training and now thanks in part to having a champed Rogue I've finally managed to win my second new character cover in Wiccan.
  • StormDragonE55
    StormDragonE55 Posts: 35 Just Dropped In
    AlexR said:


    I can now always complete Row1 and sometimes Row2, and I'm fine with that. But when I was still in 3* land, and had a growing roster of 86+ characters (steadily rostering 4* characters) and I could not even complete the very first row to get a single event token from it... well, that's just disheartening, you know?


    The event can still reward developed rosters while not being completely 100% pointless for anyone below 4* land.
    I frequently have the 4*s for the event but they almost always have one cover to them. It's frustrating because there's basically no way for me to get another cover until I champ a lower level that gives me their covers.  So I'm luck I get the 1st row of nodes done in most events.

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