Confessions of a hoarder

wymtime

I pull my hoard every 6 weeks when a new 5* comes into the tokens.  I now currently have 17 champed 5* and 2 at 12 covers.  Since he last 5* I saved enough LT and cp for 135 pulls.  I champed my Cap today and he only 452 but Okoye is at 12 covers with 6 weeks of hoarding ahead of her.  Having a champed or high level essential  5* in PVE makes CL9 a breeze and saves so many health packs.  For PVP I can still galaxy and be fine and hit 1200 points.  
‘I personally pull every 6 weeks because I can’t wait for 3 new 5* to come into the game and save 300+ pulls.  Getting new 5* I can use even in PVE is what keeps the game fun.

on a side not I only have 3 4* unchanged iron Spider-Man, Wiccan and Ghost and I will say his out of 135 pulls I only got 3 covers for IS and Wiccan combined.  This leaves me with 1.8MM iso nd no 4* to champ.  

Kevmcg

The main reason for Hoarding is flexibility. I hoard for each cycle of 3 new 5* (usually about 400 pulls).  If one happens to be "Gambit" good, you have the option of opening at the initial launch AND changing course to add champ levels just before leaving latest (17.5 weeks later).  The initial pull should get to level 450-455 and the next will add another 20-30 levels, so you have a more viable 470+. Its worked well one time for me to get Gambit and Thor over 475. Still waiting for that next best duo.

I am also a completionist. Winning the game for me is getting everyone champed. I'm at 21 of 26 champed 5*. Next pull party, should get me 4 closer using Bonus Heroes (25 of 27). Only Doc Ock and Banner to go.

dr tinykittylove

I spend a bit and am moderately lucky. I'm quite happy to use all my merry band of peculiarly even characters with top 3 ss/oml/phx at 472/471/469 and all the rest sitting between 467-454 and don't feel especially targeted in pvp.

I save most lts/cp for the new releases every 6 weeks, but not absolutely - I like to have the option to fritter a few pulls on new 5* stores or get a few extra new 4*s when they enter season tokens, plus more than I should spend on classics because I can. So far that hasn't really hurt me.

Having 5*s at 480+ would feel like a waste to me because I want all my toys and any excess really just means I get less of the next new shiny.

Don't get me wrong, I love my champ farms and would be very much weaker without the resources they provide, but I see champion covers more as as consolation prizes for what used to be "wasted" dupe covers.

Erunner1201

I'm in the boat with a few here of pulling for the new releases so that I can cover everyone.  I am also a completionist and want to get them all covered.  I also like to make the 5e essential node as easy as possible so that it makes pve cl9 a breeze.  I'm not concerned with getting super high 5*; it's more fun for me to see my roster be filled with more championed characters.

Jarvind

Cactus_Jack_87 said:

I spend, but I'm not some huge whale.  My *lifetime* spend is less than what some people spent on Digital Day.

Your lifetime spend is still more than the cost of my single wide trailer. Hoarding is essential for guys like me that like to PvP competitively, but also have to live on rain water and ketchup soup.

I used to call that Poor Man's Tomato Soup. Makes it sound like some high-end stuff with an ironically lowbrow name.

entrailbucket

It's interesting to me that the endgame a lot of people seem to be aiming for is "450 on all the 5* (or at least, on all the 5* deemed worthwhile)."

I guess I'm a little curious about why 550 isn't the (very) long-term goal.  I realize that for a lot of people, that's not a goal that's going to be in sight any time soon, but over the course of many, many years of consistent play it will be.  Honestly I didn't think I'd ever get there, but I kept playing and pulling classics and now I'm 11 covers away (of course, it's on the 5* everyone thinks is one of the worst, but that doesn't really bother me too much).

The thing is that the "everyone to 450" strategy of hoarding and pulling latest basically rules out 550 forever, so that is a tradeoff you're making.  Is it because you've deemed 550 impossible, ever?  Is it because 550 isn't interesting to you personally?

Vins2

450 is the goal because that allows a player to earn all the progression awards available.  I would rather, and this is in a purely either or situation, have a couple of near 500 5s from less than a year of hoarding than a squad of 550s from "many many years of consistent play."  That's hours out of a day for multiple years I don't want to bookmark for a single hobby.

entrailbucket

Vins2 said:

450 is the goal because that allows a player to earn all the progression awards available.  I would rather, and this is in a purely either or situation, have a couple of near 500 5s from less than a year of hoarding than a squad of 550s from "many many years of consistent play."  That's hours out of a day for multiple years I don't want to bookmark for a single hobby.

But, aren't you already playing quite a bit to accumulate the hoard of stuff?  And if you're not planning to keep playing long-term then what's the point of any of it?

Spudgutter

entrailbucket said:

Vins2 said:

450 is the goal because that allows a player to earn all the progression awards available.  I would rather, and this is in a purely either or situation, have a couple of near 500 5s from less than a year of hoarding than a squad of 550s from "many many years of consistent play."  That's hours out of a day for multiple years I don't want to bookmark for a single hobby.

But, aren't you already playing quite a bit to accumulate the hoard of stuff?  And if you're not planning to keep playing long-term then what's the point of any of it?

Then whats the point of playing at all, if we cant get there?  I know you aren't trying to attack their play style, but it is awful close to it.  Someone could ask you why you play so much at all, if you are just going to get them all to 550.  Whats the point if the game will shut down at some point?  

The reality is that you started at a level higher than others.  Literally.  You said so yourself, you had pretty much all 3* and 4* maxed when they introduced champing.  Let's say that at that point, you and another person competed at the exact same level from then until now, receiving practically identical rewards, except they are hundreds of days behind you and have no one maxed.  Maybe just a few covers in every one, with probably several maxed, enough to be competitive. 

Unless they are insanely lucky with their pulls, it is statistically impossible to catch up to you (barring massive spending). 

Now, imagine people that started *after* champing, it's even worse.  Their(and my) only hope is to be competitive enough to get 450+ out of a decent batch of 3, and even then they (and I) are in a very small percentile of play and roster strength. 

If you cannot see that, then i don't know what to say.

entrailbucket

I'm really not attacking anything or anyone, I promise.  I was just asking a question, trying to understand.

My point there was that the guy said he didn't want to play for hours over years and years, which implies that he does not do that now.  But most of the people who hoard play pretty hard while they're accumulating their hoard, and over a period of many months!

To me, a head start is just that: starting off further down the line.  But there is a line!  If I'm two years ahead, or a year ahead or whatever, as long as you don't purposely limit your character growth, in a year or two years you'll be where I am.

Dragon_Nexus

Daredevil217 said:

Unfortunately have to pull for Okoye still, so expecting plenty of Wasps in my future. Those pills sure will sting!

This is the frustrating place I'm in now. I wanted JJ and pulled what would have been her had the table not changed literally the day Wasp entered the tokens (and if you'd get the same cover slot, it would have been the last cover I neded, too).

So now I'm stuck in a place where I need one more JJ cover, I don't really want Captain America or Wasp, but I do really want Okoye. It feels wasteful to pull latests, but also foolish to open classics...so I might hoard and never get Okoye...?

I've got about 10 days to pull a black JJ from classics (or get her as a bonus, I guess), before the spare cover I have on the vine expires. So I might just do that and see where I go from there.

Rod5

entrailbucket said:

I'm really not attacking anything or anyone, I promise.  I was just asking a question, trying to understand.

My point there was that the guy said he didn't want to play for hours over years and years, which implies that he does not do that now.  But most of the people who hoard play pretty hard while they're accumulating their hoard, and over a period of many months!

To me, a head start is just that: starting off further down the line.  But there is a line!  If I'm two years ahead, or a year ahead or whatever, as long as you don't purposely limit your character growth, in a year or two years you'll be where I am.

Honestly, I think the main argument to champing everything is due to power creep. Stronger powers, more health, higher match damage. A former alliance-mate of mine who has lvl 500+ OML/Phx/Surfer runs lvl 460s Thorbit now.

OML is one of my highest at 465, but he only ever gets used as Thanos fodder in PvE/LRs. I think most people want to be competitive and without significant spending a fair bit the easiest way to do this is to catch the latest powerful chars as they come out. Gambit gone, it will be Okoye most likely.

I spent most of my MPQ career pulling Classics, and I’ve champed them all, but having done that I’m spending on Latest to get Okoye asap. That said, unless the next one after Wasp is good I may well go back to Classics as a) they’re cheaper,  b) I like a surprise and c) they can still give Latests as a BH.

But I pull compulsively and don’t think I could ever really hoard, I genuinely don’t know how people do it.

entrailbucket

I don't really buy the power creep argument for two reasons: one is that the power creep isn't particularly even.  Barring the colossal disaster that was Gambit, new 5* have really been pretty up and down overall.  Their match damage increases (for reasons absolutely no one understands), but I don't think that's enough to make up for a Wasp or Archangel or Captain America IW.

The other reason is that all of the 5* characters that everyone thinks are the best are actually relatively old, and are in classics right now!  I've pulled like 15+ Gambit covers from classics, and he's the best guy in the game by a huge margin.  Thor, Thanos, Black Bolt, all of those guys are definitely better than, say, Wasp, and they've all been in classics for months now.  Yeah, in classics you're going to get some Ock or Archangel pulls, but if you don't go that route you're literally never going to get another Thor cover.

Spudgutter

entrailbucket said:

I'm really not attacking anything or anyone, I promise.  I was just asking a question, trying to understand.

My point there was that the guy said he didn't want to play for hours over years and years, which implies that he does not do that now.  But most of the people who hoard play pretty hard while they're accumulating their hoard, and over a period of many months!

To me, a head start is just that: starting off further down the line.  But there is a line!  If I'm two years ahead, or a year ahead or whatever, as long as you don't purposely limit your character growth, in a year or two years you'll be where I am.

i know you weren't, but some could take it that way.

and that is why you won't get it.  you can't see it from anywhere other than your vantage point.  a head start is ok if there is a catch up mechanic, and in this game it is time and money.  if someone else is spending more time and money, the other guy cannot catch up to them.  so, we are starting from different places, and have to end up at different places after the same amount of time.  that is just a fact.  so, with that said, it is understandable that they have different styles, techniques and goals.  

and it is even worse now that we are in full dilution.  

entrailbucket

Sorry, I think I completely misunderstood your post.  With the kind of head start I have, a newer player is not ever going to *catch up* to me, unless I quit the game or severely curtail my play, just as a player who started last week won't ever catch up to you.  "Catching up" in general is not and should not be possible in a game like this.  How would you feel if players who'd been playing for a month or two got even with you?  You'd feel like all your work was for nothing.

What I was saying was that if a player does what I do for a year, or two years, or whatever, he'll reach where I am today.  By then I'll be a year ahead again!  But if you're limiting yourself to 450s, you'll never even get that far.

dr tinykittylove

entrailbucket said:

Sorry, I think I completely misunderstood your post.  With the kind of head start I have, a newer player is not ever going to *catch up* to me, unless I quit the game or severely curtail my play, just as a player who started last week won't ever catch up to you.  "Catching up" in general is not and should not be possible in a game like this.  How would you feel if players who'd been playing for a month or two got even with you?  You'd feel like all your work was for nothing.

What I was saying was that if a player does what I do for a year, or two years, or whatever, he'll reach where I am today.  By then I'll be a year ahead again!  But if you're limiting yourself to 450s, you'll never even get that far.

I'm a collector not a competitive player. I just want to have all the toys, I don't need to have the biggest and the best if that means I end up with a few incomplete ones. 550s are boring. With a little effort my little guys can take on 500+, so why would I put in years of effort for such marginal value? 

I do open a fair number of classics as well. No need to restrict myself to one or the other. 

BlackBoltRocks

In response to entrailbucket and the others who have commented.

I’m one of those who is happy getting a 5* to lv450, and will never actively bother getting any more covers for them. That’s why my highest-levelled 5* are currently Surfer and Okoye, both lv452. I completed Jessica halfway through her time in Latests, and only got her up to lv451 because I pulled that 14th cover for her in Wasp’s debut store. I then waited for her to get kicked out of Latests so I wouldn’t get anymore covers for her. In fact, I’m probably going to wait till Okoye leaves Latests before I pull again from there.

Why? I have two reasons. First: I believe in resource allocation. One cover of a 5* I don’t “need” could be a cover of a 5* I do need. Let’s use Jessica and Wasp for my example. Right before the latter kicked the former out, Jessica was (is) at lv452, Hope at 1/4/0. I’d rather have gotten more covers for Hope, than a 14th or more for Jessica. A lv450 Jessica - and 5* in general - are all I need for my playstyle, which is max progression in SCL9, and hitting minimum 575 in PvP. Once I hit that minimum mark for a 5*, I prefer to divert resources elsewhere.

Second, getting a 5* to lv450 only requires 13 covers (yes I know about this small thing called dupes. Let’s not talk about them here). Getting that 5* to lv550 requires another 100 covers. I do not have, and am not willing to spend on, the resources to get those extra hundred covers. I have much better things to be doing.

maguirenumber6

I'm in no position to even think about champing a 5* at the moment (I'm not sure I ever will), since I still have unchamped 4*s to think about. I have 57 4* champs. Currently working on champing the rest of the 4*s. I know that will never really be done as there is always a new 4* coming out every few weeks, but if I can get in a situation where only the latest 4* is unchamped then I'll be happy. 5* characters are only really useful for me for the essential in PvE and Thanos/Black Panther to speed up certain parts of the DDQ. I want to stay away from "five star land" for as long as possible.

Dormammu

maguirenumber6 said:

I want to stay away from "five star land" for as long as possible.

I felt the exact same way, right up until the moment I opened a 14th 5-star cover.

ZeroKarma

After some thought this morning, with nowhere near enough coffee, I changed my mind on this topic. I know Alaeth well, and I know he loves his hoarding as does @The rockett . I had joined them in hoarding. Not because I wanted to, but because I wanted to compete. I have a 495 Thanos and nothing to pair him with so why not hoard forever until I can get 3 500 level characters.

The problem is, this method doesn't work for everyone. We don't all have the patience to do it and for people who want all the characters and play PvE religiously, you might feel a bit bored and turned off to the game when you are holding back gratification for an indefinite period of time. 

So I said why not. 700cp for classics and 43 LT's later, plus all the rewards that came back from it, and I feel pretty good about the strategy. As EB would point out, my fastest path to getting a character to 500 is obviously Thanos, not the next 5*. I even got a cover of his and set him as BH. I got a random assortment of 5* that were just sitting idle, and I feel pretty good about it.

I think that the elimination of vaulting also adds some more value to the increased number of 4* that you get from classics. 25% is nothing to sneeze at. 

We'll see how this goes. If you don't have most of the 5* champed then this is likely not for you. I am only missing 2 Starlord covers and they are coming through 4* Drax in the near future. That and a couple of OML covers that I don't care about and every single cover that I draw will be useful. 

Best part of it. I'm enjoying the game as I go along. Not planning to enjoy the game at an undisclosed time in the future.