Prologue revamp: new Story mode


   There are currently 3 main game modes in MPQ, called Prologue, Story and Versus. I would like to see a revamp in these modes: 

- Versus could stay the same
- Story could keep the current format, but be called "Events" or something like that. 
- Prologue could be the new "Story" mode, and that's were I would like to see big changes.

   This new Story could be non competitive, like the current prologue, but have new content being added periodically (every two weeks?  every month?), with stories that include old and new characters, with progressive challenges and rewards. These new stories could then be also used as new events, and added to the pve rotation. Current existing pve events could also be added to the new Story mode, and the pve events could have all the dialogues removed, since we would be able to read them in the new Story mode, and we don't have time to do that in PVE anyway.  

   This game mode would give us: 

- new stories to read and have fun;
- opportunities to use more of our rosters, since we wouldn't need to only use the fastest teams;
- a new game mode to play at our own pace;
- another source of rewards.

  I hope that's a possibility for the future.

ps. english is not my native language, so forgive me for any mistakes

Comments

  • Phumade
    Phumade Posts: 2,496 Chairperson of the Boards
    Prologue would be fine with an unlimited +1 system.  Every time you beat a board it +1, a level and all enemies go up 50 levels indefintiely.  Evenutally of course you'll be unable to beat your current levels and you'll be stalled until you get a big 5* etc...

    The rewards could be flat the entire way.  I personally don't care if they escalated up or not.
  • JHawkInc
    JHawkInc Posts: 2,605 Chairperson of the Boards
    I think every Story event (all of them, even the smaller one-off events like Growth Industry and Amadeus Inferno and... that one that's like those two but about Coulson) should be part of the Prologue (and I agree with renaming Prologue to Story, and the current Story into "Events" or something).

    That way, you can continue the Prologue further, continue increasing the level of difficulty and rewards, and it lets people play through events at their own pace. You could slow down and appreciate Strange Sights, for example, because in the Prologue version you aren't competing with anyone for placement, so you aren't pressured into skipping the story to save time.

    Then, any time a new event comes out, it can get added to the prologue with a little bit more difficulty, and slightly better rewards, so in addition to something to add to the normal rotation of events, players get a one-off set of challenges/rewards to complete (which would be a perfect place to reward costumes, or covers of 3*/4* characters, or Supports; so if the early story gives you 1* and 2* covers, maybe later on it could give you Iron Man Model 40 and the Avengers Tower support, so it helps grow rosters of newer players, and gives them things that can be used together, and help establish newer players so they're ready to dive into the "bigger leagues" of higher SCLs later in the game)
  • Malcrof
    Malcrof Posts: 5,971 Chairperson of the Boards
    Moving to Suggestions

  • AardvarkPepper
    AardvarkPepper Posts: 239 Tile Toppler
    It's a good suggestion and I like JHawkInc's suggestions as well.  However, a couple points re:  the OP

    If something is directly or indirectly incentivized, that's what players will end up doing.  I absolutely agree having a non-timed option to read story dialogue would be a good thing so players could look at the story without feeling penalized.  That's an indirect incentive to players interested in reading up on the story, and would introduce a different style of play suited to players with more demanding real-life schedules that don't let them maintain performance that would put them in top 100 alliances.

    However if we're talking about events being repeated &c in the new proposed mode (which I think is a good idea), we're still going to see players using the same teams over and over again because real time savings to earn the same in-game rewards is still a thing.  Other factors aside, if you can use one team that you're experienced and comfortable with and earn rewards in one hour, as opposed to using another team you're not experienced with and earn the same rewards in two hours, what are you going to do, particularly if it's a repetitive experience?  You will tend towards the team or teams that offer the best time savings.

    So in addition to the OP I'd suggest new events feature:

    1)  A few (not just one, but not all of them either) loaner teams of SYNERGISTIC fully (13 cover) characters.  From a monetization standpoint, players that are exposed to new characters *AND NEW TEAM SYNERGIES* may be incentivized to spend money on building those characters - and the current setup of one not-necessarily-synergistic team per PvE is not, I think, perhaps the best showcase for characters (considering the expanded character selection available now as opposed to, say, three years ago.)

    1A)  Accompanying store sales featuring the featured 13-cover characters with a "pick desired color cover" mechanic.  As it is, if you want to build a rarer character, you have to wait until it's finally featured in store (a long time), or any number of time-costly or requiring-attention-to-sales sorts of action - again, with an ever-increasing number of characters available, making it less likely a particular preferred character's covers be drawn.

    2)  In-game bonuses for using different characters - perhaps a player may earn bonus iso when using any character, but if that character has been used recently, a 6 hour timer starts and the character will earn less bonus iso, then less, then less, until the timer resets.

    For newer players running out of iso isn't so much an issue, but I'm pretty sure veterans would like a chance to use their expansive character lineups for something, and get some use out of the characters that currently really don't see much use.

    ==

    Another addition to the OP:  I don't see the new proposed mode "competing" so much for player time, as being an alternate play possibility for players that are burnt out on the other modes.  Players that go top 100 in PvE or PvP regularly know it eats up a load of time and can require sticking closely to coordinating real-life schedule with need-to-play-in-game time.  Rather than say "why have a second PvE mode" I'd say this is functionally a different offering for a different set of players - those that may not be able to coordinate their real-life schedules with gameplay so much, and/or that don't want in-game time pressures influencing their enjoyment of the game.