Can we please get some Official Information about PVE rewards and new characters?

bluewolf
bluewolf Posts: 5,822 Chairperson of the Boards
in MPQ General Discussion
As has been observed many times, there had been a pattern of PVE rewards going back about 8 months or so (since Emma released), where the Latest 3 4*s were heavily featured in PVE, in a LLLVV pattern (3 Latest, then 2 Vintage).

Since Talos released, there hasn't been a Latest/newer 4 seen in PVE rewards (that was a month ago).  It may be that this was done to lead into Endgame for some reason.

Breaking this pattern (going All Vintage) is nice for vets who want older 4's featured in ST (can't argue there, it's hard for most players).  But:  Knowing that the newer 4's were coming in PVE made me look forward to playing hard for their covers to try to finish them.  As of now the only way to finish the newer people is by bonusing their covers or maybe getting lucky with a vault (double lucky; once for a random cover to appear and then to pull it).  

It's just not as fun for me, as a vet, to be playing for champ levels as for the covers that help me get closer to finishing a new character.

Besides keeping things interesting for vets, running Latest 4's more often helped people who are entering the tier to build some characters for that jump.

While future plans are always in flux, some developer comment about what we might expect (at least for now) would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

  • GrimSkald
    GrimSkald Posts: 2,644 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited April 2019
    I actually rather liked the 50/50 split for pulls in the 4* tier - the 12 most recent being as likely to pull as the rest - it allowed us to cover the characters fairly quickly in general, and they got to a decent level (about 300) before they fell off that "12 recent" chance.  I was disappointed when they ended it, and while the LLLVV allowed you to cover the new characters about as quickly, it didn't get them to as high a level when they dropped off, and more importantly it made the game less fun overall as it meant that 3/5 of the time you were playing a really underleveled 4* in PVE. 

    I don't play PVE that competitively, and I like using them in PVE.  My favorite team from the last one was Thorkoye and Jean - it was fun and it meant I could generally end the fight on purple or green...
  • HoundofShadow
    HoundofShadow Posts: 8,004 Chairperson of the Boards
    What was the pattern before Emma's release?
  • bluewolf
    bluewolf Posts: 5,822 Chairperson of the Boards
    Prior to Emma, there was a definite weighting of Latest 12 people in the rewards, but it's a lot harder to find a clear pattern (like LLLVV) in there.

    A quick estimate/eyeball review of the rewards makes me think they started weighting the Latest 12 around Jan of 2017, and moved more heavily in their direction as the year went on.  So moving to All Vintage breaks a trend started about 2 years ago.
  • jneidus
    jneidus Posts: 66 Match Maker
    Gotta be honest, I almost forgot about Talos (and Magik) being in the game...
  • St_Bernadus
    St_Bernadus Posts: 637 Critical Contributor
    At the current rate (and with Thanos and possibly another 4 this season), it is possible that Magik may be banished from the Latest 3 before she is ever featured!
  • pheregas
    pheregas Posts: 1,721 Chairperson of the Boards
    jneidus said:
    Gotta be honest, I almost forgot about Talos (and Magik) being in the game...
    The Hoard Remembers.
  • ZootSax
    ZootSax Posts: 1,819 Chairperson of the Boards
    HoundofShadow said:
    What was the pattern before Emma's release?
    The TLDR Version: It's kind of irrelevant due to the change in the odds of 4*'s in legendary tokens.

    Longer version:
    Emma was released in July 2018, only a few months after the legendary tokens lost the "Latest 12" odds boost for 4*'s.  It was assumed by the player base that the pattern since Emma was deliberately set to allow players to better cover newer characters in spite of diluted tokens.  Admitted, with no formal communication, this was pure speculation on the players' part.  Prior to the odds change, the rotation of 4* essential characters in PVE was less relevant due to the newer characters being far more likely to be drawn from tokens, but even then they were run more frequently than vintage characters.

    The reason this is significant is that for more casual players (PVE to the 8CP & PVP to 575 and below in terms of progression), it is practically impossible to cover newer characters without at least some assistance from the PVE progression rotation to get covers.  Under the system since Emma's release, a player at that level of progression would, at a minimum, get one cover of each color without requiring extreme luck in the diluted token pool.   

    Without the PVE progression favoring newer characters, it encourages casual players to ask "why bother" when it comes to new releases (I certainly do now, particularly as I look at my 0/3/0 Magik which I HAVE been getting disproportionally lucky with my token draws for), which can't be a healthy attitude for the game, when these casual players make up 80+% of the player base (although presumably a far lower percentage of the spenders).  
  • St_Bernadus
    St_Bernadus Posts: 637 Critical Contributor
    New update shows Sandman as 4-star essential after Thanos. So that theory is out.

    Please tell us what the plan is here. Will Magik ever be featured?
  • bluewolf
    bluewolf Posts: 5,822 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited April 2019
    Sandman, for those wondering, is next up as a “Vintage” 4, in terms of longest ago given as rewards. 

    So there is, currently, a definite pattern continuing a reward progression of offering the longest-ago rewarded 4’s.

    I think it might be possible to run through all 78 4’s in about a year, probably a little more. So that’s how long it might be before you see 4Thanos in PVE after this week. 
  • bluewolf
    bluewolf Posts: 5,822 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited April 2019
    Another PVE, and the next in line of oldest rewarded 4's is coming up, Spider-Gwen.  For the new Infinite Pursuit event.  I'm glad its a new event to keep my interest.....

    ____
    Edit:  I am going to guess that the next reward is XFDP....we shall see soon.
  • ElReyFelix
    ElReyFelix Posts: 104 Tile Toppler
    bluewolf said:
    Another PVE, and the next in line of oldest rewarded 4's is coming up, Spider-Gwen.  For the new Infinite Pursuit event.  I'm glad its a new event to keep my interest.....

    ____
    Edit:  I am going to guess that the next reward is XFDP....we shall see soon.
    Do you have a list of when 4* were featured in PVE? If so, could I see it?
  • DAZ0273
    DAZ0273 Posts: 10,283 Chairperson of the Boards
    bluewolf said:
    Another PVE, and the next in line of oldest rewarded 4's is coming up, Spider-Gwen.  For the new Infinite Pursuit event.  I'm glad its a new event to keep my interest.....

    ____
    Edit:  I am going to guess that the next reward is XFDP....we shall see soon.
    Whilst I really want some Magik covers if the next 4* is XFDP and it is a red or black cover up for grabs then I am going to be fine if the Devs switch back after that happens. ☺

  • bluewolf
    bluewolf Posts: 5,822 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited April 2019
    ElReyFelix said:
    bluewolf said:
    Another PVE, and the next in line of oldest rewarded 4's is coming up, Spider-Gwen.  For the new Infinite Pursuit event.  I'm glad its a new event to keep my interest.....

    ____
    Edit:  I am going to guess that the next reward is XFDP....we shall see soon.
    Do you have a list of when 4* were featured in PVE? If so, could I see it?

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19iWb3XtfSfkryP6ABjGDMiF73YJEEUSNY8-5R_Ye5YE

    That is a link to a spreadsheet, maintained by the community. The “Essentials” tab will show the list of rewarded 4’s, since they are rewarded just before being essential.

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