A Feeder/Bonus Hero Plea

pheregas

Apologies for bringing this up yet again.  Maybe this is just a long-time vet problem.  Maybe not.  

I'm not here to criticize the dev's metrics that went into reducing the rate of 5* feeder introduction.  Those decisions were made for reasons.

I'm not here to argue with the decision to tie 5* feeders into real world events.  Any feeder release is positive news.

I am here to point out that there are now 83 non-limited 4*s.  Of those 83, 57 (68.7%) have no 5* feeders included in champ rewards.  Of the 36 current 5*s in the game, 26 have feeders (72%, which is higher than I was expecting.)  Of the 10 that are remaining, 70% of them are Classics.

A new character is released, on average, every two weeks (rarity tier notwithstanding.)

During the ramp-down in 5* feeder releases, kindly take into consideration that the rate of character release EXCEEDS the rate of new 5* feeder release, which is to say that we are falling further behind in the ability to to gain Classic 5*s in this manner.

I know Bonus Heroes are here to mitigate this, but as someone who's been around just shy of 2,000 days, I've only ever gotten 8 5* Bonus Heroes.  

I don't know what the exact solution should be, but I do know that the ability to obtain Classic 5s is very difficult.  Maybe increasing the BH rate on 5*s is the answer.  Maybe it's releasing more feeders.  Maybe it's being able to select a specific color for a Bonus Hero.  Should BH covers be colorless?

And while Saved Covers has helped the 2/3/4* tiers immensely, I think it's made champing new release 5s harder.  Once I hit the tier I am in now, I was able to champ every new 5* consistently, thanks to the Customer Service cover swapping feature that they used to provide.  Now, I struggle with champing every new release, without changing my play style at all.  I have to get lucky with the proper color distribution, or they don't get champed.  I was unable to champ Hela and GE Doom, despite having more than 13 covers for both.  As they are now out of Latest, unless I save up a ridiculous amount of CP, or a feeder arrives, I fear that they will never be champed (and for what it's worth, I cannot bring myself to BH Hela at 2/5/5 with 5 saved covers).

Thanks all for the time and consideration for reading this.  I'm not interested in blaming.  I'm not interested in flaming.  I'm interested in addressing an issue for many players.

Bowgentle

...OML has two feeders?

pheregas

Bowgentle said:

...OML has two feeders?

I'm an idiot.  Wolverine X-Force has two feeder.  Was collating too much data and made a transcription error.  Good pickup.  I edited the original post to reflect your comment.

HoundofShadow

I didn't know OML has two feeders. 

The solution is patience, or spend more so that you can dupe 4* faster.

5* Feeder was introduced on 20th Nov 2017. It has been about 20 months 18 days since their introduction. Therefore the rate of 5* feeder is 25/21  = 1.1 feeder per month.

The rate of new 5* release is about 5-6 weeks.
So, the rate of 5* feeder is actually faster than the rate of 5* release.

I see that you have 5 saved covers for Hela. Convert 3 of them and you have a champed Hela. The feature is there for a reason and it's perfect for your situation.

pheregas

HoundofShadow said:

I didn't know OML has two feeders. 

He doesn't.  I already edited to reflect.

I see that you have 5 saved covers for Hela. Convert 3 of them and you have a champed Hela. The feature is there for a reason and it's perfect for your situation.

And..  Maybe?  I don't like to waste resources.  3 covers converted means that I'm not going to get 3 of the champ rewards.  So in this situation, if I cashed in, I'd still have two champ levels, so I'd get the LT and the 5k iso (post iso, so whatevs).  However, if a feeder were announced, once I got that first red I'd have 3 additional rewards totaling 25 CP, 250 Hero Points, and another Latest Token.  

The difference in story mode essential boosts is nominal between a level 435 boosted versus a 452 boosted.  But losing those resources, HP, CP, and LTs is a much bigger loss in my opinion.

TeamStewie

Even worse, none of the newer 4s have a feeder either.

PiMacleod

TeamStewie said:

Even worse, none of the newer 4s have a feeder either.

 And that is a giant problem, imo.  We all agree that the 5* game is pretty much end game.  To get there, you gotta go through 3* and 4*.  The 4*s that have 3* feeders are all older ... Not many 4*s that are actually , well, good.

Sure, some of them are good.  But let's face it... In this current build of the game, you want certain characters.  4* Rocket, Bishop, Medusa, ... You get the point.  And if some of them don't have feeders, it makes it so much harder for anyone who hasn't been with the game for a couple years (or spent a lot of cash) to actually progress through the tiers and actually progress.

Of course, I don't expect a brand new character to have a feeder... But it shouldn't take long, honestly.  No, I don't know how they go about adding new feeders outside of adding new 3* characters.  That's a whole 'nother conversation.  I, for one, would like new 3*s, just to help the feeder game out, or maybe breathe life into the lower tier game a bit.

UNC_Samurai

If a Classic is 3+ years old, it needs two feeders.  

Pongie

Had an idea... why not make it so we chose the feeder? instead of making fixed, let the players choose who feeds who. Implement a coach mechanic, where you can select a higher tier character to coach the tier beneath. Only one coach per character. Then we decide who we like to develop. The devs no longer have to be burdened with effort to introduce feeders. Would compliment bonus heroes and allow players to focus on a single character if they wish to go all in.

PiMacleod

Separate but related note...

If 6* characters aren't gonna happen (not saying I'm for or against them)...

Why not have 5*s feed other 5*s?  There's a bunch of legendary tokens that they give as champ rewards, and honestly -- I don't think that's worth it.  I mean, a 5* cover is the pinnacle of rewards.  To use one on a champed character, to only receive a token that has a higher chance of a 4*, is kinda silly.

Not to mention, people have been stating forever how hard it is to get classic 5*s.  This would be a separate addition to it.  Replace a couple of LTs in the champ rewards with a different 5* character's covers.

Mind you, I only just very recently champed my first 5*.  But I can see how having, let's say, Phoenix feed OML, might make it easier to get a 5* classic champed.  Some people have more luck getting covers for one character over covers for another.  This could slightly help alleviate that, eventually.

Of course, I could be off my rocker.  I'm speaking from a place where 3*s can give a higher tier cover, and same with 4*s and even 2*s!  But 5*s, while they give nice resources, they don't give covers at all, and all of the tokens (while nice) still have a majority chance of giving a reward that is worth less than the character you're getting the reward from.

(Unless it's Wasp.  All rewards are better than Wa5p.)

DAZ0273

I think at the very least they could put in place a mechanism where any 5* Bonus Hero hearted character who is now in Classics has a double percentage chance at being a bonus hero. It doesn't affect the chase for new 5's and even a double chance at Classics is still in needle in haystack range of getting the exact cover you want but it would at least be *something*.