Where the heck are the Reward Updates?

AXP_isme

The longer the wait goes on the more I suspect I’ll be disappointed with the implementation. If they were going to slot shards into the gaps in the reward structure they could easily have done it by now. The delay rather suggests that there’s an exercise going on to figure out exactly how tight-fisted they can be when the shards go into the reward structure so as to encourage even more spending of real money on shards. 

They didn’t implement shards on a whim because one of the developers had a few hours spare to play around with some ideas. They had time to work out whether or not to add shards to the rewards when they were added. They decided not to. Now there are stores popping up axing meta/non-meta at different in-game and real-life cost points. It’s difficult not to be cynical and see this as the precursor to another money grab. 

Before anyone says it, I’m aware they’re running a business and need to make money to continue operating. Sometimes I just wish I didn’t feel so much like a guinea pig. 

DAZ0273

Multi Million Dollar companies do not execute major changes to their products without contingency plans in place. The Devs will already have calculated the "worst case scenario" before it happened but decided to gamble on going with a lighter reward return for Shardmas. It backfired, it was quickly rectified. I wouldn't be surprised if any meetings simply were about which one of the already pre-agreed various structured payouts to offer instead.

And licence costs are an up front expenditure. The Developers have planned out their character releases waaaaay in advance, it is entirely possible for example that costs associated with the X-Men licence were paid as far back as 2017 when Gambit, Rogue & Nightcrawler marked a return to the game for our mutant friends. Now possibly those licenses have been renewed lately or extended but seeing as how characters are designed waaaay in advance, those licence costs will have already been absorbed and factored in to any budget.

To get an idea of how far in advance these things can be planned here is a story for you:

When the movie "Cars" came out my then infant son was obssessed with it and collecting all the toys associated with it. The only one that alluded us was Chick Hicks. So we (on his behalf) wrote to Mattell UK asking if there were plans to release more Chick Hicks toys. And we got a response! Sadly, no more plans but hey thanks for being such a fan and here is a Mater toy and hope you enjoy Cars 2!!! What?!?!?? There is no Cars 2?!?? This was circa 2008, Cars 2 was released in 2011 but they had ALREADY advanced knowledge and were working on toys.

spidyjedi84

I don't expect we'll see any changes to rewards until the next PVP season begins. We may see an announcement in the upcoming offseason about those changes. 

bluewolf

I'm not sure why everyone is so sure they will start with PVP, although that is the less-played mode so maybe it's a good assumption.

I guess we'll see.  Maybe one day the rewards will just be different, announcements seem kind of optional round these parts lately.

broll

My guess (hope) is reward updates will happen in the PvP offseason.  They usually make those changes before a season starts.  

spidyjedi84

bluewolf said:

I'm not sure why everyone is so sure they will start with PVP, although that is the less-played mode so maybe it's a good assumption.

I guess we'll see.  Maybe one day the rewards will just be different, announcements seem kind of optional round these parts lately.

Most game changes that impact rewards are announced during the PVP offseason. PVE, if they're changing rewards, they can do that at any time before an event starts and players can see what those rewards are at their level of play before they select their slices, no issues. If you start tinkering with awards for PVP, though, you do that in the offseason and not midseason of a PVP contest, otherwise you have people complaining about "I would have played more PVP at SCL 9 this season if I had known those were the rewards." 

supergarv

I guess it‘ll come soon.

With CL10.

jredd

bluewolf said:

Hey!  Remember back in November - a more innocent time, before Shardpocalypse - when shards were introduced?  Part of the official announcement on R 191 - almost 4 versions ago - was:

"Past that, we will be updating several other places in the game to include Shards. Places like Event Rewards, S.H.I.E.L.D. Clearance Levels, Champion Rewards, and more will be seeing these additional ways to gain characters getting updates. We’re still finalizing a lot of these various rewards and we’ll be sharing that information with you as it comes on line."

So what's up?  It's been 2 months now.  Will we see these promised updates at some point, or were they canceled?

coming soon holmz...

jredd

supergarv said:

I guess it‘ll come soon.

With CL10.

damn, beat me to it. guess i should've read all the responses first.

Rhipf

DAZ0273 said:

When the movie "Cars" came out my then infant son was obssessed with it and collecting all the toys associated with it. The only one that alluded us was Chick Hicks. So we (on his behalf) wrote to Mattell UK asking if there were plans to release more Chick Hicks toys. And we got a response! Sadly, no more plans but hey thanks for being such a fan and here is a Mater toy and hope you enjoy Cars 2!!! What?!?!?? There is no Cars 2?!?? This was circa 2008, Cars 2 was released in 2011 but they had ALREADY advanced knowledge and were working on toys.

Three years out knowledge is standard for most studio movies. It is especially true for an animated film. I'm sure the production of Cars 2 was well under way when you sent the letter to Mattel.

DAZ0273

Rhipf said:

DAZ0273 said:

When the movie "Cars" came out my then infant son was obssessed with it and collecting all the toys associated with it. The only one that alluded us was Chick Hicks. So we (on his behalf) wrote to Mattell UK asking if there were plans to release more Chick Hicks toys. And we got a response! Sadly, no more plans but hey thanks for being such a fan and here is a Mater toy and hope you enjoy Cars 2!!! What?!?!?? There is no Cars 2?!?? This was circa 2008, Cars 2 was released in 2011 but they had ALREADY advanced knowledge and were working on toys.

Three years out knowledge is standard for most studio movies. It is especially true for an animated film. I'm sure the production of Cars 2 was well under way when you sent the letter to Mattel.

Right so it is almost certainly true for a computerised game also. Hence Shardmas would not have been effected in the slightest as those licences were bought and accounted for way in advance.