Why so long to FH the new 4*s?

LavaManLee

This has bothered me since shard implementation because I hate to hoard but don't like throwing shards at chars that don't matter.  I understood with BH why they didn't want you to BH a new 4* for a while.  But with the implement of shards, it sure would be nice to FH them a bit sooner than this long wait.

Maybe I am the only one, but I definitely want to get shards for Karnak.  He is my only 4* not yet champed.  I am basically hoarding my tokens until he is available because it takes so long to get a cover via the shard method and I don't really need any of the other 4*s getting a random number of shards that barely helps vs not having Karnak raised a level.

So.....I sit on my tokens and don't spend any HP on pulls and just twiddle my thumbs until Karnak is ready.  Since shards take so long anyways, why not allow the newer characters to be selected as a FH sooner than the old method?  Anyways, just something that would be nice for my style of play.

spidyjedi84

I'm lucky that my Wolfsbane is shy three covers from champ status, though she has two covers on the vine, since I'm not wasting drawing shards atm. Karnak is a character I'll chase when he enters latests or via shards or combination of both, and since I have 8 covers on him now, I'm really only chasing two covers for him to get to S.H.I.E.L.D. Level training. I'm okay with waiting for the season to season model for 4 stars that's been established, though. 

DyingLegend

I can't keep up with everything. It's starting to deter my playing cause I'm at the "whats the point" stage of thinking. 

At least with bonus heroes, I felt like every pull could give me something I need to finish a character. Now with shards, I just stare at the slowly growing meter and it's tremendously boring. I miss the excitement of bonus heroes. 

Vhailorx

$$ is the answer.

LavaManLee

Vhailorx said:

$$ is the answer.

I would agree except for the fact that I am not spending any HP on the daily deals for any of the tokens because you can't buy it unless you use up all your tokens.  I am not using any tokens now because of hoarding and actually not spending any game resources or actual cash until Karnak is in shards.

Vhailorx

LavaManLee said:

Vhailorx said:

$$ is the answer.

I would agree except for the fact that I am not spending any HP on the daily deals for any of the tokens because you can't buy it unless you use up all your tokens.  I am not using any tokens now because of hoarding and actually not spending any game resources or actual cash until Karnak is in shards.

Characters are available for premium currency right away.  They are most useful right after release because they are fearured/essential more often.  A long delay between release and entering the main pool (when players can use traidtional resources like shard and hoarded currencies) increases the incentive to pay up front.  Yes, this system is imperfect, and can be mitigated by hoarding (like many other systems in mpq), but that doesn't mean the design choice isn't about money anyway. And remember that most people don't hoard or plan their resource deployment too carefully.

jamesh

The delay in adding characters to the regular token pools is likely intended to increase the desirability of the initial release stores.  If you wanted a fully covered Karnak right now, why didn't you spend hundreds of dollars on HP to empty "Karnak and Friends" vault multiple times?

With that said, I think I'll probably end up fully covering Karnak a lot quicker than most 4* characters due to the event reward changes.  My Karnak ended up with a well balanced 8 covers, which is the best I've done in release events since Ghost (when there were a bunch of special events giving extra covers).  That pretty much guarantees I'll have at least 10 covers by the time the next SHIELD Training comes around.

bluewolf

I'm not sure anyone has mentioned the new character boost which lasts for 4 weeks from release date.  This creates an additional incentive - if the 4 is good/meta enough - to possibly chase them hard and dominate (well, if you are in 4 land, or living in 2015) the competition.  Some 4's are still good with 5's but usually not nearly enough to whale for that purpose.

This feeds into the "have it first" mentality that drives much of the whale behavior, just like any early adopter for any high end product who pays, for example, $10,000 for a TV you can buy a year later for a fraction of the price.

rawfsu

I still miss BH and that feeling of anticipation everytime you opened a token in hopes of getting that extra cover. I know what devs tried to do in matching shards points with the calculated chances of 4* and 5* BH, but let's be honest, the drop rates were mixed. Things also seemed to run in streaks for players. There were also opportunities to really cash in. For instance, I bought a 40-pack when Mockingbird was featured at increased odds and got four or five BH. With shards, I just feel we're boxed in. No chance for bonus shards and we had to pay or use HP for unassigned shards. We have to accept the shards they give us for the characters they want them to go towards. Do you think I really want shards for Kraven? Shards just provide pieces to a cover, not an actual cover. Any unused shards just hang out, good for nothing. On the other hand, I get it. D3 HAS to make money, but can't just come out and say it. They have to make up reasons to justify trying to get players to spend money. I've learn to accept as I'm a free to play player and no longer feel I have to complain. I've spent what I'm going to spend and not planning to anymore. Seen too many, such as this, that makes me keep my pocket closed.

DAZ0273

I put the experience of the two systems down to Pve vs PvP.

PvE is Shards. The rewards are guaranteed as long as you grind things out.

PvP is Bonus Heroes. It is a gamble and you might come away with less than you hoped or you might power through and get beyond where you were expecting that gives you that boost of joy.

Shards probably are more effective in the long run but nowhere near as exciting.

MegaBee

I was hoping that today's update would allow me to target Karnak... nope. Back to hoarding, I guess.

bluewolf

MegaBee said:

I was hoping that today's update would allow me to target Karnak... nope. Back to hoarding, I guess.

Thursday will be the day.

MegaBee

bluewolf said:

MegaBee said:

I was hoping that today's update would allow me to target Karnak... nope. Back to hoarding, I guess.

Thursday will be the day.

Karnak is go!