The week after Double ISO really reveals the grind of this game

DoneWithThis

Didnt realize why MPQ seemed so satisfying lately. Been having fun, leveling up characters, etc. 

Today: No double ISO in Strange Sights. 

Double ISO (at least) should be the norm by now.

DyingLegend

They really need to ramp up the rewards in every aspect of the game. 
The game is starting to become a slog due to the high release structure and limited resources. 

Its silly that the game has been out for as long as it has been and they have made no change to rewards, resources, acquisition of characters etc.
One would argue that PVP needs some sweeping changes, PVE needs some big changes, the list goes one.... 

They just keep tamping those high priced bundles down are throats. 

Dormammu

DyingLegend said:

Its silly that the game has been out for as long as it has been and they have made no change to rewards, resources, acquisition of characters etc.

That's not exactly fair. I remember playing this game at launch and getting 10 ISO rewards for PvE nodes. The only tokens that existed were Standards/Heroics. As the game has inflated so have the rewards. You can argue the rewards haven't inflated enough if you want.

Dogface

There are people post-ISO, so it can be done. And if you only use your HP for roster slots and the occasional very good vault, it isn't too hard to keep a handsome stash of HP.

Most people however are in the catching up phase, but once you champ every character, you have hundreds of levels that don't cost ISO, but only earn ISO. Combined with regular play, that should give enough ISO to roster and level the newest character.

Note: I too am still in the catching up phase. It takes a lot of patience.

Michael1957

True, once all 3s and 4s are champed , which I just finished about a week ago, there’s a lot of extra ISO and HO. So what do you do with all the useless pulls from Mighty on down ? Is there a shard limit per character? 

bluewolf

Michael1957 said:

True, once all 3s and 4s are champed , which I just finished about a week ago, there’s a lot of extra ISO and HO. So what do you do with all the useless pulls from Mighty on down ? Is there a shard limit per character? 

The shard limit is 9999.  After that they are just gone.

Many players run 3* farms once they have all the tiers below 5 champed.  You can either keep a maxed 3 and build a dupe or just sell the max off once the dupe is rostered, or do whatever makes sense to you.

Most people who keep dupes of the 3s and 2s will run into the 300 slot wall in about a year, which starts to put a lot more pressure on your HP if you aren't spending.  Especially if you are maxing out your 4's as well.

HoundofShadow

I earned about 800k ISO-8 during this one week, but I've spent it again. 
It should be back in two month's time.

jredd

Dogface said:

There are people post-ISO, so it can be done. And if you only use your HP for roster slots and the occasional very good vault, it isn't too hard to keep a handsome stash of HP.

Most people however are in the catching up phase, but once you champ every character, you have hundreds of levels that don't cost ISO, but only earn ISO. Combined with regular play, that should give enough ISO to roster and level the newest character.

Note: I too am still in the catching up phase. It takes a lot of patience.

pretty much this. course, it depends on how much you play (and i'd totally recommend dropping a couple bucks every month to get your bonus rewards). i'm constantly around 10 mill iso and i'm creeping up on 300K hp. takes a bit to get there, but it happens.

bluewolf

I always wonder how quickly people can get to a post-iso status at this point.

I have plenty (now up to 15 million) although I don't buy boosts all the time.

The fact is that iso is basically completely unchanged as far as rewards.  They do offer us some more events now to get a little more, but...did we lose some iso when SCL10 and such came along?  At most we stayed the same.  I'd hate to start over or new now; while you can cover people quickly I still feel like you'd be stuck behind your iso need for a very long time.

PiMacleod

a view from a (almost) free-to-play, non-competitive player.  ($20 once around 4 years ago, and $2 per month once the ads were taken away... you can figure out when that was if you wish.  Although, Google Surveys make this nearly a non-factor.)

I'm not post-iso.... wish I was.  However, I do have nearly every 4* champed, and have run a couple runs of 3*s for each and every one of them.  The only 4*s I haven't champed are the newest 3 (Hellcat JUST got her 13th the other day), and Taskmaster and Spider-Ham.  Honestly, TM isnt champed because of bad luck... I got a few saved covers for him, sitting there with a bad color spread.  Spider-Ham is like 2 covers away.  

ANYWAYS... I still need ISO.  Not every 5* peep I have is at their max potential.  I could champ 2 other 5*s, bringing my champs from 10 to 12 total.... but ISO is a crunch for me.  This heightened release schedule does drain my resources.  Sure, my HP never has a problem, as long as I stay strong against various HP bundle offers.  But iso disappears rather quick.  New 5*s eat it.  New 4*s eat it.  And I do need to flip/tend the farms occasionally.

Also, I don't keep max champs.  Sure, I'll keep a max long enough to get the replacement champed... but once they are up and running, I sell the max champ.  I need those slots for the next guy in rotation.  Currently sitting at 225 slots, all occupied.

The amount of money spent, versus time spent in the game, can be summed up like this, I guess -- 

Day 2478.
Shield Rank 170.

Perhaps that'll paint a better picture.  To have a larger rank, means I would've had to grind a ton of nods back when completing nodes gave XP, and also spend money, because popping tokens also contributed to it.  But that's not me, so here I am.  This is a different view.


I think the resources should be ramped up just a bit, TBH.  Either that, or there needs to be just a little more in the lines of a 'suggestion' or 'tutorial' on how the system works, for those that haven't been around the block.  Sure, one could argue that if people want to learn how to play, that they should research it online.  But perhaps players would be retained if you just fed them the info up front, with a nice n easy "skip" button those those that don't wanna read that stuff.  There's plenty of people that have joined the bottom rungs of our alliance ladder, to just fall off because the game just comes off as a massive grind with no direction.

Then, maybe those new people go the extra step, and ask the alliance simple questions, like "Hey, do I need to keep all these guys?" or "What do you suggest I do with X/Y/Z?".  Enter the horrible in-game chat issues.  For us to properly elaborate what they need to do to establish themselves in this game, you need to post many many times to the in-game chat.  Now the in-game chat is flooded, and people generally don't wanna read all of that (much like this post).  It shows how clunky and impractical the chat is in one simple example.  If the new-guy just so happens to read your suggestions, understands it, and start to implement those suggestions, then great!  You probably got a good new person to potentially help out the alliance after a while... but that all depends on if they actually A ) want to to implement those suggestions, B ) endure the chat system, and C ) are actually patient and understanding enough to want to ask questions about a match 3 superhero game to fellow alliance-mates.

So -- yes.  If you improved the release of resources just a LITTLE BIT, perhaps player retention would be a bit higher.  

Then again -- the game is old, and maybe they don't really want new players anymore -- just maintain the spending of the top dogs as long as possible now.

Sigh, sorry to take so much time to say all of this.  I think there's a lot of good in this game, but there's SO MANY LAYERS that are NOT EXPLAINED in game.  One could call it the strategy of resource management... but I'd call it deception pure and simple, because people download this as a match 3 superhero game.  To make resource management part of the "game", you should include a tutorial/suggestion section, or a better chat system (OR BOTH) so that people who download this game as a match-3 superhero game don't get disheartened constantly and eventually quit.  

Here's hoping every suggestion and experience gets at least mulled over if/when they make a MPQ2.

Loosie

I'm post-HP which took a long time to get to (and some leanings about roster management). I'm still in need of 9+ million ISO to level all my originals. I have 5 4* left to champ (that are non-new, non-limited). So I can feel the turn of the ISO coming. The double-iso period most certainly helps.

Yes it would be nice if that was the norm now, but I've become very cynical about them giving out increased rewards. Especially when they 'fix the play time' in SCL 10 by reducing rewards. Don't get me wrong the inital clear is much faster now, but that slog to grind everything after that is still there.

KGB

PiMacleod said:

I'm not post-iso.... wish I was.  However, I do have nearly every 4* champed, and have run a couple runs of 3*s for each and every one of them.  The only 4*s I haven't champed are the newest 3 (Hellcat JUST got her 13th the other day), and Taskmaster and Spider-Ham.  Honestly, TM isnt champed because of bad luck... I got a few saved covers for him, sitting there with a bad color spread.  Spider-Ham is like 2 covers away.  

ANYWAYS... I still need ISO.  Not every 5* peep I have is at their max potential.  I could champ 2 other 5*s, bringing my champs from 10 to 12 total.... but ISO is a crunch for me.  This heightened release schedule does drain my resources.  Sure, my HP never has a problem, as long as I stay strong against various HP bundle offers.  But iso disappears rather quick.  New 5*s eat it.  New 4*s eat it.  And I do need to flip/tend the farms occasionally.

Also, I don't keep max champs.  Sure, I'll keep a max long enough to get the replacement champed... but once they are up and running, I sell the max champ.  I need those slots for the next guy in rotation.  Currently sitting at 225 slots, all occupied.

The amount of money spent, versus time spent in the game, can be summed up like this, I guess -- 

Day 2478.
Shield Rank 170.

Where has your ISO gone or are you not getting green checks in PvE?

I'm day 2092 with rank 160. I've been free to play other than since costumes came out a year ago and I got VIP for the costumes (I don't need the extra rewards).

I have every 4* champed but Taskmaster, Legion, Hellcat, Misty and Anti-Venom. None of my 5*s are leveled past 300.

That said, I current have 8.5 million ISO. I could champ 20+ 5*s if I had the covers (I only have 7 fully covered, another 6 in the 10+ cover range). I also have thousands of Elite/Heroic tokens I could open to cycle my farms for more ISO if needed.

Trying to figure out how at 400+ more days than me played that you aren't post ISO unless most of your 5*s are fully covered and you have 40+ of them that way.

KGB

HoundofShadow

Looking at both your in-game days to shield rankings, it seems to be easier to level up shield ranking for late starters. I'm Day 953 and SR 157 here and I started playing in late 2017. However, I'm still deep in iso-8 debt in 4-star land.

ThaRoadWarrior

A lot of us that were around for the implementation of shield rankings were pushed up further in the shield ranks than our rosters might otherwise have dictated, because at implementation that system rewared diligent play (green checking nodes) more than it did roster width/depth (adding covers/levels to characters) as it does now. 

I'm 100% free to play since forever, Day 1643/shield rank 168. I have 209 roster slots, no dupes. I just got my 15th 5* champ today (Hawkeye). I only have 6 unchamped 4*s (Ham, Wolfsbane, Hellcat, Legion, Anti-Venom, Misty) with about half needing covers and half with surplus covers. Since I don't keep dupes, i have a bunch of un-champed 3* characters waiting on organic covers, same with 2*s, I just flip them as they hit the top because they're just gate keys for node access to me at this point. I just keep a single 1* spider-man for DDQ, no other 1*s. 

I don't green-check story nodes anymore, I just play SCL10 to progression with 4x clears and PVP as high as I can climb, at least to the 10cp. Well, as of Fight For Wakanda I started doing 4x clears all at once and green checking them again, and so far that's been pretty palatable to me. Since the 5torm/Iceman/Profe$$or X batch of Latest, I've been able to stay mostly current on 5* releases, only missing out on Carbage by 1 cover who I then sharded, Havoc with 10 covers, and Yelena with 11 by spending as I go into exclusively Latest. 

I used to keep all my 4*s at 209 for the old Shield Training, which cost about the same amount of iso as champing a 3*, then it was much cheaper to take one from 209 to champ (about 240k). Now there' no real reason to do that, so I leave them at base level until I have the full 375k, which takes about a week to earn. I'm definitely not Post Iso, but I'm also not covering 5*s fast enough to be wildly behind when they get over, so I think where i'm at I'm able to pretty comfortable tread water all the way around. 

DeNappa

PiMacleod said:

<snip>
Then, maybe those new people go the extra step, and ask the alliance simple questions, like "Hey, do I need to keep all these guys?" or "What do you suggest I do with X/Y/Z?".  Enter the horrible in-game chat issues.  For us to properly elaborate what they need to do to establish themselves in this game, you need to post many many times to the in-game chat.  Now the in-game chat is flooded, and people generally don't wanna read all of that (much like this post).  It shows how clunky and impractical the chat is in one simple example.  If the new-guy just so happens to read your suggestions, understands it, and start to implement those suggestions, then great!  You probably got a good new person to potentially help out the alliance after a while... but that all depends on if they actually A ) want to to implement those suggestions, B ) endure the chat system, and C ) are actually patient and understanding enough to want to ask questions about a match 3 superhero game to fellow alliance-mates.
<snip>

Sorry, I know that this isn't the main issue raised in this topic, but I wanted to take a moment to firmly agree that the in-game chat is abysmal (and has been like that from the start). Message sync is buggy leading to 'missing' replies until a forced restart of the app. Bad device keyboard support. Message length is too short, and message history buffer as well. No copy/paste support. Losing text entered if you switch tab or screens.

(More broadly speaking, alliances could've been so much better as well, but have received virtually no improvements or features since the introduction of alliance events... oh yeah, a "public/private purchases switch" for buyclubbing whales).

More on-topic:  Day 1984 / rank 159 player here. Not post-ISO yet either. I have nearly 1 million banked, but would need about 2,5 million to champ all 4*s currently remaining unchamped on my roster. (For convenience that calculation assumes I have also finished covering the last 3 4*s, but I'm still missing some covers there of course).

And while I feel I'm slooowly catching up to finish the 4* champions, the drain for 5*s will be even larger. I wonder if I will eventually run into semi-post ISO, as in, having the ISO but not having the 5* covers....

ThaRoadWarrior

They need to integrate GetSocial or something similar - a drop-in professional chat system that just works.

PiMacleod

KGB said:

PiMacleod said:

I'm not post-iso.... wish I was.  However, I do have nearly every 4* champed, and have run a couple runs of 3*s for each and every one of them.  The only 4*s I haven't champed are the newest 3 (Hellcat JUST got her 13th the other day), and Taskmaster and Spider-Ham.  Honestly, TM isnt champed because of bad luck... I got a few saved covers for him, sitting there with a bad color spread.  Spider-Ham is like 2 covers away.  

ANYWAYS... I still need ISO.  Not every 5* peep I have is at their max potential.  I could champ 2 other 5*s, bringing my champs from 10 to 12 total.... but ISO is a crunch for me.  This heightened release schedule does drain my resources.  Sure, my HP never has a problem, as long as I stay strong against various HP bundle offers.  But iso disappears rather quick.  New 5*s eat it.  New 4*s eat it.  And I do need to flip/tend the farms occasionally.

Also, I don't keep max champs.  Sure, I'll keep a max long enough to get the replacement champed... but once they are up and running, I sell the max champ.  I need those slots for the next guy in rotation.  Currently sitting at 225 slots, all occupied.

The amount of money spent, versus time spent in the game, can be summed up like this, I guess -- 

Day 2478.
Shield Rank 170.

Where has your ISO gone or are you not getting green checks in PvE?

I'm day 2092 with rank 160. I've been free to play other than since costumes came out a year ago and I got VIP for the costumes (I don't need the extra rewards).

I have every 4* champed but Taskmaster, Legion, Hellcat, Misty and Anti-Venom. None of my 5*s are leveled past 300.

That said, I current have 8.5 million ISO. I could champ 20+ 5*s if I had the covers (I only have 7 fully covered, another 6 in the 10+ cover range). I also have thousands of Elite/Heroic tokens I could open to cycle my farms for more ISO if needed.

Trying to figure out how at 400+ more days than me played that you aren't post ISO unless most of your 5*s are fully covered and you have 40+ of them that way.

KGB

I dont go for green checks -- its not needed for progression-only play.  I did a couple times back when green checks gave you more XP for Shield Rank, but not often at all.

Where does my ISO go?  Into champing 4*s as I can, and leveling the required 5* for the PvE at that time.  I have plenty of 5*s that need ISO, but I won't give it to them if they aren't helping my daily grind (read: only metas get the ISO).

....well, that's a bit of a lie... I also throw it fully into a 5* that looks like it might have a fun synergy.  But that's my fault.

I'm sitting on about 250k iso right now.  Hellcat is champable.  I know where this amount is going as soon as she's the 4* essential again (or when I get extra covers for champing -- I don't let champ rewards sit there unclaimed for long).

Pongie

Just chiming in as another free to play. Day 2046, SR 196 post iso sitting on a little over 12 million. Nothing to spend it on but pvp skips and ap boosts. Started to farm 4* now (5 maxed already but only 3 dupes). Handy to champion 4* or 5* immediately when the 13th cover drops. 

tupacboy

I need over 25 million to champ all the 4 stars at 13 covers..... It's depressing to know even with optimal play... Would take me over a year ..

abenness

I track my progress on 4's specifically.

May 2019 I had 10 x 4* champs, and iso debt of 22.7 million to champ the rest
May 2020, 53 x 4* champs, and iso debt of 12.2 million
August 2020, 63 x 4* champs, 10.6 million to go.

This does move in fits and starts, because of also champing 5* as I go (Latest Legends since Storm, adding Thor, JJ, Okoye from classics along the way). I'll be happier when I'm post-iso, just because it unlocks all the saved covers into champ levels for 2*, 3*, and eventually 4* farms.  Next year sometime I guess...

AXP_isme

I’m on day 2254 and it felt, for a long time, like I wasn’t making progress on my iso deficit. I’m not that serious a player so I don’t make the most of the opportunities to get iso but I am catching up. I need about 1m more iso to finish soft-capping my 5s and finish all but the most recent 4*s. 

It is possible to keep pace, and to catch up. It requires quite a lot of time or money though. Stick with it.