Meet Broken Circle Studios - Developer Blog (6/2/22)

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DevpoolMPQ_BCS
DevpoolMPQ_BCS ADMINISTRATORS Posts: 132 Tile Toppler
in MPQ General Discussion


Hello MPQ!

My name is James Finley and I’m the new Game Director for MARVEL Puzzle Quest. As a long-time fan of the game, I’m so thrilled and honored to be here. I’m not the only new face coming to the game; I’ve brought my studio with me. I co-founded Broken Circle back in 2008 with the vision of bringing players and developers together through great games, and in partnership with D3 Go! and a collaborative handoff from Demiurge we’re taking on the role of developer for MPQ. 

I’m sure that many of you are wondering what this means for the game. I know I would be! I suppose I can start off by saying that this move hasn’t been abrupt. The folks at Demiurge, Broken Circle, and D3 Go! have been working tirelessly for months to align on what’s best for the game and most importantly, its players. Demiurge has taken great care to build something wonderful, and we intend to honor and carry on that legacy. 

We also plan to grow and improve upon what’s already there. Coming to this game as fans, we’re ignited by the limitless possibilities of MARVEL Puzzle Quest and are ecstatic to dive into building what’s next for us all! My team and I are thrilled about the future of MARVEL Puzzle Quest and can’t wait to share just some of the things we have in store. In fact, why wait? Let’s talk about some of it now!

-This month (June) marks an important month for a number of reasons, and we have our eyes set on Hellfire Gala! Keep your eyes peeled toward the end of the month and check into the game to receive a welcoming gift from the MARVEL Puzzle Quest Team!

-3-Star / 5-Star co-releases are coming back in a big way. We love what 3-Star characters do for the game and we want to bring them back into the release schedule. What does that mean? You can expect a 3-Star character co-released with every 5-Star starting in September, giving you more opportunities to pull and roster the characters you love!

-Micro / Macro Rebalances are coming to MPQ. Every month you'll see sweeping changes to underperforming characters to breathe new life into your roster. As the game has grown, so too has its philosophies and metrics surrounding character performance. Later this summer you can expect to see announcements and patch-notes, as well as development blogs where we peel back the curtain on the actions we're taking to update your favorites.

-Costumes and Costume Store - In addition to revisiting 3-Star releases, costumes are also something we want more of, and with greater availability. That’s why later this year you can expect costumes to come out with greater frequency, become more accessible, and become a regular part of our stores and various offerings.

-New Boss Events - New content aside from characters is something that we as players want to see more of. A lot more. While it's going to take some time to expand upon the existing PVE and PVP content, something we plan on building right away are Boss Events. Bosses allow for these incredible moments that encourage Alliances to unite against a common enemy. We have several such encounters planned for you this year, starting with the fearsome Gargantos that many of you may have faced off against already. Be prepared and assemble your Alliances!

And that’s certainly not even scratching the surface. Expect more content, improved systems, and years of community feedback make its way into the game we all love. The best of MPQ is just ahead!

And find me here in the MPQ forums at DevpoolMPQ_BCS.

Until next time,

James


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Comments

  • BriMan2222
    BriMan2222 Posts: 1,009 Chairperson of the Boards
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    These all sound like positive changes.  The only thing I didn't see in there was an update to supports.
  • KGB
    KGB Posts: 2,939 Chairperson of the Boards
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    Welcome!

    Looking forward to reading more about all the upcoming new content and changes to the game.

    I (and countless others) will echo the question about the need for concurrent 3*/5* releases for every new 5* character. End game players don't need them (nor will they use them) and it makes it harder for new players to transition from 2* to 3* land the more 3* characters there are. Occasional new 3*s are welcome (2-3 a year) but 13 a year seems excessive.

    KGB
  • Bigwillyg
    Bigwillyg Posts: 5 Just Dropped In
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    yes please. what he said. the constant unending releases are a pain because if you so playing for a bit or longer. suddenly you are light years behind roster wife and it gets ridiculously expensive to catch up, not to mention how expensive it is for roster slots after 300. were not all rich single guys with disposable income that can afford to be on top of every purchase.
  • DAZ0273
    DAZ0273 Posts: 9,628 Chairperson of the Boards
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    Wow. Sounds all very exciting - welcome to MPQ Broken Circle and James! The 3* announcement is very interesting but the impact it has on the game will be up in the air. Still - more Boss Events and content is cool.
  • Godzillafan67
    Godzillafan67 Posts: 504 Critical Contributor
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    If BCS are true fans of MPQ and Marvel in general, then I'm waiting with bated breath and nervous anticipation for the next few months to roll out. With an increase in the number of characters in the game, are you looking at roster slot costs (addressed above) and iso supply?
  • whoami
    whoami Posts: 74 Match Maker
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    3*/5* is a step backward if you’re not going to reduce the price of roster slots. To those who have supported the game for many years, it looks more like a cash grab. (Most of us don’t care about 3*s.)
  • illusionist_KA
    illusionist_KA Posts: 137 Tile Toppler
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    honest question, will feeders (3 to 4* and 4 to 5*) be looked at.  Specifically, older characters as feeders and the not new characters as feeders. This will bring life back into the older characters that are sitting doing nothing.  Not everyone has resources to push for new characters. Making new character feeders right away was a travesty to the game.
  • illusionist_KA
    illusionist_KA Posts: 137 Tile Toppler
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    DevpoolMPQ_BCS said:
    BriMan2222 said:
    These all sound like positive changes.  The only thing I didn't see in there was an update to supports.
    We're looking very closely at supports. Don't worry, they're absolutely on our radar and will be seeing alot of love.

    Does this include the option for them to be more easily accessible and adding master and advanced tokens to progression, daily supply , placement?
  • jsmjsmjsm00
    jsmjsmjsm00 Posts: 268 Mover and Shaker
    edited June 2022
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    I welcome new 3*s as well as the other changes teased. The game definitely needs improvement and significant changes.

    Please don't take the neverending forum complaints to heart. They will push back on everything.

    Edit:
    The armchair experts coming in to all pitch exactly how the new devs are already wrong and how each one has a 300 word summary of what changes fix everything. This post was for devs to share their plans with us, not vice versa... 
  • Timemachinego
    Timemachinego Posts: 432 Mover and Shaker
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    The people asking for more 3*s don't realize that they're only hurting themselves. It'll take a lot of adjustments to reward flow, slot cost and more to do anything other than make this a net negative.
  • Chirus
    Chirus Posts: 191 Tile Toppler
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    A possible solution is to introduce "slot tokens" that come free with each 3* release. Give everyone one free roster slot each month to balance out the introduction of a new release. Honestly, sticking purely 4* and 5* releases is preferable, and adding more ways to earn 5* and retroactively adding feeders to characters with no feeders. Most players aren't looking to add more 3* for their own sakes. They're just a middle step on the path to the endgame. So the primary benefit I can see are the feeders. But if you're introducing 3* with no feeders (as has been the case with new 4* releases), AND you're also frontloadnig the cost of roster slots on the players? Then this is overall a bad move and hurtful to the playerbase.
  • Bad
    Bad Posts: 3,146 Chairperson of the Boards
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    Be welcomed! All those changes sound like celestial music to my ears.
    I wish for you the best of the success, and it will be the joy for us.
    I hope that in all changes you could implement a difficulty system for all players could find the challenge at the level they enjoy the most.
  • fight4thedream
    fight4thedream GLOBAL_MODERATORS Posts: 1,920 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited June 2022
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    Hello James,

    Welcome to the MPQ Forum!! It will be great to have some dev interaction here again. I am sure you have piqued a lot of members curiosity. Speaking of curious minds, I noticed you named dropped Hellfire Gala. Nice! Hopefully Judgement Day is also on your radar?

    Also good to see that rebalances are going to be monthly, if I understand correctly. I noticed you used the terms micro/macro rebalances and I was wondering if you could expound a bit more on that topic. Seeing better affiliation bonuses has long been something I have wanted to see and I am hoping that might fall under macro rebalance.  While certain characters do have these bonuses, I just think it would make sense for, say, a team consisting of only Avengers characters to get an additional damage or defensive bonus or some other perk. So I would like to see team bonuses be a thing. Teammates should work better together, no?

    Finally, if I may ask one more question, will the reintroduction of 3* characters mean they will be variants of the new 5* release or a totally separate character?  For example, when 5* Dr. Strange was released they also released a 3* version of him. Ideally, for the sake of variety, I hope they will be separate characters but thematically relevant to each other.  For example, a 5* Spiral co-released with a 3* Longshot.  

    I am going to stop myself here as I am sure others will pick up on some of the other things I would like to ask but I am very excited to see what you and the team have cooking up for the game. Wishing you and the Broken Circle studios all the best! 

    A true believer,
    fight4thedream
  • ThaRoadWarrior
    ThaRoadWarrior Posts: 9,165 Chairperson of the Boards
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    This is an interesting development. I'm definitely not super looking forward to a return to 3/5 releases myself on top of the existing 4/5/4/5 rotation, but we'll see what it looks like in practice. I've long been a proponent of a 4/5/Support release schedule.
  • DeNappa
    DeNappa Posts: 1,368 Chairperson of the Boards
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    Huh, welcome! I hope you will breathe a bit of fresh air into the game as truth be told it felt getting a bit stale. Looking forward to what you will bring!

    And since we seem to be listing issues we're hoping you will address... My wishlist (for years now lol) has been a better wave node user interface (both pre and during match), and giving alliances a bit of love (maybe some new features, and a less buggy chat refresh). Also maybe dust off some events that are never run anymore :mrgreen:

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