MPQ Developer Q&A February & March 2023 (ANSWERS)

S0kun · March 2023

Thanks everyone for submitting your questions in our latest Q&A session! As always, we tried to answer as many as we can and I suspect we would've gotten a wave of questions had we not cut off the deadline when we did. I'm sure you've got some questions already queued up so until then, please enjoy the read!

@meadowsweet [Official Forums]
Question: Many use the "MPQ Forum" spreadsheet that tracks PVE players to jump in a 999 to 0 reset. Why not just build transparent player counts into the game itself? Casual full-progression players will still join whenever (knowing placement is a slog) right?

Answer: We chat about this on occasion. Ultimately there is a need to weigh the end result, as it stands to potentially introduce adverse effects with how players choose to engage in this events should they get said transparency. We're not opposed to it, but we do need more time to evaluate it.
@NBPerp [Official Forums]
Question: Can you make the "share with friends" screens go away until the facebook problem is resolved

Answer: We'll look into this!
@Trenchdigger [Official Forums]
Question: The quick claim 50 LL button makes opening LL tokens quicker and more enjoyable. Could we have a similar CP button, eg "spend 1000 CP" which on the classic vault opens 50 times and on LL and other special vaults opens 40 times?

Answer: We'll look into this one as well!
@TheRoadWarrior [Official Forums]
Question: Is there a corner or era of the Marvel universe you feel is particularly under-served by the game's content currently that you would like to play around more with?

Answer: Nextwave and some of the super new stuff comes to mind. Dirk Anger, Nimrod, bad guy Beast...the Marvel universe is seemingly endless and even though we release tons of characters the list of characters we want to do seems to grow at a faster rate.
@ragnarady [Official Forums]
Question: Is it possible that you will redesign in-match interface to make calculations more intuitive (e. g. showing if Hitmonkey red ability down the enemy) and to include all relevant information (e. g. showing character affiliations)?

Answer: This is on the roadmap. Once we're done with our MASSIVE engine overhaul, implementing these types features will be much more straightforward. We absolutely want this as bad as you do!
@TheXMan [Official Forums]
Question: Can you provide the levels when MMR changes? In particular, when do you move into dual 5 star MMR as well as dual 550 MMR.

Answer: It's a shifting scale depending on your current MMR and the MMR of players in your current pool. So there's no real way to tell.
@skittledaddy [Official Forums]
Question: Are the monthly forum contests a thing of the past? While only a few won anything from them, I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes insight that they provided.

Answer: Nope, we just want to try some different things, maybe incorporating in-game portions, as with this month's St. Patty's Day event.
Sleep Token [Reddit]
Question: Would you ever consider removing the 'Limited' status from the 4 star characters? Having to wait up to a year to earn more covers in the largest tier already makes it more of a slog, with no decent pay off, as no one uses them once champed. Thank you

Answer: Yes, we would and are considering it. Not an official announcement and not alot of progress has been made here, but we have talked about this. Definitely maybe!
@Punisher5784 [Official Forums]
Question: Would consider having a Player Feedback Committee? A group of players at various stages to give direct feedback on ideas and suggestions? Having a small dedicated group may help reduce some backlash (e.g., 5* Wasp rework, return of 7-day events)

Answer: Having a Player Feedback Committee is something that is interesting to us. At this time we still don't feel we are in a good enough position to leverage its value. The fact remains that the existing technology is a bit difficult and inflexible. Were it more nimble, we'd be able to work more iteratively and collaboratively. To that end, we're working hard to revamp what's under the hood so that cool ideas like this can be possible!
@MEM76 [Official Forums]
Question: Would you be willing to up the Iso-8 reward in DDQ's "Under the Sea" from 200 to 500?

Answer: We'll consider this, but yeah, we probably will. Thanks for bringing it up!
@Codex [Official Forums]
Question: A few months back you mentioned you were working on updates to the User Interface, Supports system, Saved Teams and PvP match making. Can you provide a progress update on these projects?

Answer: Most of that is still in progress. Supports have made their re-debut and we have aired out what our plans are there. Saved teams and expanded filters are still in exploration and probably some of the very next things we see come to the game (barring issues). PVP matchmaking improvements: we have a new algorithmic solution and just need some time set aside to thoroughly test before making any announcements there.
@Glockoma [Official Forums]
Question: Where’s this game heading? Passive has to be trumped by previous passive. Active has to have a passive component to nullify the previous passive. QoL aside, what mission distances the game from the rabbit hole the previous developers failed upon?

Answer: We've been having a lot of discussion about that, and what a lot of it comes down to is "speed meta". Whenever we open up the game to a non-speed related gameplay, creativity opens up from the player base. PVP is 100% speed meta. PVE is as well if you're after T10. But events like Boss Battles and Puzzle Ops we suddenly see people taking their time and having novel solutions to gameplay, AND opening up their rosters. That's not to say that speed isn't fun. It is! But it results in a specific metagame and roster that runs counter to much of what Puzzle Quest should be, and it's something we're actively discussing how to tackle.
leviticuschoms [Reddit]
Question: Can we expect any changes or modifications to the 5-4-5-4 character release cycle for the rest of 2023, if so can you share more (overall structural changes or if there are any planned bonus characters)?

Answer: No plans to change the release cadence, but never count out the possibility of bonus characters. We definitely need to go back to the drawing board on how one would be released like that though, She-Hulk's bonus release was cool, but caused way too many ripples down the line.
@Daredevil217 [Official Forums]
Question: 5* Kang is only getting AP when tiles expire or are destroyed by means OTHER than matching. Can he be updated or his wording fixed?

Answer: Will look into this, thanks!
@CASSIDYFROST [Official Forums]
Question: Cassie, as Stature, from Quantumania will still make it to the game, right? What about Ant-Man Eric O'Grady? I think he could be an AMAZING addition (but not as Black-Ant, the original costume)

Answer: I wouldn't count any of these characters out, though I can say that none of them are expected to arrive this year. You never know though!
@NIGHTMPQCRAWLER [Official Forums]
Question: Will the characters from the previous poll that lost (Blink, Hercules, etc) still make it to the game? And the losers of the most recent one, will they also come after a while?

Answer: Totally possible. The characters on those lists are made up of characters that were on our release shortlists in general, but didn't make it in. Which means they're still characters we want to do. Just need to find slots.
@GAMBITKING [Official Forums]
Question: Will more MCU character costumes be added in the future that are in an old or comics costume (for example Ant-Man, MODOK, Black Widow or Doctor Strange)?

Answer: We love alot of the MCU looks and do plan on bringing more to the game. Big YES.
@liminal_lad [Official Forums]
Question: I don't think this has been asked before: I've heard references to the existing code. Are new modes built in some sort of game database or content management system? Is each new event coded differently? Can you share more rom behind the curtain?

Answer: MPQ is built upon a proprietary engine that was developed and fostered over many years. Unfortunately, the current dev team wasn't around for all of that. As a consequence, every task that involves looking at underlying source is demanding and requires significant research.
@MirrorKnight [Official Forums]
Question: Would it be possible to add a feature to search for characters based on text in power descriptions? i.e. if I wanted to find all characters with "fortified" or "enemy strike" in their power set.

Answer: This is planned and we're working on it.
@killah klown [Official Forums]
Question: Are you prevented from using made-for-TV characters like Firestar and Morph due to licensing restrictions? If not, bring them on! Lots of old cartoon fans on here.

Answer: Nothing prevents us from this outside of the limited number of character releases that go out each year. Would love to see Firestar and Morph make it into the game though!
@batcapman [Official Forums]
Question: Do you have any plans (or permission) to add characters that are more consistent with the comics that are currently being released? Like those related to Sins of Sinister or the future Cold War...

Answer: Absolutely. This was the case with Chasm, for example. We've also tied in with current releases via Hellfire Gala costume releases. It's something we'd like to do more of.
@Trash Panda [Official Forums]
Question: The devs seemed to have inherited a game who's code was put together with bubblegum. Has any thought been put towards putting off releasing a new 5* to spend the time game seems to need to work to correct the coding and numerous bugs? If no, why not?

Answer: Ultimately the team involved with solving engine related problems is entirely different from those that design and build characters. Changing the pace of content wouldn't impact fixing the underlying engine at all. We are moving at full speed on those underlying fixes, but with so many interconnected parts it isn't as simple as fixing one thing, releasing, and then moving on to the next.
@Chipster22 [Official Forums]
Question: Since some of the code for MPQ must be nearly 10 years old, has there been any thought of starting fresh with MPQ2?

Answer: Aside from commenting on or kidding about this internally, there hasn't been much in the way of official thought that has yet gone into an MPQ 2.
@DyingLegend [Official Forums]
Question: Lately ive been getting a little burnt out. All the new character releases, same modes, low ISO gains. What new features ( if any) are coming down the pipe to address player burnout?

Answer: I don't think there's anything specific to announce right this second, but we most certainly have plans in the somewhat near future. Getting old events running again, redoing released events to refresh them, getting new Boss Battles and other events going are all on the docket. There's also Supports releases and reworks coming down the pipe whcih will spice things up a bit. And we most certainly have a couple of bigger features coming up, but they're not quite ready for announcement yet.
@Tony foot [Official Forums]
Question: Are there going to be any new boss events where the new release 5* isn’t just cut and pasted in with his release powers? I’d rather re-run ones different from standard pve matches.

Answer: Ultimately it is our goal to start creating some Bosses that serve unique functions as bosses. Bosses are just as complex as characters are (and then some), which is to say that the lift is large. We're working on getting a lead with our content which will allow this sort of thing to be possible. You can count on an original Boss that is entirely original later this year!
@KGB [Official Forums]
Question: Can the team selection screen be changed so that it selects the last character used rather than the highest level. If I have a dead character it selects this instead of another one I was using and it steals a health pack from me when it heals them.

Answer: This is a good idea and added to the list of QoL features. Thanks!
@Kwahder [Official Forums]
Question: As you are apparently reworking MMR, is it possibly to let us know what our ratings are, and what enemies we would see if we level up our characters? Ideally this might involve us choosing to play at a set level for an event.

Answer: Depends on how the system changes. As answered earlier, your MMR is more of a rating that puts you in a pool with other players of that MMR. That doesn't mean that all the people at that rating are at 4-Star level, or baby 5s, or max 550s. Or that those players are even in your shard for that event. So it's difficult to say "You'll be playing against these enemies" when it's generated as the event moves forward.
@Punzaman [Official Forums]
Question: Will you consider giving 5* shards for progression in PVP? In general, can you make PVP rewards match PVE? E.g., LL for top placement for individual and alliance. It would increase participation in PVP, which feels like the "lesser" half of the game.

Answer: Possible! We're in the midst of an overall economy review right now with an eye to fixing up a lot of things (Iso desert, I'm lookin' at YOU). Shard and cover outlay are most certainly a part of that.
@CarnageWing [Official Forums]
Question: As one of my favorite characters, I was wondering if we're ever going to get a 4* Warren/Angel but with the normal feather wings (as opposed to his 3* flame and 5* metal version)?

Answer: Certainly a possibility. We've got a couple other characters that are getting "fill-in" versions as either a 3/5 for a current 4 or a 4 for characters that have other rarities. Don't count it out!
@VincentAuron [All of the above ]
Question: Is it possible to have a random character and/or random team select in Champ Select?

Answer: I've thought this myself! Officially adding it to the todo list!
@StrangeWitch [Official Forums]
Question: Will there ever be a St Patrick's Day contest but with characters that are actually IRISH in the game? And not just random characters with no connection to the date and just are or wear green...

Answer: Daredevil would've been the obvious choice for this, but we wanted to make the contest more general to allow for the larger player base to participate. That's why the creative angle was focused on a few characters that wear green. Contests around specific characters are definitely feasible in the future though.
Figzilla [Discord]
Question: Are there any plans to increase visibility of performance metrics? Perhaps view data on how teammates performed in the last boss event for longer periods of time? Or view individual performances per event in a season?

Answer: We'd certainly like to and this might be a good topic for the dev blogs that we post. Will communicate this idea internally and see what comes of it!

Glockoma · March 2023

Thank you so much for the feedback.

Sounds as if the MPQ engine has been and is a huge time and resource vacuum. Good luck restoring that old car; another ten years she’ll be a classic!

tonypq · March 2023

More answers to come ?

Still quite a few unanswered including if LL trio of 5s will ever be changed so each has their own store which players can spend CPs/LL tokens.

Phumade · March 2023

On question 26. We have had this behavior before and was changed to the current practice of highest health remaining. Its not that big of a deal either way, but people definitely have their preferred behavior and this need to be a player select toggle not necessarily a unilateral design decision.

Bowgentle · March 2023

@tonypq said:
More answers to come ?

Still quite a few unanswered including if LL trio of 5s will ever be changed so each has their own store which players can spend CPs/LL tokens.

Why would they do that?
They have no interest in letting you pick specific 5s only.

tonypq · March 2023

@Bowgentle said:

@tonypq said:
More answers to come ?

Still quite a few unanswered including if LL trio of 5s will ever be changed so each has their own store which players can spend CPs/LL tokens.

Why would they do that?
They have no interest in letting you pick specific 5s only.

Can't hurt to ask, other players have inquired about this in the past. BC has never really chimed in if this would ever be considered or not. Would be nice to get a "it's something we've thought about, or a heck no that will never happen", at least players would know where they stand.

Bowgentle · March 2023

You'll get a diplomatic "it's not on our agenda, but we'll talk about it" and never hear of it again and you know it 🤣

But by all means keep asking!
Can't hurt to keep trying.

BriMan2222 · March 2023

@tonypq said:

@Bowgentle said:

@tonypq said:
More answers to come ?

Still quite a few unanswered including if LL trio of 5s will ever be changed so each has their own store which players can spend CPs/LL tokens.

Why would they do that?
They have no interest in letting you pick specific 5s only.

Can't hurt to ask, other players have inquired about this in the past. BC has never really chimed in if this would ever be considered or not. Would be nice to get a "it's something we've thought about, or a heck no that will never happen", at least players would know where they stand.

They actually did used to do this. When 5 stars first came out they were released in a special store where the new 5 star was the only 5 star in the store. I assume they thought this made it too easy to cover the new 5 star. I remember finishing thanos and black panther in their special stores pretty trivially when they were the only 5 star you could pull.

MirrorKnight · March 2023

I really appreciate the active dialog of these Q&A's!

tonypq · March 2023

@BriMan2222 said:

@tonypq said:

@Bowgentle said:

@tonypq said:
More answers to come ?

Still quite a few unanswered including if LL trio of 5s will ever be changed so each has their own store which players can spend CPs/LL tokens.

Why would they do that?
They have no interest in letting you pick specific 5s only.

Can't hurt to ask, other players have inquired about this in the past. BC has never really chimed in if this would ever be considered or not. Would be nice to get a "it's something we've thought about, or a heck no that will never happen", at least players would know where they stand.

They actually did used to do this. When 5 stars first came out they were released in a special store where the new 5 star was the only 5 star in the store. I assume they thought this made it too easy to cover the new 5 star. I remember finishing thanos and black panther in their special stores pretty trivially when they were the only 5 star you could pull.

I remember that too, I just don't recall if at the time 5s were released as fast as they are these days though. Would be nice to see it that way again, or at least hear from BC their thoughts.

These days many players pull as they go or as a 5 is set to rotate out of LLs, others hoard roughly 260-300 pulls. In many cases that might get someone enough covers for the three 5s in LLs to champ and maybe have a small number of extra covers.

I feel like for many players that just gets them a tiny bit above regular champed levels. If BC wants to increase the flow of players entering and competing at max level 550 tier, being able to target and dedicate one's resources to just those 5s one chooses would help them get to 550 tier faster and easier. Seems like the current LL trio set up is better for catchem all types and not necessarily those who want to target characters they prefer most or will be best suited to reach the top tier.

Everyone has their own preferences of course and that's fine certainly. It would still be nice however to hear BC comment on future plans. Especially with some new content changes they might implement or if tougher SCLs are introduced with better rewards. It would be nice to have an easier way to level up 5s of ones choice that will help them most and not be impeded so much with the LL trio dilution and RNG.

Phumade · March 2023

@tonypq said:

@BriMan2222 said:

@tonypq said:

@Bowgentle said:

@tonypq said:
More answers to come ?

Still quite a few unanswered including if LL trio of 5s will ever be changed so each has their own store which players can spend CPs/LL tokens.

Why would they do that?
They have no interest in letting you pick specific 5s only.

I feel like for many players that just gets them a tiny bit above regular champed levels. If BC wants to increase the flow of players entering and competing at max level 550 tier, being able to target and dedicate one's resources to just those 5s one chooses would help them get to 550 tier faster and easier. Seems like the current LL trio set up is better for catchem all types and not necessarily those who want to target characters they prefer most or will be best suited to reach the top tier.

I think they care less about the 500+community and more about getting EVERY player 3 covers of a 5* they can reliable use at their current scl.

HoundofShadow · March 2023

This month's Q&A is quite uninteresting. After 8-9 months of Q&A, there's probably nothing much to ask.

There are some questions they answered that could help silence some. And that's those who want the dev to stop creating new characters and work on fixing the game. Bad news: both are handled by different teams. Shutting down the design team won't help them fix the bugs any quicker.

The game is undergoing massive engine change, so we have to ride through the pain in the coming days.

entrailbucket · March 2023

I don't know how many times I can say this: they cannot ever stop releasing new characters, or reduce the release cadence in any significant way.

New characters are how they make money. They make money primarily from selling roster slots and the continuous release schedule is what keeps it flowing. Unless you want them to somehow devise and implement a new business model after 10 years (and by the way, a new business model would almost certainly be much worse for most of us) they're not changing this.

Bowgentle · March 2023

@entrailbucket said:
I don't know how many times I can say this: they cannot ever stop releasing new characters, or reduce the release cadence in any significant way.

New characters are how they make money. They make money primarily from selling roster slots and the continuous release schedule is what keeps it flowing. Unless you want them to somehow devise and implement a new business model after 10 years (and by the way, a new business model would almost certainly be much worse for most of us) they're not changing this.

Preach.
People will still ignore it.

Bowgentle · March 2023

Lol at design and engine "teams".
We know it's two guys total.

Daredevil217 · March 2023

I think there will be a ton of questions next Q/A with the whole supports announcement.

Bowgentle · March 2023

@Daredevil217 said:
I think there will be a ton of questions next Q/A with the whole supports announcement.

That deserves it's own thread, with BCS actually around to answer questions.

justsing · March 2023

Well, the devs totally ignored my question about Kang's insta-win power lol...

@S0kun said:
12. @Glockoma [Official Forums]
Question: Where’s this game heading? Passive has to be trumped by previous passive. Active has to have a passive component to nullify the previous passive. QoL aside, what mission distances the game from the rabbit hole the previous developers failed upon?

Answer: We've been having a lot of discussion about that, and what a lot of it comes down to is "speed meta". Whenever we open up the game to a non-speed related gameplay, creativity opens up from the player base. PVP is 100% speed meta. PVE is as well if you're after T10. But events like Boss Battles and Puzzle Ops we suddenly see people taking their time and having novel solutions to gameplay, AND opening up their rosters. That's not to say that speed isn't fun. It is! But it results in a specific metagame and roster that runs counter to much of what Puzzle Quest should be, and it's something we're actively discussing how to tackle.

If you're trying to get away from "speed meta", then why did you guys give Kang an insta-win via his Away power?

IceIX · March 2023

@justsing said:
Well, the devs totally ignored my question about Kang's insta-win power lol...

@S0kun said:
12. @Glockoma [Official Forums]
Question: Where’s this game heading? Passive has to be trumped by previous passive. Active has to have a passive component to nullify the previous passive. QoL aside, what mission distances the game from the rabbit hole the previous developers failed upon?

Answer: We've been having a lot of discussion about that, and what a lot of it comes down to is "speed meta". Whenever we open up the game to a non-speed related gameplay, creativity opens up from the player base. PVP is 100% speed meta. PVE is as well if you're after T10. But events like Boss Battles and Puzzle Ops we suddenly see people taking their time and having novel solutions to gameplay, AND opening up their rosters. That's not to say that speed isn't fun. It is! But it results in a specific metagame and roster that runs counter to much of what Puzzle Quest should be, and it's something we're actively discussing how to tackle.

If you're trying to get away from "speed meta", then why did you guys give Kang an insta-win via his Away power?

Not mutually exclusive, and fixing speed meta isn't a silver bullet "just change this" thing anyway. Sure, alternate win conditions CAN make things faster when you can manufacture that condition. But it doesn't mean that this win condition means that speed meta is now more locked in.

Bzhai · March 2023

@IceIX said:

@justsing said:
Well, the devs totally ignored my question about Kang's insta-win power lol...

@S0kun said:
12. @Glockoma [Official Forums]
Question: Where’s this game heading? Passive has to be trumped by previous passive. Active has to have a passive component to nullify the previous passive. QoL aside, what mission distances the game from the rabbit hole the previous developers failed upon?

Answer: We've been having a lot of discussion about that, and what a lot of it comes down to is "speed meta". Whenever we open up the game to a non-speed related gameplay, creativity opens up from the player base. PVP is 100% speed meta. PVE is as well if you're after T10. But events like Boss Battles and Puzzle Ops we suddenly see people taking their time and having novel solutions to gameplay, AND opening up their rosters. That's not to say that speed isn't fun. It is! But it results in a specific metagame and roster that runs counter to much of what Puzzle Quest should be, and it's something we're actively discussing how to tackle.

If you're trying to get away from "speed meta", then why did you guys give Kang an insta-win via his Away power?

Not mutually exclusive, and fixing speed meta isn't a silver bullet "just change this" thing anyway. Sure, alternate win conditions CAN make things faster when you can manufacture that condition. But it doesn't mean that this win condition means that speed meta is now more locked in.

It's gonna get worse when supports become easier to level. Everyone will be able to access level 5 supports and one-turn wins will be more common. The speed meta will become speedier.

Not saying that the changes to support is bad, it definitely is a welcome change. But you can't deny that the current point system and placement rewards will always force players to gravitate towards speed metas. If you really wanna move away from this, you need to address this flawed system in pve.

Mrcl25 · March 2023

@Bzhai said:

@IceIX said:

@justsing said:
Well, the devs totally ignored my question about Kang's insta-win power lol...

@S0kun said:
12. @Glockoma [Official Forums]
Question: Where’s this game heading? Passive has to be trumped by previous passive. Active has to have a passive component to nullify the previous passive. QoL aside, what mission distances the game from the rabbit hole the previous developers failed upon?

Answer: We've been having a lot of discussion about that, and what a lot of it comes down to is "speed meta". Whenever we open up the game to a non-speed related gameplay, creativity opens up from the player base. PVP is 100% speed meta. PVE is as well if you're after T10. But events like Boss Battles and Puzzle Ops we suddenly see people taking their time and having novel solutions to gameplay, AND opening up their rosters. That's not to say that speed isn't fun. It is! But it results in a specific metagame and roster that runs counter to much of what Puzzle Quest should be, and it's something we're actively discussing how to tackle.

If you're trying to get away from "speed meta", then why did you guys give Kang an insta-win via his Away power?

Not mutually exclusive, and fixing speed meta isn't a silver bullet "just change this" thing anyway. Sure, alternate win conditions CAN make things faster when you can manufacture that condition. But it doesn't mean that this win condition means that speed meta is now more locked in.

It's gonna get worse when supports become easier to level. Everyone will be able to access level 5 supports and one-turn wins will be more common. The speed meta will become speedier.

Not saying that the changes to support is bad, it definitely is a welcome change. But you can't deny that the current point system and placement rewards will always force players to gravitate towards speed metas. If you really wanna move away from this, you need to address this flawed system in pve.

My question "Why can't PVE rewards, both individual and for the alliance, be distributed by progression only, like in boss events? Let the more competitive part of the game to PVP." wasn't answered, so probably they have nothing to say about that subject at this time.

MPQ Developer Q&A February & March 2023 (ANSWERS)

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