Are we not having SHIELD SIM this season then?

DAZ0273
DAZ0273 Posts: 10,275 Chairperson of the Boards
in MPQ General Discussion

I mean fine with me. I hate that thing but shouldn't it be up by now? I see MRRR the adorable Shark PvP is there so presumably the Season has started?

Comments

  • AlexR
    AlexR Posts: 453 Mover and Shaker
    edited April 2023

    It does look super weird, but I think I've seen these floating first-Season-pvps-without-the-season before so I'm holding off on being too concerned for now. The pvp hasn't actually started yet. The first slice starts in 4hours; I'm hoping guessing that's when Shield Sim and the respective Season might suddenly show up out of nowhere.

  • Phumade
    Phumade Posts: 2,496 Chairperson of the Boards

    usually you have to wait a few hours before all the season boards are in sync. Its all tied to how they setup the season tracking daemons serverside. At this point its all legacy code, and no one wants to risk a tinykitty in a season event.

  • DevpoolMPQ_BCS
    DevpoolMPQ_BCS ADMINISTRATORS Posts: 136 Tile Toppler

    It's an interesting presentation quirk of the game, but the accompanying season events don't make an appearance until the PVP season goes live.

  • DAZ0273
    DAZ0273 Posts: 10,275 Chairperson of the Boards

    Cool thanks @DevpoolMPQ_BCS.

    I mean...Bah SHIELD SIM, I hate that guy!

  • DevpoolMPQ_BCS
    DevpoolMPQ_BCS ADMINISTRATORS Posts: 136 Tile Toppler

    @DevpoolMPQ_BCS said:
    It's an interesting presentation quirk of the game, but the accompanying season events don't make an appearance until the PVP season goes live.

    hahahaha!

  • DAZ0273
    DAZ0273 Posts: 10,275 Chairperson of the Boards

    Is this a good place to ask whether SHIELD SIM might ever get changed to be...uhm...less annoying? At least to some people. Not me obviously. Heh.

  • DevpoolMPQ_BCS
    DevpoolMPQ_BCS ADMINISTRATORS Posts: 136 Tile Toppler

    It's a great place to ask. I don't have a great answer at the present for you, though, as there does not currently exist a design or plan by which to change it. I'm all ears as to what our players might like to see in an overhaul!

  • WilliamK1983
    WilliamK1983 Posts: 978 Critical Contributor
    edited April 2023

    Would be a great place to have a classic legends token as part of the reward structure. Replace the heroic at 32 wins, then bump the classic down to win 40 or 45, and move the unchanged rewards up accordingly.

    If there was ever to be a recurring classic legends token, this is the place to do it imo.

    Edit: forgot there is one in vip now, so the above would be for a classic not behind a pay wall.

  • DAZ0273
    DAZ0273 Posts: 10,275 Chairperson of the Boards

    Thank you DevpoolMPQ

    So...SHIELD SIM...

    The best experience I have had with it was when it was ran in truncated seasons. The problem with it is that pretty much every single season about half way through or even earlier it becomes blocked up wall to wall with the same defensive teams. This is not a Chasm thing. This goes way back to when it was a Kitty + Rocket/Groot thing and probably before then. It is simply not an enjoyable experience and it lasts basically most of a month.

    I won't pretend to know the cure but possibly uncoupling it from Season scores might help? Players might be incentivised to try out different teams not needing to protect points scores which would hopefully open up the whole thing and make it more fun. Sure, some players will always play the meta no matter what but they would no longer feel they had to.

    Improving rewards would help a lot too. The comparative ease in which you can get 4* covers compared to SHIELD SIM makes it one of the least rewarding efforts in the game. I can get a 4* cover from the Spicy vault multiple times per month with nowhere even close to the effort needed to slog through SHIELD SIM.

    I feel it is the one area of the game where you really could go wild. Everybody has to rely on their roster, no boosts, no brackets to snipe, I imagine little co-ordination, so it might be a place to try out gimmicks or themes? Maybe during Power season you score bonus points for dealing high damage. Mind season you get extra for match 4 and above. Time season it is speed of winning a match.

    Superpet SIM!! Thank you for Jeff by the way!!!

    Maybe all of this is not remotely possible but it feels the one area of MPQ that really is very stale. Possibly that is just me.I think I would welcome nearly any change truth be told.

    Anyway thank you for giving the opportunity for feedback. 😀😀

  • Scofie
    Scofie GLOBAL_MODERATORS Posts: 1,365 Chairperson of the Boards

    Mod mode off

    Some great ideas there @DAZ0273 ! Love the idea of the SIM being themed to the Stones. Perhaps take off points deductions for defensive losses to deal with the variety issue.

    Not really on board with Pet SIM though! Don't think I could face a month of Jeff/Lokigator/Throg. But on that theme, some sort of Affiliation battles might be fun: Technologist War. Or Heroes v Villains so you can only pick from the opposite side (which coincidentally prevents ChaHulk being a thing for a whole month).

    Perhaps add SCL for SIM rewards so they are roster appropriate?

  • Ed_Dragonrider
    Ed_Dragonrider Posts: 593 Critical Contributor

    I agree fully with this being the least rewarding for all the aggravation it causes. An update to the rewards is well over due to say the least. Playing at scl 10 and we get 9 covers for 2*s! The farms are doing great thanks, but it's not very enticing is it?

    How about giving generic shards instead? (Like 50 shards, to whatever 3* you have faved. 25 for your 4*. 10 for a 5* or whatever). It would allow more targeting.
    How about throwing in a support token or two? Or support shards. (For when supports become an actual thing)

    I've read in quite a few places recently that you're looking into updating the game economy, like the iso-pit, and that there will be new support stuff with shards even. The sim would be a pretty good place to start (and get all the feedback you could want) as there is more then enough time to complete it.

    I think it would also be really cool if you were fully locked out after reaching the last reward. As in no loosing points after that. Whether you reach 50 wins with 800 points or 400, you can't loose them in the last two weeks, waiting for the season to end. I've lost more points in day then I was able to earn in an entire pvp event, and for overall season placing that is horrible. But slogging through the endless meta, without even anything to earn for it, is just soul-destroying.

  • DAZ0273
    DAZ0273 Posts: 10,275 Chairperson of the Boards

    @Scofie said:
    Mod mode off

    Some great ideas there @DAZ0273 ! Love the idea of the SIM being themed to the Stones. Perhaps take off points deductions for defensive losses to deal with the variety issue.

    Not really on board with Pet SIM though! Don't think I could face a month of Jeff/Lokigator/Throg. But on that theme, some sort of Affiliation battles might be fun: Technologist War. Or Heroes v Villains so you can only pick from the opposite side (which coincidentally prevents ChaHulk being a thing for a whole month).

    Perhaps add SCL for SIM rewards so they are roster appropriate?

    Ha ha, yeah you might be right on the pets!

    I love the Affiliation battles idea and heroes Vs villains. We are always complaining how most of our rosters are useless so why not make them relevant.

  • AlexR
    AlexR Posts: 453 Mover and Shaker

    I always loved Shield Sim as a testing ground for random 4* teams. I'm now in single-5* mmr, which means I see single-5* champ teams in Shield Sim that are too difficult for random low tier 4* teams to beat. So, I effectively lost my 4* testing grounds. I really, really badly miss it. :disappointed:

    Sure, once you hit that wall of meta teams, it stop being fun and experimentation is done for the month. But the new season bringing a fresh new Shield Sim for testing was always the thing I've looked forward to the most about a new season tbh.

    Can we get a place for team testing? Pretty please?

  • Phumade
    Phumade Posts: 2,496 Chairperson of the Boards

    @Ed_Dragonrider said:

    I think it would also be really cool if you were fully locked out after reaching the last reward. As in no loosing points after that. Whether you reach 50 wins with 800 points or 400, you can't loose them in the last two weeks, waiting for the season to end. I've lost more points in day then I was able to earn in an entire pvp event, and for overall season placing that is horrible. But slogging through the endless meta, without even anything to earn for it, is just soul-destroying.

    The Fundamental question is whether to split Shield Sim points from season rewards. Currently prizes are already awarded IMMEDIATELY in Shield Sim, so the points issues is irrelevant. Whether you win the top prize with 50 wins on Day 1 or by hitting 30-75 pointers on the next to last day, its given immediately and you can't lose it once you win it.

    So of course the only reason people play past the final reward is to pump/ protect season placements. At that point player behavior is goverened by the "ELO ranking rules / MMR algorhythm" which is pretty well understood and evaluated. There are fundamental questions about whether a season reward should just be the events with no season long component or maybe even a more fundamental rework?

  • Mrcl25
    Mrcl25 Posts: 138 Tile Toppler

    @DevpoolMPQ_BCS said:
    It's a great place to ask. I don't have a great answer at the present for you, though, as there does not currently exist a design or plan by which to change it. I'm all ears as to what our players might like to see in an overhaul!

    Also, where are the special offseason events, like Balance of Power, Combined Arms, etc.?

  • Punisher5784
    Punisher5784 Posts: 3,845 Chairperson of the Boards

    @Mrcl25 said:

    @DevpoolMPQ_BCS said:
    It's a great place to ask. I don't have a great answer at the present for you, though, as there does not currently exist a design or plan by which to change it. I'm all ears as to what our players might like to see in an overhaul!

    Also, where are the special offseason events, like Balance of Power, Combined Arms, etc.?

    For the softcapped 5* rosters, every 3* PvP is Combined Arms lol

    I do miss the special off-season events too

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