NEW FEATURE - Auto-Fire Abilities!

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Comments

  • entrailbucket
    entrailbucket Posts: 5,822 Chairperson of the Boards

    @LavaManLee said:

    @entrailbucket said:
    Why is it suddenly something so horrible that they've allowed the AI to take over casting powers? Isn't autoplay what everyone wants?

    If it isn't, why does everyone exclusively use autoplay teams?

    Because this isn't autoplay. It's autofire. I could understand autoplay. Lots of other mobile games (like Marvel Strike Force) have autoplay.

    Autofire is kind of the worst of both. You still have to play but then the AI decides when to fire. I honestly think NOBODY was asking for that. I think newbies were asking for actual auto play which is very common in other mobile games.

    So the problem is that this doesn't go far enough? I didn't get that from the other comments.

  • Bowgentle
    Bowgentle Posts: 7,926 Chairperson of the Boards

    @entrailbucket said:

    @LavaManLee said:

    @entrailbucket said:
    Why is it suddenly something so horrible that they've allowed the AI to take over casting powers? Isn't autoplay what everyone wants?

    If it isn't, why does everyone exclusively use autoplay teams?

    Because this isn't autoplay. It's autofire. I could understand autoplay. Lots of other mobile games (like Marvel Strike Force) have autoplay.

    Autofire is kind of the worst of both. You still have to play but then the AI decides when to fire. I honestly think NOBODY was asking for that. I think newbies were asking for actual auto play which is very common in other mobile games.

    So the problem is that this doesn't go far enough? I didn't get that from the other comments.

    Yes.
    Autoplay would be nice for DDQ.

  • IceIX
    IceIX ADMINISTRATORS Posts: 4,322 Site Admin

    @Seph1roth5 said:
    Well, it's optional so it really doesn't affect most players lol. I can't see ever using it, but again, not really affecting me. The only thing I'd change is to have it turned off by default. I don't have it yet on ios but it sounds like it's on by default?

    I can see new players starting mpq and getting annoyed by having no control over their powers. Most will probably check the options to see **** is going on but some will probably leave because of it.

    It's on for new players in R286, anyone that started before then has it off by default.

    And it's possible that it could be detrimental to players starting the game! In that case, we'd turn it off by default there too. But time after time from a large contingent of testers and players that are outside of the more "core" (not hardcore!) demographic is that they forget to fire abilities, or can't keep track of them, or just can't be bothered to fiddle with it all and the battles just get longer and longer till they give up playing. So yes, possible, but we're thinking it's unlikely that that'll be the case.

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

    @IceIX said:
    To put it simply, this feature sets the AI to fire your abilities exactly how it would work for the AI opponent. So "all priorities plus edge and corner cases" are already pretty well known.

    W-why?!?!?

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

    Oh, new players, OK.

  • sambrookjm
    sambrookjm Posts: 2,163 Chairperson of the Boards

    Look on the bright side - Having this set will make it a lot easier to get the "Use a Team-Up" daily quest! The AI just fired off an Apoc "Forged in Fire" after Omega Red auto-fired his yellow in the 3-star DDQ node.

    It also fired Omega-3's red rather than Deadpool's. I didn't get to earn 14 purple, so I don't know if Deadpool or Scarlet Witch's 14 AP Purple would take priority.

  • TheXMan
    TheXMan Posts: 177 Tile Toppler

    Maybe they can also have it auto-spend iso, CP, apply covers, etc? I feel that is the complexity of the game, not matching colors and using powers

  • entrailbucket
    entrailbucket Posts: 5,822 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited September 2023

    If you have a red ability that costs 8 and one that costs 9, and 8 red AP, the AI will roll every turn to determine whether he fires the 8AP ability or waits. I believe the roll isn't weighted, but it probably wouldn't matter much if it was.

    Autoplay-optimized teams will avoid this kind of problem by making sure there's only one active power per color.

  • dianetics
    dianetics Posts: 1,641 Chairperson of the Boards

    This is a good feature for new players.
    This is a complex game, and most of the 1-3* characters rely on active powers.
    If the new player does not turn this feature off, they will not turn off animations either. Over a period of time they will learn to fire powers when they have to.
    Also, it is something that can be turned off. It does not affect me and may help new customer retention. So anything that gives more options to players is a welcome addition.

  • allen_koholic
    allen_koholic Posts: 103 Tile Toppler

    @jsmjsmjsm00 said:
    Outrageous that people are flipping their lid over an optional feature clearly meant to assist the learning curve of new players.

    This forum simultaneously complains about lack of engagement by the devs while also verbally berating the devs for virtually every decision they make.

    Well, it’s a pretty bad idea all around that will probably lead to more complaining and less satisfaction from new players.

    And it also means that at least one person spent time doing this that could have been better spent either fixing Chasm. Or fixing the TU issue. Or fixing the other powers that don’t work as intended. Or fixing the challenge issues. Or making new events. Or balancing other broken characters…

  • BriMan2222
    BriMan2222 Posts: 1,287 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited September 2023

    Now, you can be even less engaged with the game while you binge netflix!

  • entrailbucket
    entrailbucket Posts: 5,822 Chairperson of the Boards

    @BriMan2222 said:

    Now, you can be even less engaged with the game while you binge netflix!

    Kinda where I'm at. I think it's really bad for the game to make it even more automatic/easier to play/easier to not pay attention and trivially win, but I know that's what basically everyone else wants, so it seems obvious it'll keep happening.

    It would be nice if it went back to a game where you had to strategically match tiles and cast powers to win, but nobody wants that. All the players want one-move or zero-move fights, and teams that play themselves.

  • will7612
    will7612 Posts: 99 Match Maker

    @ThisisClemFandango said:
    In the heat of battle....

    "Hit monkey! down chasm! his health is low enough to take him out"
    "I did 2 rounds ago"
    "He wasn't below 30% health 2 rounds ago"
    "I know I got excited"
    OK brockosauras cast the power that targets when enemies are below a certain health"
    "I did it when hit monkey did"
    "You are both so fired when we get back to the helicarrier"

    I could satirise this all day but I think I've made my point.

    hahahahahaha, you made my day!!!!
    Totally agree!!!!!, and the Devs are fired along!!!!!

  • Blackstone
    Blackstone Posts: 603 Critical Contributor

    People complaining about people complaining about this new feature is weird.

    It's a feature meant for people that aren't really here on the forum.

    Meanwhile, things requested here on this forum aren't happening... Presumedly because they were working on this auto fire feature no one here was expecting.

    It makes total sense for this to catch people off guard and receive complaints.

    I don't like it... It can't possibly make the gameplay experience better... But it's not aimed at me... Apparently it's aimed at players who only want to make matches and have no further thought put into the game. Great for them, I guess.

    When MPQ adds a feature I really like, but it's hated by that same group, that group will have the same opportunity to complain about it while I celebrate whatever new feature I just got.

    But telling people they don't get to express their discontent over such an obviously horrible (from the point of view of the player that understands AI will not use powers optimally) feature is ridiculous.

    If you have a different opinion, just state your opinion. Give a counter argument for why it could be great. But there are rational reasons for people to react negatively.

    Once the shock wears off I'm sure most of us will just have it set to off, but various reasons sure still be expected.

  • Seph1roth5
    Seph1roth5 Posts: 426 Mover and Shaker

    @IceIX said:
    It's on for new players in R286, anyone that started before then has it off by default.

    Neat. Also I've been thinking of what team I'd use this on and I thought of one lol. Polaris/mthor/chasm. Chasm wants all that AP gone, and, while I generally save mthor's yellow for last, it's fine if all of those get fired asap.

  • Daredevil217
    Daredevil217 Posts: 3,966 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited September 2023

    @Blackstone said:
    People complaining about people complaining about this new feature is weird.

    It's a feature meant for people that aren't really here on the forum.

    Meanwhile, things requested here on this forum aren't happening... Presumedly because they were working on this auto fire feature no one here was expecting.

    It makes total sense for this to catch people off guard and receive complaints.

    I don't like it... It can't possibly make the gameplay experience better... But it's not aimed at me... Apparently it's aimed at players who only want to make matches and have no further thought put into the game. Great for them, I guess.

    When MPQ adds a feature I really like, but it's hated by that same group, that group will have the same opportunity to complain about it while I celebrate whatever new feature I just got.

    But telling people they don't get to express their discontent over such an obviously horrible (from the point of view of the player that understands AI will not use powers optimally) feature is ridiculous.

    If you have a different opinion, just state your opinion. Give a counter argument for why it could be great. But there are rational reasons for people to react negatively.

    Once the shock wears off I'm sure most of us will just have it set to off, but various reasons sure still be expected.

    I strongly disagree with this. This wasn’t for you and you have the option to turn it off. In fact, it is already off, so it does ZERO to impact your gameplay.

    A lot of folks in here are complaining that the person at the table next to them ordered a salad and they HATE salad. That’s weird to me and deserves to be called out as such. No one is forcing you to eat the salad that the person ordered.

    Now if you’re complaining at the amount of time it’s taking to get your steak (Chasm nerf), baked potato (ability to rearrange saved teams) and dessert (Daredevil buff)… that makes sense. But my guess is that different chefs are preparing those meals and even if they aren’t, the restaurant is not going to stop taking the time to make salads just because you personally despise them. It would be a dumb financial move to not try to cater to new customers. My guess is that despite how many complaints the people here make to the manager, they are still going to be eating here tomorrow, same as yesterday.

    The initial vitriol I get. Once the developers explained the why and that this was asked for… not so much.

  • Vhailorx
    Vhailorx Posts: 6,085 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited September 2023

    I can see some use cases for basic programming tools that would let the player set certain abilities to fire on certain conditions, just to speed up play when grinding out the 50-60 matches a day the game wants you to play.

    But I cannot see any scenario where I want my characters to play like the ai (which, as we like to point out frequently, is dumber than a sack of rocks).

    Maybe this is a useful feature for new players insofar as it (1) reminds them that abilities are a thing, and (2) teaches them to learn how to use the menus to disable auto-fire and animations?

    Hard to see it as anything but a waste of dev time though.

  • entrailbucket
    entrailbucket Posts: 5,822 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited September 2023

    Just bring a team that has no power overlap. Something like Apocalypse/BRB only benefits from having this on. With supports on board, plus boosts, that's an even faster PvE team than it is now.

    The time savings is probably pretty significant, especially in PvE. I have a feeling that if you want to win a PvE, starting in the next week or so, you'll need an autoplay-optimized team.

  • DrClever
    DrClever Posts: 584 Critical Contributor

    Lot of negativity here, but I think there might be quite an amusing forum thread of the most inane and annoying things we can get this to do so don't write it off just because it's the equivalent of pre-chewed food for the slack of jaw.