MPQ Developer Q&A March 2024 (ANSWERS)

MPQBlaine

Hey there folks, we've got some answers to your questions for the DEVs hot off the grill! (I need to not be hungry when crafting these.)

1.TwoKrusties [Reddit]
Question: Is there any plans to add Alpha Flight members? The affiliation is in the game, but barely any of the characters. I'd love to see at least Guardian and Sasquatch make it!

Answer: IceIX: Quite possible, but I don't believe we have any planned for the near term.

2.u/Tommygun1886 [Reddit]
Question: Is there a reason, we don’t have info in-game for each toon’s feeders, shards etc? the stats & more page seems the most obvious place to

Answer: Mostly just a UI/UX issue. One of the MANY things on the list post engine update.

3. @Hammer 3001 [Official Forums]
Question: Are you going to create new PVE’s based on classic/modern comic stories such as Days of Future Past or AVX?

Answer: We've got plans for a bit of both. Good thing about creating our take on classic events is that they're already written, so we have an outline. On the other hand, our own original stuff? That's where we can bring in the REAL creativity.

4. @DyingLegend [Official Forums]
Question: How are we looking at some QoL updates mention in the past? Autoplay? ISO relief? Any new and exciting features coming? More milestone? Anything other than the standard response of, " oh just you wait , cool things are coming in 2026"

Answer: Devpool: Something we have alluded to for quite some time now is an engine overhaul that allows for QoL updates to be simpler and more intuitive. We've mentioned in the past that doing something seemingly trivial like adding a button to the UI literally takes several devs weeks of effort - and it's true; it does. That overhaul is what we're waiting on to unlock the ability to make some pretty great sweeping changes and to do so more readily and frequently. That overhaul is in the late stages of development and is starting to undergo full-scale testing. I know it's a bummer to hear that things are on the distant horizon, especially when we all want them now. When we inform the players of things we are working on, the intent is to keep everyone in the know about where the effort is going. Sometimes that effort is huge and spans months or years. Our options are to either keep it to ourselves, or let you all know what we're up to. If all goes according to plan we're looking at an end-of-this-year / early-next-year window in which we'll have the overhaul in place and are leveraging its capabilities. Better than 2026, but of course never soon enough.

5. @slack.gg [Discord]
Question: Is there any chance we can get a Sort option for "Number of Saved Covers" filter, pretty please?

Answer: Sounds like a reasonable request, we'll add it to our list of potential QoL changes!

6.ReturnalShadow [Reddit]
Question: Some players have been requesting dev to force them to use characters they don't want or don't like to use. They refuse to use them (anytime) out of their own volitions; they would rather wait years for it to happen. What insights do you have?

Answer: IceIX: It's one of those eternal problems. Players say that they want to use a varied roster, but any time a Heroic comes in or an event takes them out of the Polaris/Grocket or Shang Chi comfort zone, a very loud portion screams "But not like THAT!" That being said, more varied events outside of Boss Battle Heroics are something we're looking at in the near to mid-term.

7. @UnityGamer [Official Forums]
Question: You have many variants of the same character, each with its own star value. How do you determine its star value: by costume, abilities, cover source? In other words, what makes a variant a 1-star vs. 5-star, possibly an alternate costume?

Answer: Over 10 years, this metric has shifted. The general thought at this point is that 2/3 Stars are "Standard" or "Classic" versions of characters, new 4-Stars are a grab bag but more leaning towards classic, and 5s are powerful versions or characters (Phoenix Force, Herald of Galactus, Venomized, etc)

8. @skittledaddy [Discord]
Question: In honor of the release of the newest 3/5* character, who is the most unexpected character that you personally would like to see added to MPQ?

Answer: IceIX: Forbush Man? Or pick any random character out of What The...?!

9. @Blzzrd5 [Official Forums]
Question: Can a filter or search (or both) be added to giving team ups? It takes a 'million' clicks to get to 1* MBW team ups. Thanks!

Answer: IceIX: Oof, yeah. The Team Up donating UI needs some love. It's actually still using the pre-update UI style from years ago. It's toward the top of the list for a revamp, but what we'd actually like to do is make that part of more of a general Alliance update than simply just fixing one UI screen.

10. @Spidey300 [Discord]
Question: With the iso-8 desert expanding for many players due to ascension and the 3/5-4 release schedule, what solutions or adjustments to the game economy has the team considered? Maybe expanding LRs to at least M-F & more frequent 2x iso?.

Answer: We're slowly crawling through a wholesale currency inflow and outflow check, which is going to be a bit more comprehensive. Iso is definitely included in this. In the near term, we've got a new feature that some players may be interested in that could help, but it's by no means "the solution". Stay tuned!

11. @leviticuschoms [Official Forums]
Question: Love the uptick in rebalances this March, change in cadence? could we see more batch affiliated rebalances like the Runaways?

Answer: It's possible. Pure numbers rebalances like what occurred with the Runaways is much easier than things that change any kinds of mechanics, which are what you see on a single character monthly basis. Honestly, we'd LOVE to go through and do a full on runthrough of all the lower characters to bring them up to par. It's just a matter of making the time, and deciding which characters just need some numbers tweaks and which absolutely NEED a design update.

12. @PiMacleod [Official Forums]
Question: Can we have the 7 Day PvE events split into two parts, in order to see those stories rejoin MPQ rotation? EX: The Hulk, pt 1 & pt 2. Prodigal Sun, pt 1 & pt 2. Enemy of the State, pt 1 & pt 2.

Answer: We've talked about doing exactly that, and it turns out it's harder than it seems. A lot of the older events had a lot hardcoded, and this includes some timings. We'd pretty much have to rebuild the events from scratch at this point (using the old stuff as data). Certainly not impossible, but takes a bit of time.

13. @Carnifex [Official Forums]
Question: Is there a reason why some PVE events have been run multiple times in quick succession over the last couple of months? E.g. Cosmic Chaos. Since the return of the 7 days PVE, they have only been ran once? Will this formula be mixed up soon? Thanks

Answer: IceIX: It will be, yes. A mix of a bit of a tools hiccup and the tools themselves trying to "even things up" resulted in a couple events getting run a bit more often than normal. Really, we just need MORE events to space things out more. See above with the idea of splitting out the 7 days into two events (or at least making them into 3/4 days) to get them into rotation. That's 5 more right there.

14. @captainheath [Official Forums]
Question: Since there are a lot of boss events and we end up playing the same PVE events over and over, could we please have boss events every two weeks? (One for newer 5 and one for older 5.)

Answer: Interesting thought. We're planning on doing some new PVE events, as well as ressurrecting the ones that haven't been used in a long while (like the 7 days, but more playable), but that could be a bit of a fun change in any case. We'll discuss!

15. @Tony footlong [Official Forums]
Question: When I select fights in PvP I cannot see the stats of these new boosted ascended characters so going into a match is a complete unknown. Can you fix this so I can view how hard I’m going to be hit before starting the match?

Answer: We are working on it, and have frankly been working on it for some time now. We're having some trouble in tracking down precisely where the misinformation is being passed to you when the PVP fight is populated, and when we get any headway on it it seems we're forced to focus efforts elsewhere. Progress has been made on this, though. I'll personally check in on putting this to bed.

16. @Turbomoose [Official Forums]
Question: With the ascended character now making loads of new 4s and 5s the SCL system could do with updating. Are there plans to change this soon SCL 10 must be getting overloaded now as it’s been years since a new SCL was introduced

Answer: IceIX: Not as much as you'd think? There has been a growth of players from SCL 9 to 10, but players as a whole are pretty comfortable living on SCL 7, 8, and 9 for a long while. Absolutely not ruling out additional SCLs, but it's not on our near or midterm radar.

17. @Mr_F & kenbenobi [Official Forums]
Question: Can we have a feature to lock essential character? Like when I want to use loaner I pick it and it stays every fight till I change it manually.

Answer: Right now, not so much. The way that characters are locked or not for positions are pretty hard coded into how they're displayed. That may well change with the upcoming engine updates when we're refactoring things anyway.

18. @Codex [Official Forums]
Question: Can you consider reducing the cooldown timers for team-up by at least 50%?

Answer: IceIX: We'll consider it. Really, Team-Ups should probably only have a nominal CD at this point to just prevent insta-stocking of anything.

19. @Dianetics [Official Forums]
Question: Implanted Bomb is a really cool and interesting support. How many times has it downed the villain it is equipped to since its release?

Answer: Less than 1% of matches where it's used. Players are pretty motivated to use the characters they have it equipped on.

20. @Scofie [Official Forums]
Question: Are there immediate plans to update the rewards for both the S.H.I.E.L.D. Simulator and Season rewards. At the moment, I can finish in the 11th percentile of a 28 day session and get 3 tokens and 45HP and some R/Iso. Sim rewards also not comparable.

Answer: Not immediate plans, no. But we are in the midst of an overall look at economy and what various prizes come from where. That also includes Iso, which is woefully underprovided at mid-ranks.

21.SnooCupcakes2289 [Reddit]
Question: do you plan to add more 1-star characters? they are finally useful with the ascension system.

Answer: 2-Stars are more likely, but we're certainly not averse to more 1-Stars!

22. @theillusionist [Official Forums]
Question: Ascension destroyed the sanctity the game. A 1* character is now more powerful than a 5* character. Will we stop getting overly comlplicated powerset 5* characters that requires a bible to translate? Will you now consider lowering the boost levels?

Answer: IceIX: Sorry, but disagree there. The 1-Stars are balanced with the same values that 5-Stars are balanced with. Now, a character like Juggernaut has less going on in general, so there's more budget towards straight damage, but he's no more overpowered by the numbers than, say, Kamala Khan is OP compared to Silver Surfer. Usage numbers are also bearing this out, with players that have pushed 1s to 550 aren't using 1-Stars more often than home grown 5s. They're another option.

23. @bluewolf19 [Discord]
Question: In the past, we had special off-season PVPs like Combined Arms, Black Vortex,etc. Is there any plan to bring them back or launch similar off season events?

Answer: IceIX: I'd like to see those more often as well, personally. I'll make a note to the events team.

24. @Afallen1 [Official Forums]
Question: Would it be possible for an option to have power animations show one per match? I would definitely use this option!

Answer: Maybe? This would certainly be a good midpoint.

25. @fight4thedream / LOKI2355  [Official Forums]
Question: Will there be any special events to celebrate X-men '97? It would be cool to see an X-men exclusive event battling Sentinels and villains that appeared on the show.

Answer: Not a PVE event, but we will be bringing out some X-Men '97 related costumes.

26. @CASSIDYFROST [Official Forums]
Question: Uncanny SM, Shaw, 3* Phylla, and Sue 4* costume (different from her original art) have beautiful arts because they are simple but very beautiful, whoever the artists are, give them a raise and put them up for create artwork for more characters!

Answer: 3 of those 4 are different artists, we've got a pretty talented team. We'll communicate over the kudos, it'll make their days!

27. @StrangeWitch [Official Forums]
Question: Is the list of characters to be added next year already closed? If not, could you open some forms for Requests of which characters we would like in the game for you to evaluate beyond just the votes?

Answer: We're working on setting up a new community survey that will cover a myriad of topics! We'll share more information soon.

28. @CarnageWing [Official Forums]
Question: Any chance of an "Add all" "Train all" button?? It would be very useful at the moment, especially with several bundles for ascension and so many covers.

Answer: Devpool: I'm not going to lie; when playing, I've asked this question to myself. There's no doubt it would be a huge time saver. I haven't put a ton of time into thinking about this, though, and it's always possible there are some side cases that this implementation would break. Let me think about it! Thanks for bringing it up!

29. @phillsam [Official Forums]
Question: We have Northstar but no Aurora, we have She-Hulk but no Jack Of Hearts, we have Juggernaut but no Black Tom, we have Cable but no Hope Summers, Beast but no Wonder Man, are there any plans for any of these to enter the game?

Answer: IceIX:There are a bunch of A-listers, much less B or C listers that we'd love to hit and get in the game. More Alpha Flight is among those, and some lesser known picks (I'd call Jack of Hearts or Black Tom among those). Not saying that those specific characters are coming soon, but right now our concept for new character releases is more running towards new characters compared to variants.

30. @kleussaroot [Official Forums]
Question: Why does Gambit 5* Stacked Deck have this limitation that your allies cannot use Purple and Red abilities? There are another 52 MUTANTS with abilities in these colors... Couldn't this be changed to something else like Affiliations like "Villains"?

Answer: iceIX: If we were to go back and do a rebalance on Gambit at this point, that would very likely go away. Without the designer that created it in the first place available, it's supposition, but in general, causing restrictions creates more budget for other stuff like damage or AP generation. So the designer decided that such a strong restriction would be necessary to free up the budget for the AP gen that Gambit generates.

Glockoma

So many good questions; but I truly cannot wait for the overhaul of the Alliance Tab.

Chat, search, viewing other players, recruiting, donating….so much in the way of very limited functionality.

It will be bittersweet to update one of the oldest parts of the game, but it’s arguably one of the most important features in which the neglect has led to years of third-party apps to dominate.

(Other apps likely would still be used, but the degree would certainly be different for those not keen on using anything but the game itself.)

Cheers

Godzillafan67

Thanks for the update on the engine overhaul! I was just wondering about it recently and am excited to see what you can do once all of the pieces are in place.

Afallen1

My question got answered! #24 really hope the option gets added. Power animations are great and add a lot to immersion.

Seph1roth5

Didn't answer my Q about 5* power budgets, sad.