MPQ Developer Q&A August 2024 (ANSWERS)

bluewolf

@Scofie said:
Mod mode off
I agree with @Theghouse above. The issue with putting up a dashboard for the game engine replacement is, I'd imagine, a bit too close to setting expectations that may critically affect players choices in the short term. Example: if I'm a bit bored of the game and I know somethings coming in 6 months, I may decide to take a rest and come back and see the shiny new events in a while. Or not buy the VIP for a while. Player engagement is really important and those that walk away because 6 months is too long may never come back. The other thing is it invites armchair criticism about pace, delays etc. If you hit the date, nobody notices or gets excited. If you miss one: 🔥 and disappointment. The feeders being obvious examples of this. I'm genuinely curious as to whether this is a parallel build and migration to the new engine or an incremental replacement of modules. I expect the former, and know from experience the number of niggles, edge cases and bugs that come out of the woodwork at the last minute, so it's really important that everything is tested to within an inch of its life. Because if it falls over, the impact on the game could be very bad indeed.

Stating the obvious, this engine overhaul is complex, risky and expensive in terms of dev time. They're not doing it for fun, just to make the game as good as it can be and allow them to create a better game for everyone. I don't think they need any more pressure to do that.

Well, it was just an idea. The FAQ concept would be nice. Or just a list of improvements they plan on without the dashboard. Then we could have discussions about those and what we might want to see.

dianetics

@entrailbucket said:

@dianetics said:

@leviticuschom said:
There was a time when I was excited to read these and get a sense of direction for MPQ and maybe enjoy a nugget of things to come. I appreciate that they still do this, but feels like there were 35 questions "We can't do much about anything until the new engine". And it's a real bummer knowing that the goal posts for that keeps moving.

And the changes that don't hinge on the engine aren't a priority. making iso8 more available, 3* dilution being addressed? rebalances? fresh lightning rounds? smooth out intro fights (spider silk), maybe a new loading screen, readability, milestones. Even the Deadpool celebration was completely routine and overhyped.

As a long time player and consumer, this game is stale - and getting directionless. Matches take longer than ever, I'm feeling pushed out of PVP, and my patience for basic UI/UX improvements is about done.

I made a thread about this about a month ago and got told to take a break.

Glad I’m not the only one feeling this.

LOL, you are absolutely not the only one feeling this!

Among competitive players with some level of tenure, at least the ones I've spoken to, over a period of many years, this isn't JUST a majority of players, this is the attitude of probably 95% of them, if not more.

I'll go further -- if you're a competitive player with some amount of tenure, and you DON'T think this, you're weird and other folks will think there's something wrong with you.

I am sure you are right. My thread responses were very different though.

Devs chimed in FAST AS HELL and the community held water later.

I just want to know th direction of the game, and I’m happy to see I’m not the only one in this boat.

entrailbucket

@dianetics said:

@entrailbucket said:

@dianetics said:

@leviticuschom said:
There was a time when I was excited to read these and get a sense of direction for MPQ and maybe enjoy a nugget of things to come. I appreciate that they still do this, but feels like there were 35 questions "We can't do much about anything until the new engine". And it's a real bummer knowing that the goal posts for that keeps moving.

And the changes that don't hinge on the engine aren't a priority. making iso8 more available, 3* dilution being addressed? rebalances? fresh lightning rounds? smooth out intro fights (spider silk), maybe a new loading screen, readability, milestones. Even the Deadpool celebration was completely routine and overhyped.

As a long time player and consumer, this game is stale - and getting directionless. Matches take longer than ever, I'm feeling pushed out of PVP, and my patience for basic UI/UX improvements is about done.

I made a thread about this about a month ago and got told to take a break.

Glad I’m not the only one feeling this.

LOL, you are absolutely not the only one feeling this!

Among competitive players with some level of tenure, at least the ones I've spoken to, over a period of many years, this isn't JUST a majority of players, this is the attitude of probably 95% of them, if not more.

I'll go further -- if you're a competitive player with some amount of tenure, and you DON'T think this, you're weird and other folks will think there's something wrong with you.

I am sure you are right. My thread responses were very different though.

Devs chimed in FAST AS HELL and the community held water later.

I just want to know th direction of the game, and I’m happy to see I’m not the only one in this boat.

I think I was one of the ones who held water (sorta).

I just think, at this point, the game kinda is what it is. If you're bored or burnt out, and holding out for some change that'll get you excited again, and it's not the sort of thing they typically do, then maybe that's a you problem and not a game problem.

I'm not bored or burnt out, and I still enjoy playing MPQ (mostly because I engage with it only in ways that I find fun). If it ever became tedious to me, or stopped being fun, I'd walk immediately and never look back.

dianetics

@entrailbucket said:
I think I was one of the ones who held water (sorta).

I just think, at this point, the game kinda is what it is. If you're bored or burnt out, and holding out for some change that'll get you excited again, and it's not the sort of thing they typically do, then maybe that's a you problem and not a game problem.

I'm not bored or burnt out, and I still enjoy playing MPQ (mostly because I engage with it only in ways that I find fun). If it ever became tedious to me, or stopped being fun, I'd walk immediately and never look back.

Maybe, seems unlikely to me since normally I feel mostly in agreement with you. But, I'm too lazy to go look, and that really doesn't matter to me.
I grind everything in real life and online its just my thing. I just feel less rewarded for the same work in mpq now and pvp does not want me to compete
.
The "after the engine update" meme seemed to permeate the forums after my thread, and now it seems like basically everything is now after the engine update.

So, don't expect changes for 6-12 months. I'm going back to my hole now and who knows what changes will come since the devs wont tell us

Scofie

@bluewolf said:

@Scofie said:
Mod mode off
I agree with @Theghouse above. The issue with putting up a dashboard for the game engine replacement is, I'd imagine, a bit too close to setting expectations that may critically affect players choices in the short term. Example: if I'm a bit bored of the game and I know somethings coming in 6 months, I may decide to take a rest and come back and see the shiny new events in a while. Or not buy the VIP for a while. Player engagement is really important and those that walk away because 6 months is too long may never come back. The other thing is it invites armchair criticism about pace, delays etc. If you hit the date, nobody notices or gets excited. If you miss one: 🔥 and disappointment. The feeders being obvious examples of this. I'm genuinely curious as to whether this is a parallel build and migration to the new engine or an incremental replacement of modules. I expect the former, and know from experience the number of niggles, edge cases and bugs that come out of the woodwork at the last minute, so it's really important that everything is tested to within an inch of its life. Because if it falls over, the impact on the game could be very bad indeed.

Stating the obvious, this engine overhaul is complex, risky and expensive in terms of dev time. They're not doing it for fun, just to make the game as good as it can be and allow them to create a better game for everyone. I don't think they need any more pressure to do that.

Well, it was just an idea. The FAQ concept would be nice. Or just a list of improvements they plan on without the dashboard. Then we could have discussions about those and what we might want to see.

Sorry, my post wasn't supposed to sound critical of the idea (though entirely understand it may have come across that way!). I think the things that the new engine will enable have been discussed largely already, but I agree there would be real value in an outline of a plan like:

• • change up the node enemies for 2 events a month
• • release a new event every 3 months
• • do "X" QoL improvement within 3 months
    and so on.
    I agree that would be good to see and not overly burdensome or expectation heavy.

Theghouse

@dianetics said:

@entrailbucket said:
I think I was one of the ones who held water (sorta).

I just think, at this point, the game kinda is what it is. If you're bored or burnt out, and holding out for some change that'll get you excited again, and it's not the sort of thing they typically do, then maybe that's a you problem and not a game problem.

I'm not bored or burnt out, and I still enjoy playing MPQ (mostly because I engage with it only in ways that I find fun). If it ever became tedious to me, or stopped being fun, I'd walk immediately and never look back.

Maybe, seems unlikely to me since normally I feel mostly in agreement with you. But, I'm too lazy to go look, and that really doesn't matter to me.
I grind everything in real life and online its just my thing. I just feel less rewarded for the same work in mpq now and pvp does not want me to compete
.
The "after the engine update" meme seemed to permeate the forums after my thread, and now it seems like basically everything is now after the engine update.

So, don't expect changes for 6-12 months. I'm going back to my hole now and who knows what changes will come since the devs wont tell us

There's a lot of pessimism in this topic, and I get it. The MPQ community that is active on forums or in discord or LINE has a lot of grumpy old vets for a mobile game with such an extended lifetime.

But come on, what would be the point of them making a new game engine in the first place, if they aren't seriously interested in doing all the things the community keeps asking for? Would you rather they take time away from building the engine that will allow them to address many community requested features, just to spend a painstakingly inordinate amount of time on one new PVE event or UI change? That's just incredibly short-sighted.

Spending the time and resources on a new game engine is a statement of confidence and investment in the future of the game.

dianetics

@Theghouse said:
There's a lot of pessimism in this topic, and I get it. The MPQ community that is active on forums or in discord or LINE has a lot of grumpy old vets for a mobile game with such an extended lifetime.

But come on, what would be the point of them making a new game engine in the first place, if they aren't seriously interested in doing all the things the community keeps asking for? Would you rather they take time away from building the engine that will allow them to address many community requested features, just to spend a painstakingly inordinate amount of time on one new PVE event or UI change? That's just incredibly short-sighted.

Spending the time and resources on a new game engine is a statement of confidence and investment in the future of the game.

I was going back to my hole and you brought me back.

I will say first I am not grumpy. I have issues that are justified. Dismissing my or any other users opinions as "grumpy" is dismissive and disingenuous. Many people have real problems and issues and discarding them like that does not help anybody.

If you are asking what is the point of the new engine? The developers have repeatedly blamed the current engine for many problems the users have since they took over the game.

So, THEY HAVE TO change the engine...otherwise the game will never be fixed. It is their narrative not the communities.

It is not a statement of confidence, it is their baby to live or die by.

You can hold water for all of these things we can't see. That's fine.

But the truth is that they have not really given or shown us anything to be positive about in quite a long time. They have said many times (go look at the recent answers thread), we expect to do it with the engine update.

Let them answer and stop being the guy that doesn't know anything trying wipe their ****.

Domitronas

I'll just chime in and say there's no way the communication is going to be "fixed" when the new engine is done. I've said it many times and I'll say it again, the first few months once BCS took over I was the most excited about the game I've been in literal years. Devpool was all over the place doing cartwheels for the entertainment of the people, it felt like there was genuine care about the playerbase. Now that's all gone, and I remember some time ago there was a question in the QA about communication and someone brought up this exact same sentiment, and the reply was something like "we don't feel like we're communicating less than before", and that's just disingenious asf. This is my biggest gripe overall, we still have communication that's all over the place across like 6 different channels, why in the hell do I first see info about a new release in a Facebook group out of all placed, we are still getting these watered down answers that don't really answer anything, while everyone sees the obvious problems that never get adressed. When was the last time they threw in an iso multiplier or a canister our way to help with the iso shortage? That takes a new engine too? Or how about the brand new code redemption site, oh wait, hasn't been used since it's release. It just makes me scratch my head sometimes I don't know guys.

Rant over

entrailbucket

@Domitronas said:
I'll just chime in and say there's no way the communication is going to be "fixed" when the new engine is done. I've said it many times and I'll say it again, the first few months once BCS took over I was the most excited about the game I've been in literal years. Devpool was all over the place doing cartwheels for the entertainment of the people, it felt like there was genuine care about the playerbase. Now that's all gone, and I remember some time ago there was a question in the QA about communication and someone brought up this exact same sentiment, and the reply was something like "we don't feel like we're communicating less than before", and that's just disingenious asf. This is my biggest gripe overall, we still have communication that's all over the place across like 6 different channels, why in the hell do I first see info about a new release in a Facebook group out of all placed, we are still getting these watered down answers that don't really answer anything, while everyone sees the obvious problems that never get adressed. When was the last time they threw in an iso multiplier or a canister our way to help with the iso shortage? That takes a new engine too? Or how about the brand new code redemption site, oh wait, hasn't been used since it's release. It just makes me scratch my head sometimes I don't know guys.

Rant over

This is just...how they are. Demiurge was this way. BCS is better, to some degree, but in a lot of ways they're not.

A lot of this stuff seems trivial to address, and they just...don't. I gave up hope a very long time ago. Clearly what they do is working, the game isn't dying at all, so maybe we're just nitpicking.

Either way, I can't get upset about it. I like the game as it is. Could certain things be better? Sure. But I don't need those things to keep me engaged.

If you do (and you are absolutely entitled to feel that way), my question for you is, given all of this history, and the present, what are the realistic chances they'll ever address your concerns? And how long do you plan to wait?

DashBC

I'm credited with Q12, but that's not the question I asked. I asked about the load screen taking longer and longer.

DAZ0273

I meant to mention Q.4 Returnal Shadow - that has to be our old buddy Hound right? Dig at players, mention of Forum yet seemingly never posted here (or have they?!?! Cunning secret identity), loaded question and that trademark stilted English phrasing. Good to see you are still fighting the fight, Houndy!

bluewolf

@DAZ0273 said:
I meant to mention Q.4 Returnal Shadow - that has to be our old buddy Hound right? Dig at players, mention of Forum yet seemingly never posted here (or have they?!?! Cunning secret identity), loaded question and that trademark stilted English phrasing. Good to see you are still fighting the fight, Houndy!

At first I was going to dispute your theory, but then I remembered how many times they’ve irritated me on Reddit.

ThisisClemFandango

@DAZ0273 said:
I meant to mention Q.4 Returnal Shadow - that has to be our old buddy Hound right? Dig at players, mention of Forum yet seemingly never posted here (or have they?!?! Cunning secret identity), loaded question and that trademark stilted English phrasing. Good to see you are still fighting the fight, Houndy!

Nice catch daz, I miss him

"I don't really like this character"
"It's your fault, you're using him wrong"
"Maybe just doesn't do it for me"
"ARE YOU CALLING ME A LIAR? ITS NOT MY FAULT YOU ARE STUPID. MY OPINION REIGNS SUPREME"
"Yeah ok"

Daredevil217

I know I joked about the Magic ISO-8 Ball but they actually did answer my question about as much as one could reasonably expect. I think it’s pretty safe for me to chase Leap Frog (and be part of a meta I hate) since it seems like nerfing is a last resort and not really on the menu. Even if it’s not the answer I’d of wanted I appreciate the transparency because I can make moves accordingly.

Speaking of, when does that thing rotate in? lol.

fight4thedream

@Daredevil217 said:
I know I joked about the Magic ISO-8 Ball but they actually did answer my question about as much as one could reasonably expect. I think it’s pretty safe for me to chase Leap Frog (and be part of a meta I hate) since it seems like nerfing is a last resort and not really on the menu. Even if it’s not the answer I’d of wanted I appreciate the transparency because I can make moves accordingly.

Speaking of, when does that thing rotate in? lol.

While I certainly can understand the frustration with Leap Frog, I think it's part of the solution of keeping turn 0 insta-win abilities from overtaking the PvP meta since it has mechanics that specifically counter high damage abilities.

Players love great offensive abilities (myself included) but strong defensive mechanics will always be less popular since they are designed to hinder a player's ability to win or at least to win quickly.

I do think it's an issue that Mighty Thor seems to be the only viable counter against it though. Maybe they can introduce a new support that removes invisibility tiles?

LavaManLee

Oh look. My question didn't get answered again. Sigh. I sometimes wonder why I spend money on this game. I love playing it so much but am very disappointed at the devs and current direction.

bluewolf

@Daredevil217 said:
I know I joked about the Magic ISO-8 Ball but they actually did answer my question about as much as one could reasonably expect. I think it’s pretty safe for me to chase Leap Frog (and be part of a meta I hate) since it seems like nerfing is a last resort and not really on the menu. Even if it’s not the answer I’d of wanted I appreciate the transparency because I can make moves accordingly.

Speaking of, when does that thing rotate in? lol.

There was dev talk at one point of supports doing different things in pve and pvp. I don’t exactly remember if they ever hinted at maybe barring some from PvP, but I kind of think yes.

I think they should be considering tweaks and modifications to PvP supports, but who knows how hard those are and how likely they are to spend time on them?

Regardless I’d say once you get to a certain point with supports, your next one is only marginally helpful. So go for it either way, worst case is you delay a different one’s advance by like a month and Leapfrog doesn’t help you much. (Note that it’s a defensive support and it’s offensive capability is pretty low, so basically it’s a float enabler, which may or may not be that helpful to your playstyle.)

I think (?) the Leapfrog was last in a pool last month? You’ll know in a week if it’s in the next one. So you either need to wait one week or 5 weeks to open for the chance to pull it. (Let’s not think too hard about the increasing dilution along with the likelihood you just pull dupe 1s or 2s once you have one.)

entrailbucket

@fight4thedream said:

@Daredevil217 said:
I know I joked about the Magic ISO-8 Ball but they actually did answer my question about as much as one could reasonably expect. I think it’s pretty safe for me to chase Leap Frog (and be part of a meta I hate) since it seems like nerfing is a last resort and not really on the menu. Even if it’s not the answer I’d of wanted I appreciate the transparency because I can make moves accordingly.

Speaking of, when does that thing rotate in? lol.

While I certainly can understand the frustration with Leap Frog, I think it's part of the solution of keeping turn 0 insta-win abilities from overtaking the PvP meta since it has mechanics that specifically counter high damage abilities.

Players love great offensive abilities (myself included) but strong defensive mechanics will always be less popular since they are designed to hinder a player's ability to win or at least to win quickly.

I do think it's an issue that Mighty Thor seems to be the only viable counter against it though. Maybe they can introduce a new support that removes invisibility tiles?

It took me awhile, but I figured out some stuff with Leapfrog.

It's critical to remember which enemy is carrying it. Once you kill that guy, any invisibility tiles disappear and anybody who's Away comes back. For whatever reason, I've noticed that players like to put it on the essential. This makes our job way easier.

Another very important one: it can only fire an invisibility or away once per turn. Once one guy goes invisible, and one guy goes away, the other guy is defenseless.

Also, we want it to fire Away whenever possible, because we don't want to deal with the permanent invisibility tiles, and an Away eats two charges instead of of one.

So, if you have high damage turn 0/turn 1 stuff, always target the characters who aren't wearing leapfrog first. That should get you a clear shot at the guy who is, and he won't have any protection.

BriMan2222

Another fun quirk about the leapfrog, it doesn’t differentiate between enemy or self inflicted damage. When 1 star Juggernaut is boosted it can be used to prevent some of the huge self damage and then turn himself invisible. I also have the implanted bomb on my Juggs and on the off chance that you are unable to get a match or fire a power with him for several turns and the bomb goes off, it prevents the bomb from killing him.

Xception81

Speaking of, when does that thing rotate in? lol.

I think (?) the Leapfrog was last in a pool last month? You’ll know in a week if it’s in the next one. So you either need to wait one week or 5 weeks to open for the chance to pull it.

Correct, it’s in Group 2 (my groupings) and we’re currently in Group 3. So it will come back in 5 weeks.