Marvel Puzzle Quest R329 Release Notes (Week of September 2, 2025)

DAZ0273

So I guess the game must have auto-updated to R329 coz that is what I have and I didn't do anything. So...uhm...what is different exactly?

Blackstone

@LavaManLee said:
The seed teams are easily beatable by anyone. With any team. I didn't spend time to get 550 characters just to whallop on seed teams. That's boring. I want to go up against teams that pose a bit of a challenge. Yes, I can just beat the seed teams over and over and over again. But "whopp de doo!". That is not fun for me. At all.

So you feel it's beneath you. No wrong answers... Was just curious.

Blackstone

@entrailbucket said:

@Blackstone said:

@LavaManLee said:

@entrailbucket said:

@LavaManLee said:

@Blackstone said:

@Scorpion201 said:
This is ridiculous I keep seeing seeing seed teams even after updating to 329.. this game is D.O.A. Unacceptable

Bright side: it's very easy to get the rewards from those seed teams, and they do run out eventually, which allows you to then earn points from player teams that are still hitting the seed teams with non-meta teams.

It really is a boon with the right perspective.

It's the most acceptable glitch/bug/whatever affecting the game.

But it's actually not fun. Is it really fun to just beat seed teams over and over and over and over again? Personally, I think not.

I hate it. It's horrifically boring.

100% agree.

The thing I don't understand...(I'm not saying you're wrong about saying you're bored with it) ... Is what makes it boring?

The goal for a while now seems to be finding teams that can defeat enemy teams easily within 0-3 turns depending on the meta. There are entire threads devoted to outlining teams/builds/supports that are capable of beating various meta teams as quickly and easily as possible.

In the current State off PVP... That goal is easily obtained.

And everyone else faces the same issues of points earned, being able to find specific targets, etc...

People weren't trying to have difficult fights before this. They were trying to find the answer to making difficult fights winnable faster.

Is it just not as fulfilling because you want to feel powerful when easily beating a meta team and seed teams don't give the same feeling?

Is it a matter of wanting to earn more points per match?

Do the seed teams just feel beneath you and not needing to use the most powerful teams make it feel not worth your time?

Maybe none of these things?

I'm genuinely curious.

PvE is boring and PvE enemies are incredibly weak, for someone like me with a strong roster. PvP is where I get to fight (roughly) equals.

Yes, I want to win those fights quickly. Beating a strong team quickly is satisfying. It's achieving something. Beating a seed team quickly is meaningless. It's PvE. I understand this is a minority opinion, because most players here don't enjoy the match-3 gameplay.

Also, the current state of the game takes metagaming completely off the table. PvP is fun because there's a layer of strategy to it that has nothing to do with winning matches, since everyone wins every match anyway.

I guess that's where I'm finding the fun... Once the seed teams retreat there are a great number of non-meta teams that I can strategize against.

Meta might mean selecting the prescribed best team for 3-4 usual enemy teams, and it can be satisfying to quickly Beat a strong team, but at some point you're no longer strategizing... You're doing what everyone else is doing... repeatedly.

Yes, it would be boring if I continued using my absolute best teams to thrash every sub 550 team I see.. I totally agree.

Which is why I'm not doing that. I adjusted to allow me to strategize, enjoy the match 3 gameplay, and have experiences with new teams, and...... Nevermind.

I just realized I'm saying things you have no interest in hearing. You have your idea of the best way to do something and nothing I say about my experience will change that. I'm not trying to change minds, I'm just trying to understand, and you've answered my question.

I'm sorry you're not able to continue playing within the precise meta defined MMR you became accustomed to. I'm sure it'll turn soon.

entrailbucket

@Blackstone said:

@entrailbucket said:

@Blackstone said:

@LavaManLee said:

@entrailbucket said:

@LavaManLee said:

@Blackstone said:

@Scorpion201 said:
This is ridiculous I keep seeing seeing seed teams even after updating to 329.. this game is D.O.A. Unacceptable

Bright side: it's very easy to get the rewards from those seed teams, and they do run out eventually, which allows you to then earn points from player teams that are still hitting the seed teams with non-meta teams.

It really is a boon with the right perspective.

It's the most acceptable glitch/bug/whatever affecting the game.

But it's actually not fun. Is it really fun to just beat seed teams over and over and over and over again? Personally, I think not.

I hate it. It's horrifically boring.

100% agree.

The thing I don't understand...(I'm not saying you're wrong about saying you're bored with it) ... Is what makes it boring?

The goal for a while now seems to be finding teams that can defeat enemy teams easily within 0-3 turns depending on the meta. There are entire threads devoted to outlining teams/builds/supports that are capable of beating various meta teams as quickly and easily as possible.

In the current State off PVP... That goal is easily obtained.

And everyone else faces the same issues of points earned, being able to find specific targets, etc...

People weren't trying to have difficult fights before this. They were trying to find the answer to making difficult fights winnable faster.

Is it just not as fulfilling because you want to feel powerful when easily beating a meta team and seed teams don't give the same feeling?

Is it a matter of wanting to earn more points per match?

Do the seed teams just feel beneath you and not needing to use the most powerful teams make it feel not worth your time?

Maybe none of these things?

I'm genuinely curious.

PvE is boring and PvE enemies are incredibly weak, for someone like me with a strong roster. PvP is where I get to fight (roughly) equals.

Yes, I want to win those fights quickly. Beating a strong team quickly is satisfying. It's achieving something. Beating a seed team quickly is meaningless. It's PvE. I understand this is a minority opinion, because most players here don't enjoy the match-3 gameplay.

Also, the current state of the game takes metagaming completely off the table. PvP is fun because there's a layer of strategy to it that has nothing to do with winning matches, since everyone wins every match anyway.

I guess that's where I'm finding the fun... Once the seed teams retreat there are a great number of non-meta teams that I can strategize against.

Meta might mean selecting the prescribed best team for 3-4 usual enemy teams, and it can be satisfying to quickly Beat a strong team, but at some point you're no longer strategizing... You're doing what everyone else is doing... repeatedly.

Yes, it would be boring if I continued using my absolute best teams to thrash every sub 550 team I see.. I totally agree.

Which is why I'm not doing that. I adjusted to allow me to strategize, enjoy the match 3 gameplay, and have experiences with new teams, and...... Nevermind.

I just realized I'm saying things you have no interest in hearing. You have your idea of the best way to do something and nothing I say about my experience will change that. I'm not trying to change minds, I'm just trying to understand, and you've answered my question.

I'm sorry you're not able to continue playing within the precise meta defined MMR you became accustomed to. I'm sure it'll turn soon.

Why on earth would you need to strategize against the sorts of teams we're seeing? It's not "strategy" when I can pick any two random characters on my roster and win every fight in two moves.

And oh man who do you think you're talking to? I NEVER use the "meta" teams! All that junk is boring too! Every event I build a boosted team that can win fights against the "meta" guys as fast as possible. Thrashing 550 Juggernaut/Sam or Chasm or m'Thor using Wasp or Ares or Modok or something is the fun part!

When I talk about metagaming I'm not talking about "meta" teams, that's the most basic surface level part of it. I'm talking about stuff like defending your bracket position, dumping, sniping hoppers, targeted point boosting, even stuff like shield hopping itself.

BriMan2222

I do miss the real pvp game as Entrail has described. It's fun to find a good team with synergy from the weekly boosted list and have real battles. With the current broken mmr, strategy doesn't matter at all because every team dies when my characters breath on them.

On the other hand, I do enjoy the massive influx of 1 and 2 star covers which has allowed me to nearly 550 all of my 2a5's and enjoy a giant pile of 5 star rewards.

entrailbucket

Let's try this -- MPQ PvP is not really a match-3 game, or even strictly a PvP game.

It's a survival horror game.

You are competing against others to see how far you can climb a mountain that's full of zombies. The higher you go, the more zombies there are, and the harder they try to drag you back down. You can't see the zombies either -- but you know they're there and they're always chasing you. As you get closer to the top, the zombies get even more aggressive. You can put up a tent that will keep you safe for a little while, but it means you can't keep climbing.

Gameplay is about calculated risk. How far can I run before I need to stop? Did I get too greedy? How long can I poke my head out after stopping, before I get swarmed? Maybe the fastest team is best, but maybe I want to use a team that's harder for the zombies to drag down.

For a decade, players have been pitching "fixes" that are just "what if PvP but nobody loses points" and that is missing the entire point. Yeah, nobody likes actually being caught by the zombies, but the fun is in evading them! That's where the skill is! Sure, you could just build an escalator and ride that to the top, but why? The goal isn't to get to the top of the mountain, it's to have fun getting there.

PS: the real fun starts to happen when you realize that you can play as a zombie sometimes, too!

LavaManLee

@Blackstone said:

@LavaManLee said:
The seed teams are easily beatable by anyone. With any team. I didn't spend time to get 550 characters just to whallop on seed teams. That's boring. I want to go up against teams that pose a bit of a challenge. Yes, I can just beat the seed teams over and over and over again. But "whopp de doo!". That is not fun for me. At all.

So you feel it's beneath you. No wrong answers... Was just curious.

Where did I say it was beneath me? I said it's not fun and told you why. Please don't put words in my mouth. There is zero fun for me just beating seed teams over and over and over again.

Pantera236

@entrailbucket said:
Let's try this -- MPQ PvP is not really a match-3 game, or even strictly a PvP game.

It's a survival horror game.

You are competing against others to see how far you can climb a mountain that's full of zombies. The higher you go, the more zombies there are, and the harder they try to drag you back down. You can't see the zombies either -- but you know they're there and they're always chasing you. As you get closer to the top, the zombies get even more aggressive. You can put up a tent that will keep you safe for a little while, but it means you can't keep climbing.

Gameplay is about calculated risk. How far can I run before I need to stop? Did I get too greedy? How long can I poke my head out after stopping, before I get swarmed? Maybe the fastest team is best, but maybe I want to use a team that's harder for the zombies to drag down.

For a decade, players have been pitching "fixes" that are just "what if PvP but nobody loses points" and that is missing the entire point. Yeah, nobody likes actually being caught by the zombies, but the fun is in evading them! That's where the skill is! Sure, you could just build an escalator and ride that to the top, but why? The goal isn't to get to the top of the mountain, it's to have fun getting there.

PS: the real fun starts to happen when you realize that you can play as a zombie sometimes, too!

Funnily enough in the Line rooms we call the last few hours of an event "zombie hours".

Bustapup

Any idea when this screen thing is fixed? None of the tiles re displaying properly. This is literally just one thing after another after another......

BriMan2222

I've been lucky in that I had pretty much no problems with the new engine thus far, but after the new update I did have one pve match I had to retreat because no matches were counting as matches and for the past few days I have earned zero taco tokens from the deadpool daily that I should have earned.

entrailbucket

@Pantera236 said:

@entrailbucket said:
Let's try this -- MPQ PvP is not really a match-3 game, or even strictly a PvP game.

It's a survival horror game.

You are competing against others to see how far you can climb a mountain that's full of zombies. The higher you go, the more zombies there are, and the harder they try to drag you back down. You can't see the zombies either -- but you know they're there and they're always chasing you. As you get closer to the top, the zombies get even more aggressive. You can put up a tent that will keep you safe for a little while, but it means you can't keep climbing.

Gameplay is about calculated risk. How far can I run before I need to stop? Did I get too greedy? How long can I poke my head out after stopping, before I get swarmed? Maybe the fastest team is best, but maybe I want to use a team that's harder for the zombies to drag down.

For a decade, players have been pitching "fixes" that are just "what if PvP but nobody loses points" and that is missing the entire point. Yeah, nobody likes actually being caught by the zombies, but the fun is in evading them! That's where the skill is! Sure, you could just build an escalator and ride that to the top, but why? The goal isn't to get to the top of the mountain, it's to have fun getting there.

PS: the real fun starts to happen when you realize that you can play as a zombie sometimes, too!

Funnily enough in the Line rooms we call the last few hours of an event "zombie hours".

Yep, we've called it that for 10+ years now. And that's why I exclusively play at the end of events -- more danger!

Blackstone

@entrailbucket said:

@Blackstone said:

@entrailbucket said:

@Blackstone said:

@LavaManLee said:

@entrailbucket said:

@LavaManLee said:

@Blackstone said:

@Scorpion201 said:
This is ridiculous I keep seeing seeing seed teams even after updating to 329.. this game is D.O.A. Unacceptable

Bright side: it's very easy to get the rewards from those seed teams, and they do run out eventually, which allows you to then earn points from player teams that are still hitting the seed teams with non-meta teams.

It really is a boon with the right perspective.

It's the most acceptable glitch/bug/whatever affecting the game.

But it's actually not fun. Is it really fun to just beat seed teams over and over and over and over again? Personally, I think not.

I hate it. It's horrifically boring.

100% agree.

The thing I don't understand...(I'm not saying you're wrong about saying you're bored with it) ... Is what makes it boring?

The goal for a while now seems to be finding teams that can defeat enemy teams easily within 0-3 turns depending on the meta. There are entire threads devoted to outlining teams/builds/supports that are capable of beating various meta teams as quickly and easily as possible.

In the current State off PVP... That goal is easily obtained.

And everyone else faces the same issues of points earned, being able to find specific targets, etc...

People weren't trying to have difficult fights before this. They were trying to find the answer to making difficult fights winnable faster.

Is it just not as fulfilling because you want to feel powerful when easily beating a meta team and seed teams don't give the same feeling?

Is it a matter of wanting to earn more points per match?

Do the seed teams just feel beneath you and not needing to use the most powerful teams make it feel not worth your time?

Maybe none of these things?

I'm genuinely curious.

PvE is boring and PvE enemies are incredibly weak, for someone like me with a strong roster. PvP is where I get to fight (roughly) equals.

Yes, I want to win those fights quickly. Beating a strong team quickly is satisfying. It's achieving something. Beating a seed team quickly is meaningless. It's PvE. I understand this is a minority opinion, because most players here don't enjoy the match-3 gameplay.

Also, the current state of the game takes metagaming completely off the table. PvP is fun because there's a layer of strategy to it that has nothing to do with winning matches, since everyone wins every match anyway.

I guess that's where I'm finding the fun... Once the seed teams retreat there are a great number of non-meta teams that I can strategize against.

Meta might mean selecting the prescribed best team for 3-4 usual enemy teams, and it can be satisfying to quickly Beat a strong team, but at some point you're no longer strategizing... You're doing what everyone else is doing... repeatedly.

Yes, it would be boring if I continued using my absolute best teams to thrash every sub 550 team I see.. I totally agree.

Which is why I'm not doing that. I adjusted to allow me to strategize, enjoy the match 3 gameplay, and have experiences with new teams, and...... Nevermind.

I just realized I'm saying things you have no interest in hearing. You have your idea of the best way to do something and nothing I say about my experience will change that. I'm not trying to change minds, I'm just trying to understand, and you've answered my question.

I'm sorry you're not able to continue playing within the precise meta defined MMR you became accustomed to. I'm sure it'll turn soon.

Why on earth would you need to strategize against the sorts of teams we're seeing? It's not "strategy" when I can pick any two random characters on my roster and win every fight in two moves.

And oh man who do you think you're talking to? I NEVER use the "meta" teams! All that junk is boring too! Every event I build a boosted team that can win fights against the "meta" guys as fast as possible. Thrashing 550 Juggernaut/Sam or Chasm or m'Thor using Wasp or Ares or Modok or something is the fun part!

When I talk about metagaming I'm not talking about "meta" teams, that's the most basic surface level part of it. I'm talking about stuff like defending your bracket position, dumping, sniping hoppers, targeted point boosting, even stuff like shield hopping itself.

You have 2, 3, and 4 stars on your roster which means "any two random characters" won't live up to your claim, but that's a different subject. You can strategize by selecting those characters at the bottom of your roster to make it a challenge... Or don't.

You entirely missed my point, and that's ok. I wasn't trying to change your mind; I was informing you off a different perspective. Then I stopped because I realized you wouldn't care.

You're not getting the experience you want and I'm sure that sucks. As I said before, I'm sure it'll get fixed eventually and you get do all those things you just ranted about here.

I was only saying there's a way to approach it differently until that happens.

And I know who I'm talking to. I'm talking to Bucket and you will mention something, then when that is addressed directly you will shift to something else. Example: you complained about the lack of meta...I respond to that... And your rebuttal is:"And oh man who do you think you're talking to? I NEVER use the "meta" teams!"... There is no straight line in the conversation because you move between issues with your emotions guiding you to be contrary to anything not fully in agreement with you.

Just to be clear, I'm not upset at you. I'm not insulting you. I actually enjoy your contribution to the forums, especially when we disagree because that's the only way for people to see things from another's point of view.... Except for the "toilet game" thing, of course.

Blackstone

@entrailbucket said:
Let's try this -- MPQ PvP is not really a match-3 game, or even strictly a PvP game.

It's a survival horror game.

You are competing against others to see how far you can climb a mountain that's full of zombies. The higher you go, the more zombies there are, and the harder they try to drag you back down. You can't see the zombies either -- but you know they're there and they're always chasing you. As you get closer to the top, the zombies get even more aggressive. You can put up a tent that will keep you safe for a little while, but it means you can't keep climbing.

Gameplay is about calculated risk. How far can I run before I need to stop? Did I get too greedy? How long can I poke my head out after stopping, before I get swarmed? Maybe the fastest team is best, but maybe I want to use a team that's harder for the zombies to drag down.

For a decade, players have been pitching "fixes" that are just "what if PvP but nobody loses points" and that is missing the entire point. Yeah, nobody likes actually being caught by the zombies, but the fun is in evading them! That's where the skill is! Sure, you could just build an escalator and ride that to the top, but why? The goal isn't to get to the top of the mountain, it's to have fun getting there.

PS: the real fun starts to happen when you realize that you can play as a zombie sometimes, too!

I understand the analogy, and I've learned some things from you that I appreciate. I even get it on a deeper level. PTSD affects me in a similar way because my mind can over react because there are no "zombies" to fight. Anyway, yeah the escalator isn't giving you what you want but you can make the most of it while it's the only option.

On another note: can we get this zombie thing in game? Carrying over health, AP, etc from one match to the next with increased rewards the longer you survive? I got excited reading that. Thanks.

entrailbucket

@Blackstone said:

@entrailbucket said:

@Blackstone said:

@entrailbucket said:

@Blackstone said:

@LavaManLee said:

@entrailbucket said:

@LavaManLee said:

@Blackstone said:

@Scorpion201 said:
This is ridiculous I keep seeing seeing seed teams even after updating to 329.. this game is D.O.A. Unacceptable

Bright side: it's very easy to get the rewards from those seed teams, and they do run out eventually, which allows you to then earn points from player teams that are still hitting the seed teams with non-meta teams.

It really is a boon with the right perspective.

It's the most acceptable glitch/bug/whatever affecting the game.

But it's actually not fun. Is it really fun to just beat seed teams over and over and over and over again? Personally, I think not.

I hate it. It's horrifically boring.

100% agree.

The thing I don't understand...(I'm not saying you're wrong about saying you're bored with it) ... Is what makes it boring?

The goal for a while now seems to be finding teams that can defeat enemy teams easily within 0-3 turns depending on the meta. There are entire threads devoted to outlining teams/builds/supports that are capable of beating various meta teams as quickly and easily as possible.

In the current State off PVP... That goal is easily obtained.

And everyone else faces the same issues of points earned, being able to find specific targets, etc...

People weren't trying to have difficult fights before this. They were trying to find the answer to making difficult fights winnable faster.

Is it just not as fulfilling because you want to feel powerful when easily beating a meta team and seed teams don't give the same feeling?

Is it a matter of wanting to earn more points per match?

Do the seed teams just feel beneath you and not needing to use the most powerful teams make it feel not worth your time?

Maybe none of these things?

I'm genuinely curious.

PvE is boring and PvE enemies are incredibly weak, for someone like me with a strong roster. PvP is where I get to fight (roughly) equals.

Yes, I want to win those fights quickly. Beating a strong team quickly is satisfying. It's achieving something. Beating a seed team quickly is meaningless. It's PvE. I understand this is a minority opinion, because most players here don't enjoy the match-3 gameplay.

Also, the current state of the game takes metagaming completely off the table. PvP is fun because there's a layer of strategy to it that has nothing to do with winning matches, since everyone wins every match anyway.

I guess that's where I'm finding the fun... Once the seed teams retreat there are a great number of non-meta teams that I can strategize against.

Meta might mean selecting the prescribed best team for 3-4 usual enemy teams, and it can be satisfying to quickly Beat a strong team, but at some point you're no longer strategizing... You're doing what everyone else is doing... repeatedly.

Yes, it would be boring if I continued using my absolute best teams to thrash every sub 550 team I see.. I totally agree.

Which is why I'm not doing that. I adjusted to allow me to strategize, enjoy the match 3 gameplay, and have experiences with new teams, and...... Nevermind.

I just realized I'm saying things you have no interest in hearing. You have your idea of the best way to do something and nothing I say about my experience will change that. I'm not trying to change minds, I'm just trying to understand, and you've answered my question.

I'm sorry you're not able to continue playing within the precise meta defined MMR you became accustomed to. I'm sure it'll turn soon.

Why on earth would you need to strategize against the sorts of teams we're seeing? It's not "strategy" when I can pick any two random characters on my roster and win every fight in two moves.

And oh man who do you think you're talking to? I NEVER use the "meta" teams! All that junk is boring too! Every event I build a boosted team that can win fights against the "meta" guys as fast as possible. Thrashing 550 Juggernaut/Sam or Chasm or m'Thor using Wasp or Ares or Modok or something is the fun part!

When I talk about metagaming I'm not talking about "meta" teams, that's the most basic surface level part of it. I'm talking about stuff like defending your bracket position, dumping, sniping hoppers, targeted point boosting, even stuff like shield hopping itself.

And I know who I'm talking to. I'm talking to Bucket and you will mention something, then when that is addressed directly you will shift to something else. Example: you complained about the lack of meta...I respond to that... And your rebuttal is:"And oh man who do you think you're talking to? I NEVER use the "meta" teams!"... There is no straight line in the conversation because you move between issues with your emotions guiding you to be contrary to anything not fully in agreement with you.

"Metagame" is the game outside the obvious mechanics of the game. It's strategy and tactics, like shield hopping and sniping, etc. "Meta" teams are this community's way of describing the strong teams. They are related but not the same. The current matchmaking has removed metagaming. It has not removed "meta" teams, because that doesn't make any sense.

Blackstone

@LavaManLee said:

@Blackstone said:

@LavaManLee said:
The seed teams are easily beatable by anyone. With any team. I didn't spend time to get 550 characters just to whallop on seed teams. That's boring. I want to go up against teams that pose a bit of a challenge. Yes, I can just beat the seed teams over and over and over again. But "whopp de doo!". That is not fun for me. At all.

So you feel it's beneath you. No wrong answers... Was just curious.

Where did I say it was beneath me? I said it's not fun and told you why. Please don't put words in my mouth. There is zero fun for me just beating seed teams over and over and over again.

You said "I didn't spend time to get 550 characters just to whallop on seed teams." perhaps I assumed too much from that line. Apologies if I offended you. And I'm sorry it's boring to you. I'm not saying you're wrong. If be bored to if I didn't keep lesser leveled characters on my roster.

entrailbucket

@Blackstone said:

@entrailbucket said:
Let's try this -- MPQ PvP is not really a match-3 game, or even strictly a PvP game.

It's a survival horror game.

You are competing against others to see how far you can climb a mountain that's full of zombies. The higher you go, the more zombies there are, and the harder they try to drag you back down. You can't see the zombies either -- but you know they're there and they're always chasing you. As you get closer to the top, the zombies get even more aggressive. You can put up a tent that will keep you safe for a little while, but it means you can't keep climbing.

Gameplay is about calculated risk. How far can I run before I need to stop? Did I get too greedy? How long can I poke my head out after stopping, before I get swarmed? Maybe the fastest team is best, but maybe I want to use a team that's harder for the zombies to drag down.

For a decade, players have been pitching "fixes" that are just "what if PvP but nobody loses points" and that is missing the entire point. Yeah, nobody likes actually being caught by the zombies, but the fun is in evading them! That's where the skill is! Sure, you could just build an escalator and ride that to the top, but why? The goal isn't to get to the top of the mountain, it's to have fun getting there.

PS: the real fun starts to happen when you realize that you can play as a zombie sometimes, too!

I understand the analogy, and I've learned some things from you that I appreciate. I even get it on a deeper level. PTSD affects me in a similar way because my mind can over react because there are no "zombies" to fight. Anyway, yeah the escalator isn't giving you what you want but you can make the most of it while it's the only option.

On another note: can we get this zombie thing in game? Carrying over health, AP, etc from one match to the next with increased rewards the longer you survive? I got excited reading that. Thanks.

I mean...we literally have that (once they fix matchmaking)! It's just a matter of perspective.

Health already carries over, and the more points you earn, the better your rewards!

I completely understand your perspective. None of this stuff is particularly obvious, and the devs do an abysmal job of showing players how this stuff works. With wins based progression, there's no reason to try to understand it, either!

I think that's the biggest difference in the current game vs the one I started on -- it used to be that if you wanted the best rewards, you'd have to learn how to deal with this zombie stuff. You could sit and grind forever but without any strategy or understanding of the deeper mechanics you'd never get anywhere.

And a certain type of player HATED that. A certain type of MPQ player hates randomness, and unfortunately PvP is random. You can mitigate the zombies, you can use the very best strategies, but zombies are zombies and sometimes they're gonna get you anyway (and that's the fun of it!). So the devs caved to pressure and gave us wins based, and created several generations of players who had zero reason to care about any of the Zombie Mountain stuff.

Blackstone

@entrailbucket said:

@Blackstone said:

@entrailbucket said:
Let's try this -- MPQ PvP is not really a match-3 game, or even strictly a PvP game.

It's a survival horror game.

You are competing against others to see how far you can climb a mountain that's full of zombies. The higher you go, the more zombies there are, and the harder they try to drag you back down. You can't see the zombies either -- but you know they're there and they're always chasing you. As you get closer to the top, the zombies get even more aggressive. You can put up a tent that will keep you safe for a little while, but it means you can't keep climbing.

Gameplay is about calculated risk. How far can I run before I need to stop? Did I get too greedy? How long can I poke my head out after stopping, before I get swarmed? Maybe the fastest team is best, but maybe I want to use a team that's harder for the zombies to drag down.

For a decade, players have been pitching "fixes" that are just "what if PvP but nobody loses points" and that is missing the entire point. Yeah, nobody likes actually being caught by the zombies, but the fun is in evading them! That's where the skill is! Sure, you could just build an escalator and ride that to the top, but why? The goal isn't to get to the top of the mountain, it's to have fun getting there.

PS: the real fun starts to happen when you realize that you can play as a zombie sometimes, too!

I understand the analogy, and I've learned some things from you that I appreciate. I even get it on a deeper level. PTSD affects me in a similar way because my mind can over react because there are no "zombies" to fight. Anyway, yeah the escalator isn't giving you what you want but you can make the most of it while it's the only option.

On another note: can we get this zombie thing in game? Carrying over health, AP, etc from one match to the next with increased rewards the longer you survive? I got excited reading that. Thanks.

I mean...we literally have that (once they fix matchmaking)! It's just a matter of perspective.

Health already carries over, and the more points you earn, the better your rewards!

I completely understand your perspective. None of this stuff is particularly obvious, and the devs do an abysmal job of showing players how this stuff works. With wins based progression, there's no reason to try to understand it, either!

I think that's the biggest difference in the current game vs the one I started on -- it used to be that if you wanted the best rewards, you'd have to learn how to deal with this zombie stuff. You could sit and grind forever but without any strategy or understanding of the deeper mechanics you'd never get anywhere.

And a certain type of player HATED that. A certain type of MPQ player hates randomness, and unfortunately PvP is random. You can mitigate the zombies, you can use the very best strategies, but zombies are zombies and sometimes they're gonna get you anyway (and that's the fun of it!). So the devs caved to pressure and gave us wins based, and created several generations of players who had zero reason to care about any of the Zombie Mountain stuff.

Touchė

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