Marvel Puzzle Quest: Character Rebalances - Batch #1

SuperCarrot

@bluewolf @toecutter3095

I agree with these points, said it less eloquently earlier in the thread myself. I understand the Polaris nerf and other nerfs from the perspective of needing to sell new toys and keep the lights on, BUT these guys continue to drop the ball on communication. The majority of my posts recently have all been communication related. Anyway, Reddit is in a melt down, and honestly if the game is in a rough spot with the amount of players…I wouldn’t be trying to give them more reasons to find the door.

allen_koholic

This game has been around for a long time, and I can't remember the last time a buff to numbers alone turned a trash tier toon into anything decent. It's just polishing a turd.

It's OK though, they're going to slow drip the nerf list, which is fantastic for player moral in a dying game with tons of self-inflicted technical issues.

Bustapup

i hope they do something about JuggSam> @Warbringa said:

@Bustapup said:

@Scorpion201 said:
Way to kill the game with Polaris nerf, yet doesn't mighty Thor doesnt get touch . Ridiculous, one foot out the door this game is a mess . It's funny you allow 5 star characters pound on the lower rosters, but don't allow any 4 star characters punch their way up.

I'm sorry but anyone who doesn't think Polaris is a HUGE issue in this game has no regard whatsoever for having a fun and balanced game and only wants to win in the cheapest way possible.

For lower rosters without counters yes she is OP. Polaris is easy to deal with and easy to kill when a roster has 5* meta options, even when she is ascended. There are far more issues with several ascended characters, we will see where the nerf stick ends on these rebalances.

I have a very high investment roster and she's still OP. Whether you can counter her isn't REALLY the issue.... objectively, she is overpowered and needs fixing.

On that note, the only character I find genuinely useful against her is Morbius. I've seen some ascended Gorrs who could be good but Morbius for me is the only character who consistently stops her from popping off

Bustapup

@SuperCarrot said:
I really feel like it is bad to only announce one nerf at a time. Pretty crummy to keep people guessing. You want to deliver “bad news” all at once if you have it, not leave people in anticipation. You’re just going to make people angrier by keeping them in the dark. Spreading the nerf announcements out just makes lots of little moments that invite negativity.So as is, still not safe to spend resources. These guys need to go read some Simon Sinek, Stephen Covy (who I didn’t like much actually), something…just learn to communicate.

I agree....I wish they'd confirm every character they're looking at so we can decide whether to continue building them or holding off

entrailbucket

@Bustapup said:

@SuperCarrot said:
I really feel like it is bad to only announce one nerf at a time. Pretty crummy to keep people guessing. You want to deliver “bad news” all at once if you have it, not leave people in anticipation. You’re just going to make people angrier by keeping them in the dark. Spreading the nerf announcements out just makes lots of little moments that invite negativity.So as is, still not safe to spend resources. These guys need to go read some Simon Sinek, Stephen Covy (who I didn’t like much actually), something…just learn to communicate.

I agree....I wish they'd confirm every character they're looking at so we can decide whether to continue building them or holding off

There are a few reasons why they might not be giving us this list:

1. (Most likely, honestly) They don't know who they're looking at/they're not actually looking at anyone right now, and they'll figure out the next nerf next month or whatever.

2. (Unlikely, but if you choose to assume it I can't really fault you) They're afraid to tell us because they're still trying to sell this character.

3. (A very strong, hilarious possibility) There is a list but they haven't told the person whose job it is to post the list on the forum.

Every single one of these situations is an indictment. Give us the list.

skittledaddy

Agreed. by trickle-feeding the nerf list they are just prolonging the inevitable pushback from the players. The undesirable response is coming regardless of how they present it. Just push it all out there now and get it over with.
One bonfire is easier to deal with than months of individual fires.

WhiteBomber

Everyone already knows who the next people are to be nerfed. They said it before, they also said there shouldn't be any surprise characters (and there aren't, yet).

Here is you list of next to be nerfed (in no specific order):

1. MThor
2. IronMay
3. Maybe ShangChi

If they're smart, they'll add Sam5 to that list also (it's not Juggernauts fault).

I refuse to believe people don't see how far out of balance any these characters are. So, I will just assume everyone is more just frustrated about their investments, which is valid, they never should have let them go this long unchecked, and they have a rough history with balancing.

entrailbucket

@WhiteBomber said:
Everyone already knows who the next people are to be nerfed. They said it before, they also said there shouldn't be any surprise characters (and there aren't, yet).

Here is you list of next to be nerfed (in no specific order):

1. MThor
2. IronMay
3. Maybe ShangChi

If they're smart, they'll add Sam5 to that list also (it's not Juggernauts fault).

I refuse to believe people don't see how far out of balance any these characters are. So, I will just assume everyone is more just frustrated about their investments, which is valid, they never should have let them go this long unchecked, and they have a rough history with balancing.

I hope they don't nerf Iron May too badly, I just ascended her to 5*!

(Seriously. My goal is everybody to 550, no exceptions.)

WhiteBomber

@entrailbucket said:

@WhiteBomber said:
Everyone already knows who the next people are to be nerfed. They said it before, they also said there shouldn't be any surprise characters (and there aren't, yet).

Here is you list of next to be nerfed (in no specific order):

1. MThor
2. IronMay
3. Maybe ShangChi

If they're smart, they'll add Sam5 to that list also (it's not Juggernauts fault).

I refuse to believe people don't see how far out of balance any these characters are. So, I will just assume everyone is more just frustrated about their investments, which is valid, they never should have let them go this long unchecked, and they have a rough history with balancing.

I hope they don't nerf Iron May too badly, I just ascended her to 5*!

(Seriously. My goal is everybody to 550, no exceptions.)

Honestly, at 5 star IronMay could use a tiny / slight buff 4 Star however, is absurd. She also makes the OP characters look even more OP than they are, which fuels more hate.

entrailbucket

@WhiteBomber said:

@entrailbucket said:

@WhiteBomber said:
Everyone already knows who the next people are to be nerfed. They said it before, they also said there shouldn't be any surprise characters (and there aren't, yet).

Here is you list of next to be nerfed (in no specific order):

1. MThor
2. IronMay
3. Maybe ShangChi

If they're smart, they'll add Sam5 to that list also (it's not Juggernauts fault).

I refuse to believe people don't see how far out of balance any these characters are. So, I will just assume everyone is more just frustrated about their investments, which is valid, they never should have let them go this long unchecked, and they have a rough history with balancing.

I hope they don't nerf Iron May too badly, I just ascended her to 5*!

(Seriously. My goal is everybody to 550, no exceptions.)

Honestly, at 5 star IronMay could use a tiny / slight buff 4 Star however, is absurd. She also makes the OP characters look even more OP than they are, which fuels more hate.

Oh I know.

It's interesting how this has kind of swung around though. In the days of Okoye/Apocalypse, buffers did flat number boosts, which was problematic with cheap or passive AoE/multihit powers that did relatively low damage on their own.

I always used to suggest that boosts should be percentage-based, which mostly solves that particular problem -- and it does!

But now the new problem is ascension. How do you create a character like Iron May who appropriately buffs 4* characters for 4* players, but isn't overpowered when you apply the 4* percentages to somebody like Galactus? I honestly have no idea how you thread that needle.

TriSentinel

@Bustapup said:

@Scorpion201 said:
Way to kill the game with Polaris nerf, yet doesn't mighty Thor doesnt get touch . Ridiculous, one foot out the door this game is a mess . It's funny you allow 5 star characters pound on the lower rosters, but don't allow any 4 star characters punch their way up.

I'm sorry but anyone who doesn't think Polaris is a HUGE issue in this game has no regard whatsoever for having a fun and balanced game and only wants to win in the cheapest way possible.

I think you have to look at people's fondness for Polaris in the context of her arrival. She came on the scene when the game was really starting to grind into half hour matches. She was like a fix to reduce ridiculously long play times without adjusting the game and adding a new shiny band-aid.

The proposed nerf seems very balanced and appropriate.

entrailbucket

@entrailbucket said:

@WhiteBomber said:

@entrailbucket said:

@WhiteBomber said:
Everyone already knows who the next people are to be nerfed. They said it before, they also said there shouldn't be any surprise characters (and there aren't, yet).

Here is you list of next to be nerfed (in no specific order):

1. MThor
2. IronMay
3. Maybe ShangChi

If they're smart, they'll add Sam5 to that list also (it's not Juggernauts fault).

I refuse to believe people don't see how far out of balance any these characters are. So, I will just assume everyone is more just frustrated about their investments, which is valid, they never should have let them go this long unchecked, and they have a rough history with balancing.

I hope they don't nerf Iron May too badly, I just ascended her to 5*!

(Seriously. My goal is everybody to 550, no exceptions.)

Honestly, at 5 star IronMay could use a tiny / slight buff 4 Star however, is absurd. She also makes the OP characters look even more OP than they are, which fuels more hate.

Oh I know.

It's interesting how this has kind of swung around though. In the days of Okoye/Apocalypse, buffers did flat number boosts, which was problematic with cheap or passive AoE/multihit powers that did relatively low damage on their own.

I always used to suggest that boosts should be percentage-based, which mostly solves that particular problem -- and it does!

But now the new problem is ascension. How do you create a character like Iron May who appropriately buffs 4* characters for 4* players, but isn't overpowered when you apply the 4* percentages to somebody like Galactus? I honestly have no idea how you thread that needle.

Haha duh. The solution is actually simple.

Change the buff percentages based on the star level of the character she's buffing. If she buffs a 4* they get the 3000% or whatever, if she's buffing a 5* they get something less, a 6* even less than that.

You could actually rework her to make her much more useful to lower tier players this way -- dial the percentage WAY up if she's buffing an (unascended) 1*, 2*, etc.

allen_koholic

@entrailbucket said:

@entrailbucket said:

@WhiteBomber said:

@entrailbucket said:

@WhiteBomber said:
Everyone already knows who the next people are to be nerfed. They said it before, they also said there shouldn't be any surprise characters (and there aren't, yet).

Here is you list of next to be nerfed (in no specific order):

1. MThor
2. IronMay
3. Maybe ShangChi

If they're smart, they'll add Sam5 to that list also (it's not Juggernauts fault).

I refuse to believe people don't see how far out of balance any these characters are. So, I will just assume everyone is more just frustrated about their investments, which is valid, they never should have let them go this long unchecked, and they have a rough history with balancing.

I hope they don't nerf Iron May too badly, I just ascended her to 5*!

(Seriously. My goal is everybody to 550, no exceptions.)

Honestly, at 5 star IronMay could use a tiny / slight buff 4 Star however, is absurd. She also makes the OP characters look even more OP than they are, which fuels more hate.

Oh I know.

It's interesting how this has kind of swung around though. In the days of Okoye/Apocalypse, buffers did flat number boosts, which was problematic with cheap or passive AoE/multihit powers that did relatively low damage on their own.

I always used to suggest that boosts should be percentage-based, which mostly solves that particular problem -- and it does!

But now the new problem is ascension. How do you create a character like Iron May who appropriately buffs 4* characters for 4* players, but isn't overpowered when you apply the 4* percentages to somebody like Galactus? I honestly have no idea how you thread that needle.

Haha duh. The solution is actually simple.

Change the buff percentages based on the star level of the character she's buffing. If she buffs a 4* they get the 3000% or whatever, if she's buffing a 5* they get something less, a 6* even less than that.

You could actually rework her to make her much more useful to lower tier players this way -- dial the percentage WAY up if she's buffing an (unascended) 1*, 2*, etc.

I love that you think the current devs would know how to code that behavior into the game

Kalidor

@BriMan2222 said:

@Kalidor said:
I primarily play PvE and only occasionally dip into PvP when necessary. I'm extremely disappointed to hear about the Polaris nerf as it only "benefits" the PvP side of the game.
I play at the lowest available SCL to me in PvP and I don't have the best rosta full of the ascended or champed options. Nerfing Polaris will take opportunity for a win against much better teams away from me. Yes, Polaris punches above her weight on offense, but I also know she's an easy target on defense which my negative loss scores will attest to each time I log into the game.
As for PvE, she's essential for me to get a quick clearance otherwise it becomes a boring, tedious slog each node.

Polaris is not the problem. If there is a problem, it's a lack of viable counters.

Playing at the lowest scl in pvp is a big mistake. Scl makes no difference in opponents you see, it only changes the rewards. By choosing the lowest option all you're doing is making sure you get less rewards.

Thanks, I didn't know that. I figured that if I play SCL8 I would be playing against other players on SCL8 and their rotas would be roughly comparable to mine, if not better. As it is, I'm getting a lot of teams level 450-550 which I have zero chance against, and even less so now because of the nerf. I waste a LOT of iso skipping team after team (usually the same team comes back after skipping, but that's a different complaint).
Next Shield event, I'll try SCL10 and hope I can get a win

entrailbucket

@allen_koholic said:

@entrailbucket said:

@entrailbucket said:

@WhiteBomber said:

@entrailbucket said:

@WhiteBomber said:
Everyone already knows who the next people are to be nerfed. They said it before, they also said there shouldn't be any surprise characters (and there aren't, yet).

Here is you list of next to be nerfed (in no specific order):

1. MThor
2. IronMay
3. Maybe ShangChi

If they're smart, they'll add Sam5 to that list also (it's not Juggernauts fault).

I refuse to believe people don't see how far out of balance any these characters are. So, I will just assume everyone is more just frustrated about their investments, which is valid, they never should have let them go this long unchecked, and they have a rough history with balancing.

I hope they don't nerf Iron May too badly, I just ascended her to 5*!

(Seriously. My goal is everybody to 550, no exceptions.)

Honestly, at 5 star IronMay could use a tiny / slight buff 4 Star however, is absurd. She also makes the OP characters look even more OP than they are, which fuels more hate.

Oh I know.

It's interesting how this has kind of swung around though. In the days of Okoye/Apocalypse, buffers did flat number boosts, which was problematic with cheap or passive AoE/multihit powers that did relatively low damage on their own.

I always used to suggest that boosts should be percentage-based, which mostly solves that particular problem -- and it does!

But now the new problem is ascension. How do you create a character like Iron May who appropriately buffs 4* characters for 4* players, but isn't overpowered when you apply the 4* percentages to somebody like Galactus? I honestly have no idea how you thread that needle.

Haha duh. The solution is actually simple.

Change the buff percentages based on the star level of the character she's buffing. If she buffs a 4* they get the 3000% or whatever, if she's buffing a 5* they get something less, a 6* even less than that.

You could actually rework her to make her much more useful to lower tier players this way -- dial the percentage WAY up if she's buffing an (unascended) 1*, 2*, etc.

I love that you think the current devs would know how to code that behavior into the game

It's either this or kill all the buffers -- when 6* start running around, the likes of May, Moonstone, Daredevil, Namor etc are going to own the metagame. At least my idea preserves (and potentially increases) their usefulness for lower tier players.

BriMan2222

@Kalidor said:

@BriMan2222 said:

@Kalidor said:
I primarily play PvE and only occasionally dip into PvP when necessary. I'm extremely disappointed to hear about the Polaris nerf as it only "benefits" the PvP side of the game.
I play at the lowest available SCL to me in PvP and I don't have the best rosta full of the ascended or champed options. Nerfing Polaris will take opportunity for a win against much better teams away from me. Yes, Polaris punches above her weight on offense, but I also know she's an easy target on defense which my negative loss scores will attest to each time I log into the game.
As for PvE, she's essential for me to get a quick clearance otherwise it becomes a boring, tedious slog each node.

Polaris is not the problem. If there is a problem, it's a lack of viable counters.

Playing at the lowest scl in pvp is a big mistake. Scl makes no difference in opponents you see, it only changes the rewards. By choosing the lowest option all you're doing is making sure you get less rewards.

Thanks, I didn't know that. I figured that if I play SCL8 I would be playing against other players on SCL8 and their rotas would be roughly comparable to mine, if not better. As it is, I'm getting a lot of teams level 450-550 which I have zero chance against, and even less so now because of the nerf. I waste a LOT of iso skipping team after team (usually the same team comes back after skipping, but that's a different complaint).
Next Shield event, I'll try SCL10 and hope I can get a win

Yeah, they don't do a good job, or any job at all, of clarifying this in game.

Seph1roth5

@WhiteBomber said:
Everyone already knows who the next people are to be nerfed. They said it before, they also said there shouldn't be any surprise characters (and there aren't, yet).

Here is you list of next to be nerfed (in no specific order):

1. MThor
2. IronMay
3. Maybe ShangChi

If they're smart, they'll add Sam5 to that list also (it's not Juggernauts fault).

I refuse to believe people don't see how far out of balance any these characters are. So, I will just assume everyone is more just frustrated about their investments, which is valid, they never should have let them go this long unchecked, and they have a rough history with balancing.

I think a lot of people agree that SC is very strong, but not very worrisome. The computer uses his powers stupidly, so he's usually not great on defense. I used to use him all the time when I was new to scl10, but since then...very rarely. If they have numbers that he's being used a lot it's more people with crummier rosters lol, or new people that have been told (rightly) by everyone to make him their first 5* champ.

Also, I think juggs is definitely the bigger problem in the juggs/sam combo. Yeah omega and others can do aoe damage reliably, but juggs can do it multiple times a turn. And he's so damn beefy you kind of have to take down Sam first and hope it's not too late. With other teams, you can take out the aoe person (or OR's CD) first.

entrailbucket

@Seph1roth5 said:

@WhiteBomber said:
Everyone already knows who the next people are to be nerfed. They said it before, they also said there shouldn't be any surprise characters (and there aren't, yet).

Here is you list of next to be nerfed (in no specific order):

1. MThor
2. IronMay
3. Maybe ShangChi

If they're smart, they'll add Sam5 to that list also (it's not Juggernauts fault).

I refuse to believe people don't see how far out of balance any these characters are. So, I will just assume everyone is more just frustrated about their investments, which is valid, they never should have let them go this long unchecked, and they have a rough history with balancing.

I think a lot of people agree that SC is very strong, but not very worrisome. The computer uses his powers stupidly, so he's usually not great on defense. I used to use him all the time when I was new to scl10, but since then...very rarely. If they have numbers that he's being used a lot it's more people with crummier rosters lol, or new people that have been told (rightly) by everyone to make him their first 5* champ.

Also, I think juggs is definitely the bigger problem in the juggs/sam combo. Yeah omega and others can do aoe damage reliably, but juggs can do it multiple times a turn. And he's so damn beefy you kind of have to take down Sam first and hope it's not too late. With other teams, you can take out the aoe person (or OR's CD) first.

They appear to be specifically going after characters that are too strong on offense.

JSP869

@Philly79 said:
So you guys are going to increase the difficulty while nerfing one of the best characters in the game yet still cannot figure out all of the bugs plaguing this once great game? Got it. I guess I will chalk up the last 11 years of playing to the fact that this game has become less about what the players want from their experience and more about what people who probably do not even play the game think is whats best to keep the game afloat. Wasn't even able to complete tonights 5* clear on the current event due to yet another error. My complaints will fall on deaf ears as long as people keep supporting this trash, I'm out.

"...and more about what people who probably do not even play the game think is whats best to keep the game afloat make more money!!!"

entrailbucket

Can't believe those greedy devs demand to get paid for their work