MPQ Sneak Peek: November 2018 Edition *Updated (11/26/18)

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  • WEBGAS
    WEBGAS Posts: 474 Mover and Shaker
    Emma Frost was one of may favourite characters to have in MPQ, but I am starting to hate her  >:)
  • GrimSkald
    GrimSkald Posts: 2,489 Chairperson of the Boards
    shardwick said:
    They do realize that there are 75 4* characters total, right? And that they can pick other characters besides the absolute latest ones save for an older one here and there? If this is their solution to keep new 4s from being diluted then I'd rather see them go to a semi-vaulted system where the latest 12 are in tokens and then each player can choose another 4-8 extra ones to also be included and you would be able to swap them out really easily like bonus heroes.

    I think this is what is going on - they heavily feature the latest in PVE so you have a better opportunity to cover them.  I also agree that this is considerably worse than their previous solution (50/50 chance of getting one of the twelve latest,) and I'd much rather go back to that than for them to keep heavily featuring the most recent 4*s. 's a lot less fun - even though I do get to cover my most recent 4*s, it means that they're so tinykitty low that they don't really do anything.
  • Twysta
    Twysta Posts: 1,597 Chairperson of the Boards
    I'm pretty certain Emma has featured more than any of the last dozen latest releases. Even all the ones released before her. 
  • GrimSkald
    GrimSkald Posts: 2,489 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited November 2018
    Twysta said:
    I'm pretty certain Emma has featured more than any of the last dozen latest releases. Even all the ones released before her. 


    Well, that's not that hard to verify.  I went back to August to see if I couldn't establish a pattern, I'll put the data behind a spoiler so it doesn't create too much noise - we may break this off into its own topic if it sidelines things too much.  If a mod chimes in, I will.

    Honor Among Thieves - 4 Day Variant (8/2/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Wiccan

    Unstable Iso-8 (8/6/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Ghost

    Come and Get Me (8/9/18)
    Featured Characters
    4-Star: Valkyrie

    Thick as Thieves (8/12/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Black Widow (Infinity War)

    Venom Bomb (8/16/18)
    4-Star: The Hulk (The Main Event)

    Webbed Wonder (8/20/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Winter Soldier

    Strange Sights (8/23/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Shuri

    The Hunt - 4 Day Variant (8/26/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Nebula

    Spider-Man vs Sinister Six (8/30/18) *New Update*
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Spider-Man (Infinity War)

    Meet Rocket & Groot - 4 Day Variant (9/2/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Spider-Woman

    Hearts of Darkness - 4 Day Variant (9/6/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Iron Man (Hulkbuster)

    Simulator - 3 Day Variant (9/10/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Dazzler

    The Hulk - 7 Day Event (9/13/18)
    4-Star: Emma Frost

    Galactus Hungers - Alliance Event (9/20/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Wiccan

    Unstable Iso-8 (9/23/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Ghost

    Thick as Thieves (9/27/18) *New Update*
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Venom (Agent Venom)

    Honor Among Thieves - 3 Day Variant (10/1/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Luke Cage (Power Man)

    Strange Sights (10/4/18)
    Not listed for some reason, but based on the previous reward it would be:
    4-Star: Emma Frost

    Webbed Wonder - 4 Day Variant (10/7/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Taskmaster

    Places of Power - 4 Day Alliance Raid Event (10/11/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Nebula

    Hearts of Darkness - 3 Day Variant (10/15/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Dazzler

    Come And Get Me (10/18/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Medusa

    Deadpool Vs. MPQ - 4 Day Duration (10/21/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Miles Morales

    Venom Bomb - 4 Day Duration (10/25/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Emma Frost

    The Hunt - 3 Day Duration (10/29/18) *New Update*
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Nebula

    Meet Rocket & Groot - 4 Day Duration (11/1/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Dazzler

    Simulator - 3 Day Duration (11/5/18)*
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Domino

    The X-Men Vs. Apocalypse - Alliance Event (11/8/18)
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Mr. Fantastic

    Unstable Iso-8 - 4 Day Duration (11/11/18) *New Update*
    Featured Characters:
    4-Star: Thor (Goddess of Thunder)

    Next, unidentified event (11/15/18)
    4-Star: Emma Frost


    Here's a breakdown of 4* characters featured more than once in this period.
    Wiccan: 2 times
    Ghost: 2
    Nebula: 3
    Dazzler: 3
    Emma Frost: 4

    This includes their first featured in the case of the last three. So yes, it definitely seems as if Emma is getting at least one more featured turn at the wheel. My current theory is they're doing some kind of on/off featuring for the newest, and Emma is getting an extra because either she just fell onto their schedule that way, or she's going to feed Kitty. I lean toward the latter as more probable.
  • TeamStewie
    TeamStewie Posts: 357 Mover and Shaker
    Or they just hate us  :D:D
  • Jaedenkaal
    Jaedenkaal Posts: 3,357 Chairperson of the Boards
    GrimSkald said:
    shardwick said:
    They do realize that there are 75 4* characters total, right? And that they can pick other characters besides the absolute latest ones save for an older one here and there? If this is their solution to keep new 4s from being diluted then I'd rather see them go to a semi-vaulted system where the latest 12 are in tokens and then each player can choose another 4-8 extra ones to also be included and you would be able to swap them out really easily like bonus heroes.

    I think this is what is going on - they heavily feature the latest in PVE so you have a better opportunity to cover them.  I also agree that this is considerably worse than their previous solution (50/50 chance of getting one of the twelve latest,) and I'd much rather go back to that than for them to keep heavily featuring the most recent 4*s. 's a lot less fun - even though I do get to cover my most recent 4*s, it means that they're so tinykitty low that they don't really do anything.
    I'm not sure I agree; I think this is a reasonable attempt to increase cover availability for new releases without completely killing everyone's chances of getting a cover for their older characters.

    I'm sure it would seem more reasonable if the latest 4* characters they were featuring had more exciting (or good) gameplay than Emma or Nebula. Presumably at some point that will happen. (who would have complained if America was the 4* essential for the 6th time in 2 months, for example?)
  • Quebbster
    Quebbster Posts: 8,070 Chairperson of the Boards
    I suspect Emma is featured more often because they can't award Taskmaster covers, so it screws up the schedule a bit.
  • Punter1
    Punter1 Posts: 718 Critical Contributor

    Looks like it's somewhat now following the 5E rotation of latest-latest-latest-classic-classic repeat

    We've had a couple of runs of Emma-Nebula-Dazzler-classic-classic (ignoring Taskmaster)

    Now that Domino is in - Emma should drop from the rotation so this will be her last feature for a while. 

  • GrimSkald
    GrimSkald Posts: 2,489 Chairperson of the Boards
    Punter1 said:

    Looks like it's somewhat now following the 5E rotation of latest-latest-latest-classic-classic repeat

    We've had a couple of runs of Emma-Nebula-Dazzler-classic-classic (ignoring Taskmaster)

    Now that Domino is in - Emma should drop from the rotation so this will be her last feature for a while. 


    Something like that, yeah, but it's definitely not consistent enough to establish a pattern yet.  I tried, and it was just too messy to really draw any conclusions.

    I guess we'll see if a) Emma feeds Kitty and b) she drops out of this "rotation" in favor of Domino.   But she could also just be getting another feature because of Taskmaster.

  • Punter1
    Punter1 Posts: 718 Critical Contributor

    Yeah TM limited release meant Emma is "latest" for more weeks as TM didn't come into the regular rotation.  In theory should see Neb-Dazzler next up then the pattern is pretty much there.

  • shardwick
    shardwick Posts: 2,121 Chairperson of the Boards
    GrimSkald said:
    shardwick said:
    They do realize that there are 75 4* characters total, right? And that they can pick other characters besides the absolute latest ones save for an older one here and there? If this is their solution to keep new 4s from being diluted then I'd rather see them go to a semi-vaulted system where the latest 12 are in tokens and then each player can choose another 4-8 extra ones to also be included and you would be able to swap them out really easily like bonus heroes.

    I think this is what is going on - they heavily feature the latest in PVE so you have a better opportunity to cover them.  I also agree that this is considerably worse than their previous solution (50/50 chance of getting one of the twelve latest,) and I'd much rather go back to that than for them to keep heavily featuring the most recent 4*s. 's a lot less fun - even though I do get to cover my most recent 4*s, it means that they're so tinykitty low that they don't really do anything.
    I'm not sure I agree; I think this is a reasonable attempt to increase cover availability for new releases without completely killing everyone's chances of getting a cover for their older characters.

    I'm sure it would seem more reasonable if the latest 4* characters they were featuring had more exciting (or good) gameplay than Emma or Nebula. Presumably at some point that will happen. (who would have complained if America was the 4* essential for the 6th time in 2 months, for example?)
    Well, even though I love America I don't want any character to be featured that much. It really sucks the enjoyment out of the game for me. I wouldn't even mind if they featured a new character, then a classic, and then one released in the past year. 
  • jamesh
    jamesh Posts: 1,600 Chairperson of the Boards
    I'm kind of surprised not to see a new support release this weekend.  Not that I've been spending on those vaults, but they've been coming out like clockwork one week after the new character for ages. I wonder if that signals a change in how the devs are handling them?
  • dragonreader
    dragonreader Posts: 89 Match Maker
    I just hope the Emma cover is not yellow again.  
  • Daredevil217
    Daredevil217 Posts: 3,895 Chairperson of the Boards
    For those upset that all these newer characters are being heavily featured and wanting more covers for their older characters:

    You should theoretically get way more covers for older characters in this new system and still get newer ones champed if you place well enough. When we had the 50/50 tokens it was easy to get a new 4* champed and in the 300s right when they entered tokens. Now all those pulls will be distributed amongst all characters meaning your older ones are going to be covered more. And I believe we get way more covers from tokens than we do from PVE/PVP rewards though your mileage may vary. 
  • Quebbster
    Quebbster Posts: 8,070 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited November 2018
    jamesh said:
    I'm kind of surprised not to see a new support release this weekend.  Not that I've been spending on those vaults, but they've been coming out like clockwork one week after the new character for ages. I wonder if that signals a change in how the devs are handling them?


    Your Clock seems to be a bit off, the character specific support vaults have launched on Tuesday after a new character release at noon EST, so one or two Days after the character has first been awarded.

    Not that I mind not getting a Domino-related support, it's pretty saturated and they are hard to get at this Point.

  • Smart80
    Smart80 Posts: 748 Critical Contributor
    Quebbster said:
    jamesh said:
    I'm kind of surprised not to see a new support release this weekend.  Not that I've been spending on those vaults, but they've been coming out like clockwork one week after the new character for ages. I wonder if that signals a change in how the devs are handling them?


    Your Clock seems to be a bit off, the character specific support vaults have launched on Tuesday after a new character release at noon EST, so one or two Days after the character has first been awarded.

    Not that I mind not getting a Domino-related support, it's pretty saturated and they are hard to get at this Point.

    I do agree on your final point, but as it also means we dont get any shot at any supports without the release vault, my conclusion is a little bit different. We need every opportunity to earn or buy support tokens, even if that means they get more diluted... A long shot still beats no shot imo...
  • Smart80
    Smart80 Posts: 748 Critical Contributor
    For those upset that all these newer characters are being heavily featured and wanting more covers for their older characters:

    You should theoretically get way more covers for older characters in this new system and still get newer ones champed if you place well enough. When we had the 50/50 tokens it was easy to get a new 4* champed and in the 300s right when they entered tokens. Now all those pulls will be distributed amongst all characters meaning your older ones are going to be covered more. And I believe we get way more covers from tokens than we do from PVE/PVP rewards though your mileage may vary. 
    True and I think most will agree that quickly covering a new character and being able to champ him or her, is prefered over 90% of champ levels. Max 10% of 4s are actually used besides essential nodes or maybe has a feeder you wanna chase... 

    So yeah, i dont mind the never ones being rewarded a second time, quite soon after release, but with Emma they really overdoing it at the moment....
  • Quebbster
    Quebbster Posts: 8,070 Chairperson of the Boards
    Smart80 said:
    Quebbster said:
    jamesh said:
    I'm kind of surprised not to see a new support release this weekend.  Not that I've been spending on those vaults, but they've been coming out like clockwork one week after the new character for ages. I wonder if that signals a change in how the devs are handling them?


    Your Clock seems to be a bit off, the character specific support vaults have launched on Tuesday after a new character release at noon EST, so one or two Days after the character has first been awarded.

    Not that I mind not getting a Domino-related support, it's pretty saturated and they are hard to get at this Point.

    I do agree on your final point, but as it also means we dont get any shot at any supports without the release vault, my conclusion is a little bit different. We need every opportunity to earn or buy support tokens, even if that means they get more diluted... A long shot still beats no shot imo...

    Depends on how eagerly you spend on the release vault I suppose. I usually get Three single pulls (Daily Deals), of which at best one is a support token, and it's not usually the new one anyway. I Think the most recent one I have is a onestar Mirror Image, which I most definitely got from Not Loki's release vault. As long as they aren't updating the contents of the basic support vault I will just keep falling behind when new supports are being released.
  • Smart80
    Smart80 Posts: 748 Critical Contributor
    Quebbster said:
    Smart80 said:
    Quebbster said:
    jamesh said:
    I'm kind of surprised not to see a new support release this weekend.  Not that I've been spending on those vaults, but they've been coming out like clockwork one week after the new character for ages. I wonder if that signals a change in how the devs are handling them?


    Your Clock seems to be a bit off, the character specific support vaults have launched on Tuesday after a new character release at noon EST, so one or two Days after the character has first been awarded.

    Not that I mind not getting a Domino-related support, it's pretty saturated and they are hard to get at this Point.

    I do agree on your final point, but as it also means we dont get any shot at any supports without the release vault, my conclusion is a little bit different. We need every opportunity to earn or buy support tokens, even if that means they get more diluted... A long shot still beats no shot imo...

    Depends on how eagerly you spend on the release vault I suppose. I usually get Three single pulls (Daily Deals), of which at best one is a support token, and it's not usually the new one anyway. I Think the most recent one I have is a onestar Mirror Image, which I most definitely got from Not Loki's release vault. As long as they aren't updating the contents of the basic support vault I will just keep falling behind when new supports are being released.
    Just proves we need more chances as i said, doesnt it?
  • Quebbster
    Quebbster Posts: 8,070 Chairperson of the Boards
    Smart80 said:
    Quebbster said:
    Smart80 said:
    Quebbster said:
    jamesh said:
    I'm kind of surprised not to see a new support release this weekend.  Not that I've been spending on those vaults, but they've been coming out like clockwork one week after the new character for ages. I wonder if that signals a change in how the devs are handling them?


    Your Clock seems to be a bit off, the character specific support vaults have launched on Tuesday after a new character release at noon EST, so one or two Days after the character has first been awarded.

    Not that I mind not getting a Domino-related support, it's pretty saturated and they are hard to get at this Point.

    I do agree on your final point, but as it also means we dont get any shot at any supports without the release vault, my conclusion is a little bit different. We need every opportunity to earn or buy support tokens, even if that means they get more diluted... A long shot still beats no shot imo...

    Depends on how eagerly you spend on the release vault I suppose. I usually get Three single pulls (Daily Deals), of which at best one is a support token, and it's not usually the new one anyway. I Think the most recent one I have is a onestar Mirror Image, which I most definitely got from Not Loki's release vault. As long as they aren't updating the contents of the basic support vault I will just keep falling behind when new supports are being released.
    Just proves we need more chances as i said, doesnt it?

    More chances to pull the Supports we already have, yes. More Supports to dilute the pool further, not really. Would love it if the Basic Support Tokens got updated with at least the stuff they released months ago though...