An attempt to list game events & start times, and possible impacts of shifting them if needed

Marvel Puzzle Quest MPQ General Discussion
1

Heads up: Long post.

Edit: updated some of the text for clarity after some feedback. I did forget about bosses, although I thought about them, if that helps.

Since I put this up the devs decided, apparently, to move many things forward a day and some things may shift in time a bit (season start?) and we are now waiting to see what that looks like in practice. It seems likely(?) that bosses will shift forward a day because the season is, that the boss events fit into. This is based on the post from 1/30/26 about Character Release and Season Start Calendar Changes.

Following is my list and thoughts of and about the various elements of MPQ and their timing, and how changing them might impact us vs the devs. They are operating on a schedule that is basically 19 hours ahead of the old devs in the LA area and 16 hours ahead of the OG devs in the Boston area. They have said they are looking at shifting some of the times for some events, and I thought this could be useful.

I realize that many or some of these items have been addressed already but….look, I just wanted to be completionist about it.

In any case, maybe this is helpful for the devs as they consider their scheduling, and offers a place to discuss potential change options. Any change will result in some benefiting, and some feeling they are losing out.

Or: It is impossible to make everyone happy.

—
Basic format:

  1. Event and timing
  2. My quick assessment of past problems which might necessitate/benefit from devs being in office when it begins
  3. my estimated impact on devs and players from shifting the time
    ——

PVEs - the first slice always start at 7 AM EST (11 pm in Aus)

There are multiple issues with PVE, especially recently, requiring work by the devs to resolve. It would be smart to make it open when they are in the office instead of when they are getting ready for bed or asleep.

Shifting to a different time:

Player impact - might be ok if the new time slots get very close to the most popular times/slices (1 and 5 are the most played). BUT people have spent years playing at the same times and disrupting those available times would frustrate lots of players.
Dev impact: Could be useful obviously

Unknown: Can you shift slices (as in change the current spacing) so they all fall at the same times again? If I could pick a new start time for slice 1 that best met the needs of players and devs in a compromise, it would probably be 5PM EST/9 AM Aus time, so the current slice 3 becomes slice 1. Then make the rest of the slices fall at the same times as they do now. Modifying the time between slices might be tricky to accomplish, especially with the current experience level of the developers, but would make for the smoothest change.

——
PVPs - two start at 8 pm EST (12 noon in Australia)
One starts at 8 am EST (midnight in Australia)

The first PVP of the season starts at noon in Australia. Generally speaking most PVPs don’t have big issues, but if they appear early enough, they are quickly identified in time to address them. (ex: wrong season header)

Shifting to a different time:

Player impact - fairly minimal but disruptive to habits of some. Many players just play pvp here and there or do a rush to climb etc.
Dev impact: Seems not very necessary

——

DDQ

Starts at 6 AM EST. This is 10 PM in Aus.

Usually everything is fine; if the event has an error, it can always be fixed later since there are only a few nodes to play and 24 hours to fix them.

Shifting to a different time:

Player impact - fairly minimal; we just went through a shift and we can adapt if needed.
Dev impact: Could be useful

——

Shield Training

Starts at: 7 AM EST with new nodes daily. This is 11 PM in Aus.

I don’t recall many issues, if any, in the event. Sometimes the same essentials or requireds come up as repeated from earlier ones, but that’s honestly no big deal.

Shifting to a different time:

Player impact - minimal; only a few nodes open a day. You can clear all of them at the end if you choose. It’s very play when you can.
Dev impact: Could be useful, but good QA could make it not matter.

——

Tower

Starts at: 8 PM EST with new nodes daily. This is 12 PM in Aus.

The Tower has had multiple issues as a newer event but since 2 nodes open a day and it’s 28 days long, moving the start time wouldn’t matter much, if wanting to shift it so it can be easily dealt with if something odd comes up.

Shifting to a different time:
Player impact - fairly minimal
Dev impact: Probably unnecessary

——

One off, once a day PVEs

These typically have been opening at 12 noon EST or 4 AM in Aus.

I don’t recall buggy things happening with one a day node events. I do not know if there is a plan to reintroduce them at any point either. It has been a long time since we had them and the rewards were kind of meh even back then.

Shifting to a different time:
Player impact - fairly minimal, one node a day you can play whenever
Dev impact: Could obviously be helpful if concerned about fixing issues that might arise.

—

Season Pass

Starts at: 7 AM EST. This is 11 pm in Australia

The pass has not seen many issues other than graphical errors that I recall. It should be something that can be left in place if desired. Note: the pass has consistently ended about 6 hours earlier than the timer states at the end of its time in game, at least it did under BCS.

Shifting to a different time:
Player impact - fairly minimal, however lining up the quests and pass at least to be fairly close makes a lot of sense to me so that both appear in game at the same time
Dev impact: Probably unnecessary, but could be done

——

Daily/weekly/season quests
Starts at: 12 noon EST or 4 AM in Aus.

Problems: Many quests have had some problem in the past where a character doesn’t count or something. and needed adjusting. So far under IP2, they all work as expected, although some wording is a bit odd sometimes.

Shifting to a different time:
Player impact - Could have some impact. I think you need to keep the quests fairly close to the pass timing so that there is plenty of time, on the last day of the pass, after quests appear and before the pass ends on the following day. Also just logically, this (quests and pass ending being close together) feels more fair to players and like a better. less frustrating experience.
Dev impact: It would likely be helpful to have quests first appear closer to when devs are in the office to minimize potential “dead time” between a broken quest appearing and being fixed.

——
Lightning Rounds
Starts at: shifts between 12 noon EST and 1pm EST as they continually run in a seemingly infinite 3 week loop, unaffected by Daylight Savings Time. Australia time is thus either 4 AM or 5 AM

Problems: Not seen really other than very rare occasions. Probably not likely to as long as they are left as is, but that’s somewhat boring as well.

Shifting to a different time:
Player impact - Depending on the difference there could be some complaining but they are a series of 24 1.5 hour PVPs once a week, and so while you might miss some you play now, you would likely end up playing about the same amount of LRs no matter when they run.
Dev impact: Might be useful but probably only if you are planning to modify them and want to be available when they start. Otherwise less important, probably.

——

CP new release stores
Starts at: 7 AM EST. This is 11 pm in Australia

Problems: Have not seen any real problems in them in a long time, but on the other hand, there is obviously a risk of doing something wrong which could hurt players (results not as promised) or the pulls being too generous.

Shifting to a different time:
Player impact - Minimal as long as the store is up for the same length of time, but having it open at the same time the first tokens (slice 1) for new releases start being rewarded seems obviously important.
Dev impact: Could be useful

——

Offers - including special vaults
Starts at:12 noon EST or 4 AM in Aus

Problems: We have seen numerous vaults that launched with errors one way or the other, and it seems like these would benefit from opening close to when devs are available.

Shifting to a different time:
Player impact - Seems minimal if they are open for the same amount of time
Dev impact: Could obviously be useful

——

Change of Latests and Classics
Starts at: Currently (in the past) it was about 1:30 AM EST or 5:30 PM Australia, target is at some point every 4 Thursdays (season start)

Problems: They can happen, as we recently saw (store pictures changed, the odds/pulls did not)

Shifting to a different time:
Player impact - Minimal as long as people are aware of it. Shifting in the afternoon on Thursday before season starts when devs come in the morning (their Friday) would be ok; communication is key.
Dev impact: I assume not having it happen as their work day or week ends would be preferred.

That’s what I could think of. Feel free to add onto it.

2

You left out the Boss Events, which have the potential to go wrong very easily and is probably the most needing a ‘Dev in office’ start time. At the same time kinda player important too…

3

This was a really comprehensive list and I think most of your considerations are spot on!

I really liked your thought on PVE start times and slice timings, many of us HAVE structured our days in some way around the timings we’ve always had and upsetting those would be a drastically bad move, imo. Swapping around the order of the slices so that they’re in office at event start is both the simplest and best solution, imo.

4

[QUOTE] PVPs - two start at 8 pm EST (12 noon in Australia)
One starts at 8 am EST (midnight in Australia)

The first PVP of the season starts at noon in Australia. Generally speaking most PVPs don’t have big issues, but if they appear early enough, they are quickly identified in time to address them. (ex: wrong season header)

Shifting to a different time:

Player impact - fairly minimal but disruptive to habits of some. Many players just play pvp here and there or do a rush to climb etc.
Dev impact: Seems not very necessary [/QUOTE]

This has a lot more impact than you assume. Each time slice has its own identity as a result of a decade of player interaction. Changing these times would cause large turmoil. Even just keeping the same start times but changing which slice is first to start has a big impact, as whatever becomes S1 or S5 would have a giant influx of players with many players just trying to start as early as possible or as late as possible. S1 time might go from half a dozen brackets to 1 or 2 if they moved to S3/4 in the order (the smallest slices).

I do like your proposition for PVE of keeping same hours, but moving which one is the start. Starting with a slice where they are at work is better, even if it turns another slice into the Guinea Pig slice. Now we just need a way to communicate reliably to @S0kun or @TheMigz if something actually goes wrong, because that is very lacking. No point in making changes if the benefits can’t actually conme from the change.

Thank you

5

I’m not sure changing the PvP end times would have much effect. The hardcore players kind of already don’t care about end times. Lots of us play end times that are really inconvenient, just to be in the right rooms. Like S1 is kind of a nightmare if you’re not an early riser and you live on the west coast USA, but it has the biggest rooms so lots of people play there anyway.

It’d probably have an effect on the overall pool in S4 if they moved that one too much, since that’s a good time for casual players in most of the USA and lots of them go there.

6

@entrailbucket said:

@LuxAurae said:

[QUOTE] PVPs - two start at 8 pm EST (12 noon in Australia)
One starts at 8 am EST (midnight in Australia)

The first PVP of the season starts at noon in Australia. Generally speaking most PVPs don’t have big issues, but if they appear early enough, they are quickly identified in time to address them. (ex: wrong season header)

Shifting to a different time:

Player impact - fairly minimal but disruptive to habits of some. Many players just play pvp here and there or do a rush to climb etc.
Dev impact: Seems not very necessary [/QUOTE]

This has a lot more impact than you assume. Each time slice has its own identity as a result of a decade of player interaction. Changing these times would cause large turmoil. Even just keeping the same start times but changing which slice is first to start has a big impact, as whatever becomes S1 or S5 would have a giant influx of players with many players just trying to start as early as possible or as late as possible. S1 time might go from half a dozen brackets to 1 or 2 if they moved to S3/4 in the order (the smallest slices).

I do like your proposition for PVE of keeping same hours, but moving which one is the start. Starting with a slice where they are at work is better, even if it turns another slice into the Guinea Pig slice. Now we just need a way to communicate reliably to @S0kun or @TheMigz if something actually goes wrong, because that is very lacking. No point in making changes if the benefits can’t actually conme from the change.

Thank you

I’m not sure changing the PvP end times would have much effect. The hardcore players kind of already don’t care about end times. Lots of us play end times that are really inconvenient, just to be in the right rooms. Like S1 is kind of a nightmare if you’re not an early riser and you live on the west coast USA, but it has the biggest rooms so lots of people play there anyway.

It’d probably have an effect on the overall pool in S4 if they moved that one too much, since that’s a good time for casual players in most of the USA and lots of them go there.

Isn’t S4 the smallest slice by far? I hear it barely even gets a second bracket.

7

@LuxAurae said:

@entrailbucket said:

@LuxAurae said:

[QUOTE] PVPs - two start at 8 pm EST (12 noon in Australia)
One starts at 8 am EST (midnight in Australia)

The first PVP of the season starts at noon in Australia. Generally speaking most PVPs don’t have big issues, but if they appear early enough, they are quickly identified in time to address them. (ex: wrong season header)

Shifting to a different time:

Player impact - fairly minimal but disruptive to habits of some. Many players just play pvp here and there or do a rush to climb etc.
Dev impact: Seems not very necessary [/QUOTE]

This has a lot more impact than you assume. Each time slice has its own identity as a result of a decade of player interaction. Changing these times would cause large turmoil. Even just keeping the same start times but changing which slice is first to start has a big impact, as whatever becomes S1 or S5 would have a giant influx of players with many players just trying to start as early as possible or as late as possible. S1 time might go from half a dozen brackets to 1 or 2 if they moved to S3/4 in the order (the smallest slices).

I do like your proposition for PVE of keeping same hours, but moving which one is the start. Starting with a slice where they are at work is better, even if it turns another slice into the Guinea Pig slice. Now we just need a way to communicate reliably to @S0kun or @TheMigz if something actually goes wrong, because that is very lacking. No point in making changes if the benefits can’t actually conme from the change.

Thank you

I’m not sure changing the PvP end times would have much effect. The hardcore players kind of already don’t care about end times. Lots of us play end times that are really inconvenient, just to be in the right rooms. Like S1 is kind of a nightmare if you’re not an early riser and you live on the west coast USA, but it has the biggest rooms so lots of people play there anyway.

It’d probably have an effect on the overall pool in S4 if they moved that one too much, since that’s a good time for casual players in most of the USA and lots of them go there.

Isn’t S4 the smallest slice by far? I hear it barely even gets a second bracket.

S2 barely gets a second bracket, we’ve always been the smallest. S4 used to be the biggest one because it had the best end time for casuals in the USA. Maybe that’s changed with all the recent nonsense, though?

8

@LuxAurae said:

entrailbucket said:

It’d probably have an effect on the overall pool in S4 if they moved that one too much, since that’s a good time for casual players in most of the USA and lots of them go there.

Isn’t S4 the smallest slice by far? I hear it barely even gets a second bracket.

That’s PVE. S4 PVP has solid participation.

9

@skittledaddy said:

@LuxAurae said:

entrailbucket said:

It’d probably have an effect on the overall pool in S4 if they moved that one too much, since that’s a good time for casual players in most of the USA and lots of them go there.

Isn’t S4 the smallest slice by far? I hear it barely even gets a second bracket.

That’s PVE. S4 PVP has solid participation.

Aren’t you retired for a few months now? If so how would you know :slight_smile:

KGB

10

@KGB said:

@skittledaddy said:

@LuxAurae said:

entrailbucket said:

It’d probably have an effect on the overall pool in S4 if they moved that one too much, since that’s a good time for casual players in most of the USA and lots of them go there.

Isn’t S4 the smallest slice by far? I hear it barely even gets a second bracket.

That’s PVE. S4 PVP has solid participation.

Aren’t you retired for a few months now? If so how would you know :slight_smile:

KGB

Can’t he come back though?

It always confuses me the concept of players “retiring” like they are finishing up a career for what is a leisure activity! Don’t people ever just stop doing things anymore? I guess I’ve never bothered getting involved with any of the big Alliances so maybe things are different in them? Do you get a Union card and dental plans? What about sick days? Do you have to give 30 days notice?

11

@DAZ0273 said:

@KGB said:

@skittledaddy said:

@LuxAurae said:

entrailbucket said:

It’d probably have an effect on the overall pool in S4 if they moved that one too much, since that’s a good time for casual players in most of the USA and lots of them go there.

Isn’t S4 the smallest slice by far? I hear it barely even gets a second bracket.

That’s PVE. S4 PVP has solid participation.

Aren’t you retired for a few months now? If so how would you know :slight_smile:

KGB

Can’t he come back though?

It always confuses me the concept of players “retiring” like they are finishing up a career for what is a leisure activity! Don’t people ever just stop doing things anymore? I guess I’ve never bothered getting involved with any of the big Alliances so maybe things are different in them? Do you get a Union card and dental plans? What about sick days? Do you have to give 30 days notice?

You’re also required to write up a big list of all the reasons you’re quitting, which obviously means the game is dying since everyone else feels like you do. The “I quit” post is actually a forum classic – at one point there were so many of them that they made a rule requiring them all to be moved to “Off Topic.”

Of course, many of those players posted their 2000-word lists of grievances then came back like a month later, which really makes the entire genre even funnier.

12

@KGB said:

@skittledaddy said:

@LuxAurae said:

entrailbucket said:

It’d probably have an effect on the overall pool in S4 if they moved that one too much, since that’s a good time for casual players in most of the USA and lots of them go there.

Isn’t S4 the smallest slice by far? I hear it barely even gets a second bracket.

That’s PVE. S4 PVP has solid participation.

Aren’t you retired for a few months now? If so how would you know :slight_smile:

KGB

Yes, I am.
Because even a retired FlipChat mod knows these kinds of things… It’s just instinct. :wink:

13

Some ex-players have truly cracked the code.

Most MPQ players have always preferred complaining about MPQ to actually playing the game, but it turns out that you can quit the game, spare yourself the mental anguish of playing, and just skip straight to the complaining part!

It’s honestly brilliant technology.

14

Never change @entrailbucket. Never change. :rofl:

15

@Scofie said:

@entrailbucket said:
Some ex-players have truly cracked the code.

Most MPQ players have always preferred complaining about MPQ to actually playing the game, but it turns out that you can quit the game, spare yourself the mental anguish of playing, and just skip straight to the complaining part!

It’s honestly brilliant technology.

Never change @entrailbucket. Never change. :rofl:

I’ve been telling the same jokes for 12 years, I’m certainly not going to start coming up with new material now.