The forums have been filled with a lot of disappointment, frustration and venom recently (and a few posts from those who genuinely are enjoying the game). While everyone is welcome to believe what ever they like, I thought it might be useful to explain the “hate” in very practical terms so that folks that are interested can get a better understanding of a different perspective.
Some of us have been playing the game for a very long time (I am on day 543) and have put in a lot of time, energy and even some money. After that much effort, we would simply like to enjoy the game – it is a rather reasonable request. To those that say: “It is a game, you should just stop playing if you don’t enjoy it,” your comments are both belittling and offensive. As with most social contracts, expectations are set and when those expectations are broken, most folks try not to just take their ball and go home. Starting up a new game requires a lot of investment (time or money) before you have enough diversity of abilities to play the game with any level of richness. The problem with most characters isn’t just that they are weak, but they are also quite boring.
Others have made seemingly reasonable requests to have a calm rationale discourse on the topic (e.g., Pylgrim’s cut the devs some slack, mageofshadow’s let’s all be nice to each other, and Dauthi’s honey rather than vinegar) but that assumes that the discourse is between two rationale adults having a discussion. It isn’t. MPQ is a business and their goals are to make money, not be fair, rationale or honest (even if they cloak their comments in these terms). Leaving obviously overpowered characters long enough for folks to spend time and (more importantly) money to get covers and levels and then nerfing them after enough money has been spent is a fundamentally dishonest action. Having an HP sale right before nerfing an OP XForce without commenting on the nerfs until after the sale is finished is a fundamentally dishonest action with the obvious effect of pulling more money out of the player base. Constructing a reward structure that forces everyone into Alliances and then making the alliance rewards require massive effort from all players (by creating a feeling that you are doing this for your alliance buddies, not the game) is a fundamentally dishonest action. MPQ has their EULA, so they have the legal right to do this and it will continue as long as the player base continues to accept it.
While honest, open and respectful engagement is often an excellent strategy to persuade others, it isn’t always effective or appropriate. Would you politely explain to a used car salesman all the reasons why his offer isn’t fair or balanced? Not if you wanted to buy a car at a reasonable price. As the owners of MPQ are, quite reasonably, motivated by money, the rationale response is rather simple – spread vicious scathing commentary to discourage players, downgrade the ratings on itunes and play store, and put terrible reviews to scare away new users. If this is done openly by enough people, the developers might change their tactics and construct a game that many of us would enjoy much more (e.g., more fun, less grind). Otherwise, they will continue to do what they are doing now – because they likely believe that this is what will make them the most money.
Unfortunately, my time with this game is coming to its end. I once really enjoyed all aspects. Then PvE became a grind and I gave it up (along with the Alliance that I otherwise enjoyed). Fortunately, I found an great alliance that didn’t have PvE requirements but still consistently put up top 100 PvP scores (since I have a deep 3* roster, new toons and 4* are the only real place to go). Then PvP became a grind with the new MMR and increased health. While the Ultron event was really fun at first, it became unbearably repetitive long before we finished Round 7 of the second event. Locking my alliance into a situation where if I didn’t grind it out, it would be hurting 19 buddies was a particularly frustrating design decision. I guess that each person can decide if they think that this was an honest “mistake” or the MPQ dev team taking advantage of the social pressure to squeeze more money out of the player base. Issues with their execution only serve to exacerbate the core issue. Most of us would be fairly understanding of issues if we believed that they were honest and were addressed quickly. Unfortunately, they aren’t.
Hopefully MPQ developers change their course and starting making content that is fun without the grind. I would happily pay money to unlock mini-story line events that had even modest rewards (e.g., get the comic feel back into the game). The original hulk event and the deadpool quest line both had more of this feel. Unless the community demands change (in a less than subtle way) it seems very unlikely to happen, which is why the “hate” might actually the best thing that folks can do to improve the game.
