How much does it cost to Pay2Win?

Marvel Puzzle Quest MPQ General Discussion
1

Let me begin by saying I don’t think this game is Pay2Win. As many forum goers have mentioned, patience and diligence will go a long way with this game without spending money. Plus, there aren’t any characters that are locked behind pay walls (yet…). With that said, I’ve noticed there are people who will invest immediately into new characters right off the bat. So that made me wonder, how much does it cost to max a new character?

Let’s say you just earned a 1/1/1 3* character from an event. According to entropic01’s spreadsheet, it takes 172,764(!!) ISO to take a 3* to level 141. You would also need to spend 12,500 HP to purchase the ten missing covers. Assuming that this player has zero ISO and zero HP in his account, he/she would need to buy…

For 172,764 ISOs:
3 x 52,000 (Mother Lode) @ $99.99 each = 156,000 ISO for $299.97
1 x 25,000 (Rich Deposit) @ $49.99 each = 25,000 ISO for $49.99
Totals 181,000 ISOs for $349.96

For 12,500 HP:
1 x 8,500 HP (Asgard Treasure) @ $49.99 = 8,500 HP for $49.99
1 x 2,900 HP (Logan’s Loonies) @ $19.99 = 2,900 HP for $19.99
2 x 600 HP (Agency Expenses) @ $4.99 = 1,200 HP for $9.98
Totals 12,600 HP for $79.96

Total cost to max level 141: $429.92

430 bucks for one character, guys. You could spend that same amount of money to invest in a new spiffy console system or an iPad. Alternatively, the cost to max a 2* character (to new players, there used to be a time long, long ago when non-3* characters were released) would be approximately $190. You could spend that on an actual handheld system. Or on a few boxes of diapers for that child of your loins that’s been crying in the corner for the last few months while you’ve been playing this game.

So in my opinion, it isn’t really a “pay to win” game when the cost to get a quick advantage on your opponents is so exorbitantly high, especially since that value declines over time as more events give out covers and ISOs to close the gap. This also doesn’t include the two other characters you would need to invest in to build a proper team. Therefore, take your time and play the game, folks.

… Except Colognoisseur. Someone’s gotta max these new characters and report it to Character Discussions to tell us all if they’re worth it. You sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. icon_e_wink.gif

2

How did you know my child is in the corner? HOW???

3

But you don’t need to max a character to P2W - investing 30-40 bucks worth of Hero Points in cover levels on a new character gives you a significant advantage in the next few events where he’s inevitably buffed, and after that, as you said, it doesn’t matter as much

4

it’s more like p2gethugeadvantage

You can (granted it’s like throwing out money) buy all the new covers right when they come out for alot less than maxing a character

Then you can earn like 100k in a week or less and max that character the next week. If you’ve been saving iso for a while since you don’t need that 10th 141 you can basically buy your max character the second his event ends so you’re superbuffed for the next several events he’s featured in. Then you earn easier, faster, iso. It’s a snowball effect, not necessarily p2w but it’s a huge advantage still.

That being said, I hope some people do it, otherwise the devs move on to something else that makes money

5

Gamar and Lore, you guys are totally correct.

One of the other arguments I had of why it isn’t pay2win is because the game has so many “unique systems”/“flaws” such as rubberbanding, scaling, refresh times, playing at off-times, etc. that a knowledgeable player with a subpar team can use to their advantage and beat out the player that does choose to pay his way in. In other words, paying upwards of $430 isn’t even a guaranteed win.

6

ISO is prolly one of the worst things you can buy if you want to win.

7

Pay2Win is possible in this game, but it’s also so expensive, it is functionally prohibitive. Sure, you can dump in hundreds of bucks to max out a brand new 3* that’s just been released so you can get ahead in the next tournament, but your advantage ends in a week or so. Spending money is good to flatten out some of the bad luck when it comes to covers, but I wouldn’t say paying gets you that far ahead of anyone else.

That said, thanks to all those people with maxed out Human Torches. You’re keeping this game going so I don’t have to!

8

Lol, according to IceIX/Yeggy forum post, it takes 430,464 ISOs to max level a 4* character. That’s over $800 in ISOs!

9

200HP for 5 health packs could be considered part of P2W. Especially the Heroic events where your characters are downded more frequently, that can help you to play more.

10

I always wonder if coloignosseur is a dev or sth.. Cause except if he s a billionnaire i dont see why he would spend so much money on the game..it kind of squeeze any interest..

11

tl;dr: Not a dev, not a billionaire

So first off not a dev and have no connection to D3 or Demiurge.

Second how I choose to play MPQ should have no impact on how you play MPQ. There are multiple paths to where each player wants to be and it is up to them how they want to get there.

If I spent the money I spent on iso I would have to be a billionaire but I haven’t. If you look at the OP you will see the real economics of MPQ. The hardest to get in-game currency is also the most economical. As I’ve said many times I’ve averaged about $30/week on the game over playing for about 25 weeks. 90% of that has been for HP. I have a couple of advantages in that I maxed cover slots to 40 with my first stark salary and that has been a real boost because cover slots were very cheap back then. As you see in the OP a stark salary can max out covers with HP left over.
Then add on top of that I am as active as any f2p player and play at least 6hours/day and iso is just really no problem. As an early adopter I was able to take advantage of the villain lightning rounds and those covers and the corresponding HP you could get for covers you didn’t need. When 3-star covers gave 50HP I farmed them every chance I had. I rarely use boosts or health packs I just switch my team up. After a play session a large chunk of my roster is on healing timers and I’ve been playing like that since December.
In the end I am the combination of a whale and a very active player plus I’ve figured out a couple of in-game free ways to maximize things to make things easier for me. All together that is how my roster is where it is at.

12

Thanks Colognoisseur for your insight. By the way, how you play MPQ DOES affect how I play because I always lose 10 ISOs for skipping you. icon_e_wink.gif

Question: Now that they’ve stripped the HP from selling 3*s, is it a big difference in how it’s been hitting your wallet? Or is it balancing out through other means (i.e. increased ISO reward, alliance rewards)?

13

I would say I’ve been very fortunate in my timing throughout my time playing. I got my 40 cover slots cheap. The 50HP for a three-star cover was around from the get go and at the point they stripped it from the covers was just about the point I didn’t need to be so aggressive about farming those. I would say that single change probably hasn’t hit my wallet because the alliance rewards have made up for it.

That change also has had an effect on the way I play PvP and PvE before when there was a 3-star cover I didn’t need, it always just read as 50HP prize to me. Now with it gone it is just a calculation about getting the max hp reward tier and I don’t push so hard to keep people from getting the 4* cover or whatever else they need.

14

Holy shit, dude spent that much on a match 3 game good gawd. Man I suppose I can just call that dedication, but hey its your money make it rain. Here I am after $25 thinking I have spent way too much on a game I play on my phone.